R50/53 10 Best Designed Vehicles
10 Best Designed Vehicles
[SIZE=2]Proud owner I am. :-)[/SIZE]
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Top 10 Best Designed Vehicles
By BENGT HALVORSON
Good design may always be on our shopping list when we look for a new car, but what’s to say that a vehicle is well designed? To some, design means the overall shape of the car, while to others it’s the way the car fits its function, how it addresses the details or even how well the car performs.
To help take a look at just what good design is and choose the best designed vehicles sold today, we enlisted the help of several top-name design experts in the U.S. currently working outside the industry. They are Imre Molnar, dean of Detroit’s College for Creative Studies (CCS); Tom Matano, co-director of the school of Industrial Design at Academy of Art University in San Francisco; and Brigid O’Kane, coordinator of the Transportation Design Track at the University of Cincinnati. These schools, along with Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, Calif., are the educational centers for automotive design in the U.S.
Our design panel feels that a well-designed car is determined by the following: proportion and stance, design consistency, functionality and staying power.
<H3>Top 10 Best Designed Cars
"Number one for me is proportion," said O’Kane. "I don’t care what type of vehicle it is. The overall proportions of a vehicle define what it is. You can’t just take an SUV and shrink it down to make a commuter car."
O’Kane also believes that an excellent wheel-to-body relationship is critical, with minimal fender overhang and wheels pushed as far out to the corners as possible.
"Right now we’re in an era when athleticism and confidence in stance seem to be highly regarded in the marketplace,” Molnar said. “That translates to vehicle design in minimal overhangs and large diameter wheels."
The second quality of good design is a consistent and coherent intent. Matano clarified that when you look at a well-designed vehicle, "it should clearly communicate its purpose and what’s inside."
"Sometimes designers try to throw all this stuff on a vehicle, and often it just looks like it’s overdesigned or many different designers worked on it," said O’Kane, who feels that the design intent of a vehicle can get lost if too many designers get involved or too many changes are made in bringing it to production.
More Autos Stories
Other autos articles from ForbesAutos.com:
The functionality of a design is another important criterion. For instance, a sports-car shopper might be OK with a compromised cargo area or the lack of good cup holders, while a sport-utility buyer would take those things for granted.
Finally, another important element of good design is staying power -- how the public perceives the design over the long term. Staying power involves purity of purpose but not making the design too extreme, clarified Matano. If the design is too radical, it may fade out of fashion quickly -- but if it’s too staid, it might not find enough interest.
Molnar believes that automakers are showing too much restraint in their design. "If the automakers make a common mistake, it’s that they underestimate the aesthetic sophistication of the American public … It’s been proven time and time again that the typical American consumer has an appetite for a pretty radical design language," he said.
While our experts were split on whether good design always sells or whether best-selling vehicles are always well designed, they did agree that if the vehicle communicates the core message of the design, then it will be successful.
Molnar is of the belief, almost unconditionally, that good design sells. "We live in a pretty enlightened time as far as design, and the products that are doing well in the market are by and large well designed. Quality issues notwithstanding, if you look at the successful models on the market, they’re well designed … It’s an exciting time. I don’t think we’ve seen such an exciting array of designs coming into the marketplace in a very long time."
The following are the Top 10 Best Designed Vehicles, ranked in order of popularity of choice from our polled experts and how they fit the criteria above. To learn more about which cars made our list, click on the vehicle names in the upper right part of the page or click here to see the slideshow.
2006-04-04 12:12:23
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Top 10 Best Designed Vehicles
By BENGT HALVORSON
Good design may always be on our shopping list when we look for a new car, but what’s to say that a vehicle is well designed? To some, design means the overall shape of the car, while to others it’s the way the car fits its function, how it addresses the details or even how well the car performs.
To help take a look at just what good design is and choose the best designed vehicles sold today, we enlisted the help of several top-name design experts in the U.S. currently working outside the industry. They are Imre Molnar, dean of Detroit’s College for Creative Studies (CCS); Tom Matano, co-director of the school of Industrial Design at Academy of Art University in San Francisco; and Brigid O’Kane, coordinator of the Transportation Design Track at the University of Cincinnati. These schools, along with Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, Calif., are the educational centers for automotive design in the U.S.
Our design panel feels that a well-designed car is determined by the following: proportion and stance, design consistency, functionality and staying power.
<H3>Top 10 Best Designed Cars
- Mini Cooper
- Chrysler 300
- Land Rover LR3
- Infiniti FX45
- Bentley Continental GT
- Rolls-Royce Phantom
- Aston Martin V12 Vanquish
- Cadillac CTS
- Toyota Prius
- Koenigsegg CCX
"Number one for me is proportion," said O’Kane. "I don’t care what type of vehicle it is. The overall proportions of a vehicle define what it is. You can’t just take an SUV and shrink it down to make a commuter car."
O’Kane also believes that an excellent wheel-to-body relationship is critical, with minimal fender overhang and wheels pushed as far out to the corners as possible.
"Right now we’re in an era when athleticism and confidence in stance seem to be highly regarded in the marketplace,” Molnar said. “That translates to vehicle design in minimal overhangs and large diameter wheels."
The second quality of good design is a consistent and coherent intent. Matano clarified that when you look at a well-designed vehicle, "it should clearly communicate its purpose and what’s inside."
"Sometimes designers try to throw all this stuff on a vehicle, and often it just looks like it’s overdesigned or many different designers worked on it," said O’Kane, who feels that the design intent of a vehicle can get lost if too many designers get involved or too many changes are made in bringing it to production.
More Autos Stories
Other autos articles from ForbesAutos.com:
The functionality of a design is another important criterion. For instance, a sports-car shopper might be OK with a compromised cargo area or the lack of good cup holders, while a sport-utility buyer would take those things for granted.
Finally, another important element of good design is staying power -- how the public perceives the design over the long term. Staying power involves purity of purpose but not making the design too extreme, clarified Matano. If the design is too radical, it may fade out of fashion quickly -- but if it’s too staid, it might not find enough interest.
Molnar believes that automakers are showing too much restraint in their design. "If the automakers make a common mistake, it’s that they underestimate the aesthetic sophistication of the American public … It’s been proven time and time again that the typical American consumer has an appetite for a pretty radical design language," he said.
While our experts were split on whether good design always sells or whether best-selling vehicles are always well designed, they did agree that if the vehicle communicates the core message of the design, then it will be successful.
Molnar is of the belief, almost unconditionally, that good design sells. "We live in a pretty enlightened time as far as design, and the products that are doing well in the market are by and large well designed. Quality issues notwithstanding, if you look at the successful models on the market, they’re well designed … It’s an exciting time. I don’t think we’ve seen such an exciting array of designs coming into the marketplace in a very long time."
The following are the Top 10 Best Designed Vehicles, ranked in order of popularity of choice from our polled experts and how they fit the criteria above. To learn more about which cars made our list, click on the vehicle names in the upper right part of the page or click here to see the slideshow.
2006-04-04 12:12:23
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6th Gear
Joined: Sep 2004
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Originally Posted by DaveTinNY
Sorry, Spider; I obviously missed your post. Anyway, it was great to read this on AOL this morning... Made me even prouder to drive to work today. 
6th Gear
Joined: Jan 2005
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From: DC
Don't let this report go to your heads. The MINI has been placed number one in a group of very aesthetically underwhelming vehicles, some bordering on the butt ugly. Their technical capabilities, if present, cannot possibly make up for their physical appearance. Except for the MINI and the Vanquish, I would not be caught driving a single vehicle in this group.
6th Gear
Joined: Jan 2005
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From: Left Coast
Ditto that.
For example, the Rolls Royce Phantom has been praised by the industry for its bold design but to me its wide grill, broad behind and vast C pillars are vulgar and reveal how irrelevant the marque has become. Even the way it is marketed seems anachronistic compared with Bentley.
I don't usually look at cars other than compacts (and, admittedly, Ferraris) so I'm probably biased in favor of the MINI and Prius. Thanks for the link to Forbes.
For example, the Rolls Royce Phantom has been praised by the industry for its bold design but to me its wide grill, broad behind and vast C pillars are vulgar and reveal how irrelevant the marque has become. Even the way it is marketed seems anachronistic compared with Bentley.
I don't usually look at cars other than compacts (and, admittedly, Ferraris) so I'm probably biased in favor of the MINI and Prius. Thanks for the link to Forbes.
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5th Gear
Joined: Dec 2002
Posts: 777
Likes: 1
lol Imre Molnar was my dean while i went to ccs for transportation design, hes a great guy and knows his stuff so is bryon fitzpatrick the chair he also is very wise in what looks good
man .... took me 6 years to get out of that school and i miss it every day
man .... took me 6 years to get out of that school and i miss it every day
6th Gear
Joined: Aug 2004
Posts: 3,880
Likes: 3
From: Your Worst Nightmare :)
The only reason I bought my MCS is that there is no Koenigsegg dealer nearby 
JB
PS also the writeup for the CCX claims it is the fastest production car in the world. BZZZ wrong the Bug Veyron has it licked by 13 mph, verified. But then at current exchange rates U could have two CCXs and the Vanquish (for daily driving) for one Veyron....
JBPS also the writeup for the CCX claims it is the fastest production car in the world. BZZZ wrong the Bug Veyron has it licked by 13 mph, verified. But then at current exchange rates U could have two CCXs and the Vanquish (for daily driving) for one Veyron....
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