Other Perspectives: Chris Bangle - The man who saved BMW?
Chris Bangle, who left BMW earlier this week to move "beyond the automobile," did not create the butt that bears his name – Adrian van Hooydonk did. But most importantly, Bangle did not stand behind that butt; he stood in front of it. It was Bangle's vision for not just BMW, but for automobiles entirely, that allowed that bustle butt to come into existence. Two new essays that look at BMW design before Bangle and the scope of automotive design after Bangle are well worth reading, even if you aren't a fan of the man or his machines.So while this particular blogger is unmoved by the current 3 Series and 7 Series, bristles at the X3 and X6, and thinks the 6 Series looks like some rare species of giant clam, this same blogger can readily assert that Bangle's vision did something lasting, influential, and important. The exact measures of those three feats will be determined by history's refining hand, but they will not be erased.
If nothing else, providence provided a man named Bangle to hang our epithets on, saving us from having to say "Hooydonk Butt" which just sounds dirty. Follow the links for the stories and see if you think that far from destroying BMW design, the man not only helped rescue the company but perhaps car design itself.
[Source: Speed Sport Life and Motor Trend]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
John Johnson 2:05PM (2/05/2009)
Lol yikes, did he pay you to write this or something? :)
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ken_aisin 2:07PM (2/05/2009)
Wouldn't be surprised at all.
Beastage 2:10PM (2/05/2009)
Love him or hate him (why hate I got no idea)
But he was there when BMW started to move forward from "niche" German cars for people who like to drive and into a luxury manufacturer that rivals Mercedes.
zamafir 2:18PM (2/05/2009)
Well.. BMW wanted to move away from producing the ultimate driving machines and towards volume profitability, Bangle helped them succeed with designs that brought yuppies in in droves (for the most part talking of the 7 series, x6, etc, it's hard to knock the 335i).
jg 2:21PM (2/05/2009)
'BMW wanted to move away from producing the ultimate driving machines and towards volume profitability'
Ridiculous. Why would they have to stop producing great driving cars in order to sell more cars?
ken_aisin 2:27PM (2/05/2009)
Speaking of love-hate: I don't hate Bangle as a person, and I don't hate Van Hooydonk as a person. I only hate their hideous designs. In protest, I haven't bought BMW cars in years. In my opinion, these two should work for Lockheed to design stealth jet fighters. The flame surfacing design should work quite well in diverting radio waves from radar.
notYou 2:40PM (2/05/2009)
Must have, otherwise he wouldn't have said this:
"this same blogger can readily assert that Bangle's vision did something lasting,"
check.
"influential,"
eh? maybe reverse-influential.
"and important."
wtf? by defining where all future designers should-not-go?
Toy Yoda 2:40PM (2/05/2009)
about the only german brand I see represented are Porsche's.
Torrent 2:13PM (2/05/2009)
ROFLMAO.
Good one Jonathon!!!!
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Cole 2:29PM (2/05/2009)
"Nothing is too beautiful, nothing is too expensive" Ettore Bugatti
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2004m3driver 2:23PM (2/05/2009)
I still give him props for all the E46, E36,next gen Z4, and the Z8.
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big J 11:39PM (2/05/2009)
Yeah, the E46 was/is a great looking car, and the E92 also. I get the feeling that most people here bashing him are just jumping the bandwagon... as usual.
jinsei888 2:27PM (2/05/2009)
None of you seem to be capable of fathoming the magnitude of Bangle and Hooydonk's innovation in car design.
In design, you all could only dream of succeeding as hard as Bangle's greatest failure.
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John P. 2:39PM (2/05/2009)
I agree. Bangle is criticized, yet he's one of the few original thinkers in mainstream car design over the last 20+ years. I think he'll be seen positively in the future while 99% of his peers' names will be long forgotten.
Polly Prissy Pants 2:51PM (2/05/2009)
He's just some guy that capitaized on:
a. Not working for managers who stifle anything new or different.
and
b. Throwing enough crap against the wall to get a couple things to stick.
Considering how many misses he had, I have to think that many designers, if given the freedom Bangle had, could be just as "influential."
Vince Law 2:56PM (2/05/2009)
hear hear.
the fact that he warrants a whole post about his accomplishments, has already had two papers written since his retirement from the auto industry, and is garnering responses from so many is a clear indication of his impact.
People like to focus on the most controversial - the bangle butt - but his real contribution to the industry was bringing his "flame surfacing" into the automotive market. I would argue the early designs (X-coupe/Z4) pushed the car design bar up and froward more than any design language in the past few decades... the only other innovative design language that has become somewhat of a gold-standard of style would be Audi's Bauhaus designs
CK 2:38PM (2/05/2009)
Bangle did not save BMW.
Although he had some innovative designs, his work is very hit or miss.
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Mobius_1 4:23PM (2/05/2009)
More misses than hits. Hate the back ends of the 3 sedans, all of the 1s, 7s all of the 6s, the X3 and initially the 5. But loved the Z4 and kinda likes the in-your-face attitude of the X6.
Fazzster 2:37PM (2/05/2009)
Let's put this into perspective...he did not design the Pontiac Aztec. Mr Bangle's designs are (were) fresh, bold and tasteful if not slightly out of balance. If Mr. Bangle's design's were truly disliked by many, you would never know it based on BMW sales figures.
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Kimura 2:38PM (2/05/2009)
Like the designs of the cars he oversaw or not (I don't with the exception of the 3-Series), the "Bangle butt" has been copied over and over...usually done better. The fact remains that he set a trend which others now follow.
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