Editor’s Note: This week, Peter presents a renewed case for the enduring power of design, highlighting the spectacular Alfa Romeo Cuorerosso Concept. In On The Table, from the “Fool’s And Their Money” File, Cadillac unveils the 2027 Escalade-V 125th Anniversary Collector Series. Our video this week is a deep dive into the Jaguar Type 01 from Harry’s Garage. Our AE Song of the Week is “Peace train” by Cat Stevens (Yusuf Islam). In Fumes, Peter presents Part II of his series, “The Racers.” And finally, in The Line, we have F1 results from the Circuit of The Americas in Austin, Texas, and we were going to have MotoGP results from the spectacular Phillip Island circuit in Australia, but the race was cancelled due to unsafe conditions, so we have video from the Sprint race on Saturday. Remember, you can read past issues by scrolling down and clicking on “Next 1 Entries.” Enjoy! -WG
By Peter M. DeLorenzo
Detroit. After years of writing about design, it’s clear that I place a high value on the efficacy and execution of design. It’s also no secret that I believe that design will maintain its position as the Ultimate Initial Product Differentiator going forward – in fact, even more so than ever before.
My past columns have generated a lot of comments from within the industry, especially – and understandably so – from the design community. I would say that the vast majority of the comments we have received over the years were positive, and that’s gratifying, because I have the utmost respect for the creative talents who work in the design houses all over the world.
As I’ve said many times before, the artisans who toil in design studios are the most influential people in the automobile business. They set the tone for brands and lead the word-of-mouth, “street look” discussions, and their visionary work can make – or break – a car company’s fortunes. It’s grueling work, too, because designers live in a particularly strange Twilight Zone where they have to dwell in the past and present, while working on a future that’s coming well down the road. That means lead designers have to present “new” designs to the media and public that have been basically “baked” three to five years before. Then, they go back to their respective studios to put the finishing touches on designs that will appear five years into the future.
This work requires vision, discipline and a savagely creative mindset that is instantly graded the moment the wraps are taken off of their latest designs. It is a relentlessly tough profession, but when you talk to designers, most wouldn’t trade it for anything. Seeing something in concept or production form that they had a key role in creating presents a level of exhilaration that’s extremely hard to beat.
That intro was kind of a labyrinthian way of getting to this week’s discussion topic, which is a question that I get asked all the time: “Given everything you know, who’s doing design well right now?”
That’s the billion-dollar question, isn’t it? Design matters more now than at any other time in automotive history. In this 24/7, nanosecond-attention-span world we live in today, the hot “street look” of the moment captures all the attention and interest, and usually results in red-hot sales figures too.
I’m bringing this up now because we’re still reverberating from the latest Musk fiasco that happened last week with his fanciful “roadster.” The people involved with that car are so far removed from credible design work at this point that it’s hard to fathom what the hell is going on in their heads. And remember, these are the same people who dumped the “Cybertruck” on the streets and byways of America, creating a level of eye pollution that still stings every time we see one. Needless to say, what Tesla is involved in now is the antithesis of credible design work, so I will be glad to dismiss the lot of them as annoying poseurs at this point.
And then there’s the Jaguar Type 01. I will say this about the Jaguar: Unlike the Tesla train wreck, at least it has a design point of view. As I said a couple of weeks ago, however, it’s not really to my taste. The “blunderbuss dildo from outer space” look doesn’t resonate with me, but the more I look at it the more I acknowledge that it will likely find favor with some denizens of the moneyed enclaves in New York, Miami and L.A. It gives off a vibe befitting an armored car from The Future, cocooning its owners in a very tight but cold cabin that will protect them from the coming Apocalypse, or something like that. (For a detailed look at the new Jaguar, please go to On The Table where our video this week gives you a complete rundown of the Type 01. It’s very interesting. -WG)
When it really comes right down to it, exotic cars continue to lead the discussion when it comes to design. Specifically, cars and concepts designed in Italy. This has been the case in this business since the glamorous 1950s and ‘60s, when Italian designs were so spectacularly beyond anything else going on in the industry that even the legendary GM Styling leader – the great Bill Mitchell – would purposely bring the latest Ferrari designs to GM’s Tech Center in Warren, Michigan, and put them on display in the GM Styling viewing courtyard for his designers to see in person. Mitchell figured, and rightly so I might add, that design inspiration was needed from wherever it came from, and the Italians were leading the way.
But I will emphasize that just because a car is expensive or exotic doesn’t mean its design is automatically compelling. Unless, of course we’re talking about the new Alfa Romeo Cuorerosso Concept, which debuted a couple of weeks ago at the Paris Motor Show.
This new Alfa Romeo Cuorerosso Concept is simply extraordinary. Taut of skin and visually stunning from every angle – inside and out – it is an eloquent rebuttal to the relentlessly tedious SUV/crossover/pickup truck world we’re living in right now. And it is a spectacular reminder that emotionally compelling design will always resonate with people, stoking fires of desire that just can’t be replicated anywhere else.
I would offer that the new Alfa Romeo Cuorerosso Concept, which will be Alfa’s design signature going forward influencing all of its future models, makes the new Porsche Mission S concept look bland, mundane and lackluster by comparison, like yesterday’s news.
Kudos to the True Believers at Alfa Romeo design for reminding all of us in this business that passionate, compelling design still matters. And that just “going through the motions” will never cut it, in the studio, or on the street.
And when I think of Bill Mitchell and his thoughts on design, I believe he would have been thrilled with the Alfa Romeo Cuorerosso Concept.
It’s the Best of the Best in this business right now.
And that’s the High-Octane Truth for this week.
(Images courtesy of Alfa Romeo/Sports Car Digest)
Editor’s Note: Click on “Next 1 Entries” at the bottom of this page to see previous issues. – WG