Filed under: Concept Cars, LA Auto Show, Mazda
2018 Mazda3 LA Show design winner completed
Click the image above for a gallery from the show floor.
So after finally hoping on the Facebook-bandwagon, we decided to check up on how Mallory McMorrow's Mazda3 concept was coming along. After shaping and molding the clay on the LA show floor for over 10 days, the 2018 Mazda3 was finally displayed. Overall, it's cues tie in nicely with the "flow" theme crafted by Franz von Holzhausen and his team who helped McMorrow hone her design. We think it's a step in the right direction, particularly from an undergrad, and we're hopeful that the 21-year old industrial design student hits the ground running once she has her degree in hand.
[Source: Facebook]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Andrew 10:20AM (12/06/2007)
Sexy curves on and off the showroom floor, hehe. I would drive that car in ten years. The fact that the designer is a cute red-head is just a bonus :)
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SYN 10:35AM (12/06/2007)
why must it be labelled as a distant dream
i would buy that car now. why doesn't mazda take a chance? why doesn't anybody take a chance, why are we taking baby steps towards design progress? why do designers just sit and tweak every few years?
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nissanfreak87 11:05AM (12/06/2007)
The answer is simple, people aren't ready for major changes in design. While a few may be, and as a designer, I would love it if everyone were, most people don't like radical changes in what they see as the norm of design. With a smaller production, more enthusiast-based car the design could be wild, but with a large-market car like the 3, design needs to change slowly, or else you will lose your market.
Designers would love to take a chance with this car, the businessmen in the the company. however, would not.
SherbornSean 10:45AM (12/06/2007)
Beautiful design.
I can't wait to see future work from Ms. McMorrow, as she obviously has an amazing career in design ahead of her.
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jim 10:53AM (12/06/2007)
Way too busy-simple is better
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nissanfreak87 11:05AM (12/06/2007)
way too simple=boring, I'd rather have an interesting design than a box, and honestly, that design isn't busy at all.
tanooki2003 11:09AM (12/06/2007)
Busy??? I think not. I think it's more than past overdue for cars to have sexy lines and curves. As I've said before the days of the 2 box 1 rectangle designs should have died sometime in the early 90's
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Menice 11:09AM (12/06/2007)
I would drive that in a few years, but 2018 is way too far off.
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Gabe 11:13AM (12/06/2007)
I had the great fortune to be at the LA show when the Mazda team pulled the wraps off this car. The whole song and dance was cool too see, but even more impressive was the fact that Franz von Holzhausen hung out for a long time after all the festivities were over and spoke to people who were standing next to the display. He spoke with my friend and I for about 10 minutes. Cheers to Mazda for that. It was the highlight of the show for me (that and the Lexsus IS-F that you could run to redline on the dyno) and something I've never seen another manufacturer do. Yes, I asked about the RX-7. He just smiled and said he couldn't talk about it...
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jim 11:30AM (12/06/2007)
That's fine everybody has their own opinion on what looks good! I didn't say anything about a box. This design doesn't do a thing for me.
Sexy design- Ferrari 330P4- Ferrari 250GTO-Ferrari 250 LM, Dino, etc. are just some examples of sexy curves.
Simple and beautiful.
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mk 11:50AM (12/06/2007)
I am not a big fan of the new mazda grille cues...
But over all, the design is pretty nice. Not jaw on the floor wow, but nice. It looks like it is out-CRX'ing Honda. Mazda makes sense to do that, with it's sportier brand image.
Mazda3... Nice, but where is Von Holzhausen's Kabura concept turned reality?
The Kabura is RWD... and would make a very cool smaller, more athletic sister to this sort of Mazda3 (redhead girl next door...), and Miata being their fashionista sister, and the RX8 being the practical big sister to all of them.
RX8
Mazda3
Kabura
Miata
Sounds like a nice coupe(-ish) lineup from the Zoom Zoom folks.
Then the other line is left to be CX9, CX7, maybe-Tribute, 6, and a new rear-drive sport sedan, and 5 microvan.
Gotta love Redheads and Mazdas. I have a redhead wife who drives a classic red NB-PEP Miata with a 5-speed.
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Hank 11:56AM (12/06/2007)
is that a tattoo on her left foot?
that's pretty hot.
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tankd0g 12:05PM (12/06/2007)
People fear change, especially bankers.
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ugg.tryptophan 1:11PM (12/06/2007)
this doesnt seem like mazda3 because it is not practical, maybe speed3, but is has two doors, and doesnt seem like an original design, its a smaller version of the older mazda concepts
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pe_tor 1:30PM (12/06/2007)
Looks nice to me, though as some have said, the gaping grille look isn't the best maybe, and there are practicality issues, but practicality is rarely very thoroughly considered in far-off concepts.
I recognize some shapes (taillights) and features (a bit of a dual beltline, or the window underneath the beltline) from my concept submission for the contest. I guess that probably means my ideas weren't very unique and I'm thinking in too self centered a manner...
My design, in case anyone cares
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pe_tor 1:33PM (12/06/2007)
looks like I don't know how to post links properly! I'm talented...
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=343991&op=6&o=all&view=all&subj=7602701619&aid=-1&id=774484858
cameron42985 1:44PM (12/06/2007)
Rear windscreen looks disfunctional, but otherwise, it'll make a fine addition to the laundry list of concepts Mazda's been daydreaming up lately.
Focus on your current line-up and send us the Mazda2, already.
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Alex B 4:58PM (12/06/2007)
Note to car designers: Drivers like to be able to see out of the back and sides of the car, not just the front.
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toronado455 5:02PM (12/06/2007)
Looks like an Eclipse.
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Mark 3:00AM (12/07/2007)
It's nice to see the model actually finished. Looks great - spunky, sporty and stylish. Somewhat impractical, but hey...it's a concept!
I had a chance to stop by and observe while the clay was being shaped. Started talking to a young lady there, then realized it was Mallory McMorrow herself! She talked with us (me, my son and his friend) for a good 10 or 15 minutes. A very intelligent and polite young lady, not to mention very nice looking...the pictures in this gallery do not do her justice. She's much prettier in person.
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