We all love concept cars. Without concept cars a motorshow is just like visiting a whole bunch of car dealerships under one roof, only with somebody rather more attractive than usual demanding that you sign up to register your interest. Concept cars are there to draw you onto the stand, and they do so whether or not there’s any feasibility that they’ll ever make production. It’s the thought that counts, though.
The trouble is, by the time a concept car arrives at a show we’ve usually seen it on the internet already, which means the surprise is gone. Well, Hooniverse has a solution to the tedium of waiting for the next automotive what-if: We’ll create our own. Starting today Hooniverse is setting out to be the Product Clinic for the entire motor industry. We can create an idea, discuss it amongst ourselves and then decide whether it’s worth pursuing, and any industry executive who happens to tune in can get an inside line on what The Hooniverse wants. And for all this we’ll charge them not a single dollar.
Make your decision on the first Hooniverse Concept Car after the jump.
Unlike most actual design departments, when I get the urge to “design” a car I start off with a completely blank sheet of paper. Aside from occasional flights of pure fantasy a company will usually have some kind of goal established before the first stylist sharpens their pencil. Fortunately, the Hooniverse design department is not tied by any feasibility constraints, budget or technology limitations, consequently I have no idea what we’ll end up with when I put pen to paper. And so it was to be with our first proposal.
As this sketch progressed my construction lines gradually migrated across the paper until the car was actually pointing in a completely different direction to how I first envisaged it. It could have looked like anything. I was aiming somewhere in the region of a two-door coupé, but had no specific idea in terms of size, market position, that kind of thing. In the end the general feel seems to be something between a BMW 2 Series and 4 Series size-wise. Then, as the lines converged at the front of the car, a grille, and therefore an identity, began to emerge.
Could that be a Lincoln grille? It looks American to me (and I must admit the greenhouse reminds me a bit of a Cadillac Allante), so that’s what I’m going with.
So, Hooniverse Concept Proposal #1 is a Compact Personal Luxury Coupé. Now its over to you. Who should it be built by? And if it shouldn’t be built, what changes would you make before it could?
And, importantly, what should it be named? Please note Homer and Thundercougarfalconbird have already been discounted.
(All sketches produced by and copyright of Chris Haining / Hooniverse 2015. Obviously the perspective and wheel roundness would be much improved on the production vehicle)
By RoadworkUK
RoadworkUK is the online persona of Gianni Hirsch, a tall, awkward gentleman with a home office full of gently decomposing paper and a garage full of worthless scrap metal. He lives in the village of Moistly, which is a safe distance from London and is surrounded by enough water and scenery to be interesting. In another life, he has designed, sold, worked on and written about cars in exchange for small quantities of money.
Kamil Kaluski
Buick Reata?
Riley Reatta?
It has a Fiat Coupe's greenhouse.
But that's a Lancia if I've ever seen one.
Which I can't say for sure.
With a little tweaking to the grille, it could be a modern Eunos Cosmo…
I'm seeing that too, now. Possibly not even a modern one. In fact, I may have just designed the '97 Cosmo.
I'm thinking Lincoln Mark IX.
One quibble, the steering wheel is on the wrong side. In other news, you are quite a talented artist. Kudos and look forward to seeing more!
I wish I could draw in perspective properly, as is I can only really muddle through strictly 2D profiles.
I actually thought Rover with that initially, but it could make a credible big Chrysler.
I could only see a Rover with that grille, but unlike Rusty I don't see a BMW 2 or 4-series size. To me, it's the newly reborn Rover Vitesse coupe for 2015: <img src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/df/Rover_800_02.jpg" width=600>
The Pontiac Grand Reatta.
I like the 4-wheel steering.
It's a stub axle fault. They'll fix it under warranty.
a bti less front overhang, a less formal grille (or even grilleless) and could it be a fiat (and coupe) version of the miata? I really like the side and rear of this, and the way the greenhouse gets narrower after the doors…
I don't know… except for the front it looks fiat to me, even some alfa gtv in the area behind the doors and how the line comes from the front.
Lincoln and Cadillac teamed up with the late '70s to bring you the Coupe De Liverspot.
The door has a GM concept feel too it. Which is not a bad thing.
The face looks Rover, if Rover wanted to actually look nice.
Overall its a solid non-professional concept. I'd like less dazzle in the lights and maybe a little more purpose in the hood and overhangs, but It's better than I can draw, so my criticism is minor.
Something about the stance and greenhouse proportion reminds me of the Rover P6B S
<img src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/3/2665/5753769517_53735d85b3_b.jpg"width="500">
That is easily a Cadillac Allanté.
Remove the fenders, and make everything below the crease line flat and vertical, and it would make a fairly cool custom hot rod.
This:
<img src="http://hooniverse.info/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/IMAG0075-720×403.jpg" width="600">
To something like this:
<img src="http://www.hokdigitalpaintbooth.com/wp-content/gallery/ford/1933-ford-factory-five-hot-rod.jpg" width="600">
Definitely shades of the Coupé Fiat from the rear shutline on the door back to the tail. In my book, a good thing.
However, the A-pillar forward reminds me of the Zimmer Quicksilver, though admittedly a much better treatment in my opinion:
<img src="https://i.imgur.com/6sNxn1Z.jpg" width="500/">
(And I'm sure there are Quicksilver fans out there waiting to tell me why I'm wrong for not really caring for the styling on that car. Look, styling is subjective. If it helps, I find US-spec Citroen Meharis to be some of the best-looking cars ever designed. TL;DR: we all have opinions and they're all wrong.)
That said, I think there are some really interesting elements in the design of the Hooniverse Concept Car. I wonder how it would work with the grille brought back slightly (not completely flush with the bumper, but a more Alfa 159-ish protrusion), the hood lowered, and the fenders brought up at an upwards angle à la the Peugeot 505. Headlamps could follow the cats-eye effect of the fenders, but I'm not quite sure what to do with the rest of the shape. Oh, and the proportions of the tyres to the wheelarches to the rest of the design look really nice to my eye.
Overall, I like it, but it's not quite grabbing me – and I'm really trying to avoid turning it into The Homer.
<img src="https://i.imgur.com/TG7M9Vc.jpg" width="500/">
Also, any thoughts on how to work in the side mirrors? I think there's a lot of opportunity in this shape to do something really interesting with them, but noticed that they didn't appear in the original sketch.
<img src="http://www.americandreamcars.com/collectorcarphotos/1a/1988zimmer022703.jpg" width="500/">
Zimmratta.
Edit: I see karonetwentyc had the same thought seconds before me.
Much like Elvis, Cher, and Madonna, it should be known by just one name. And that name my friends, is "Brougham".
That's some great drawing skills! Love child of an Alfa GTV and a Lincoln – not a bad thing. I imagine an I6 grand tourer. Cadillac-style with white paint and red seats.
To me it looks as though it would be Lincoln's XLR-fighter, had the XLR been more successful.
The relaunch of Packard?
<img src="http://creative-interiors.com/images/1934_Packard.jpg"width="600">
<img src="http://www.curbsideclassic.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Packard-110-1942-pic-49084.jpeg"width="600">
<img src="http://www.hobbycar.com/10262009AckGrgH.jpg"width="600">
<img src="http://www.motorstown.com/images/packard-hawk-05.jpg"width="600">
<img src="http://assets.blog.hemmings.com/wp-content/uploads//2014/05/1999Packard_01_2500.jpg"width="600">