Autoblog

2011 Art Center Car Classic celebrates Southern California's influence on automotive design

Drew Phillips — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 19:30:00 EST

The Pasadena Art Center College of Design held its annual Car Classic this past weekend, an event that has been a must-attend on our calendars for the past few years. While rain hampered last year's Car Classic, this year's event benefited from a typically beautiful Southern California day.

Anyone from the Art Center will tell you that the Car Classic is not a concours event, but rather a display of automotive art. As a result, the selection of cars is fairly eclectic and the vehicles are strewn about the campus lawn in a rather unorganized fashion. While the layout may not be as photogenic, it makes it easy to wander through the sea of cars and simply enjoy each and every one.

Each Car Classic does have a theme, though, and for 2011 the event celebrated Southern California's influence on automotive design. In addition to the Art Center producing some of the world's most famous automotive designers, more than twenty advanced automotive design studios call the area home, several of which brought recent concept cars to display. There were also special displays for California hot rods and California beach culture as well as cars designed by Peter Brock. The Petersen Automotive Museum and Mullin Museum also brought out cars from their impressive collections. You can see a sample of the cars in attendance in the high-res gallery above.

2011 Art Center Car Classic celebrates Southern California's influence on automotive design originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 24 Oct 2011 19:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Rolls-Royce Apparition concept messes with our heads

Noah Joseph — Thu, 06 Jan 2011 18:58:00 EST

Filed under: Concept Cars, Rolls-Royce, Design/Style, Luxury

Rolls-Royce Apparition concept by Jeremy Westerlund - Click above for high-res image gallery

To say that we see a lot of student car designs here at Autoblog would be a gross understatement. We see hundreds of 'em. Some are more interesting than others, but every once in a while, a design comes across our desks that takes our impression of what a car can look like and completely turns it on its head. This is one such example.

Dreamt up by one Jeremy Westerlund while studying at the Art Center school of design, the Rolls-Royce Apparition is a rolling trompe-l'œil that at once both reaches back into the automaker's history and extends into the future.

The design is based around the old motor carriages that had a chauffeur sitting up front, exposed to the elements, with the passengers coddled inside. Like most contemporary Rolls models, the front is utterly dominated by the prominent grille and hood ornament. It features unique touches like real mahogany inserts in the wheels, and the imposing overall shape is long and low: the designer took his cues from sailing yachts, and even though the model is built to 1:4 scale, it's still nearly six feet long. If such an extreme example of fantasy ever became reality, it would measure 279 inches overall - that's over 23 feet, or about four feet longer than the Phantom. See if you can wrap your head around it in our extensive high-resolution image gallery below.

Gallery: Rolls-Royce Apparition by Jeremy Westerlund

[Source: Jeremy Westerlund]

Rolls-Royce Apparition concept messes with our heads originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 06 Jan 2011 18:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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2010 Art Center Car Classic celebrates Freedom of Motion

Drew Phillips — Sat, 23 Oct 2010 19:58:00 EST

Filed under: Classics, Misc. Auto Shows, Design/Style

2010 Art Center Car Classic - Click above for high-res image gallery

Pasadena, CA can get particularly hot during the summer, so we thought it was an excellent idea when the Art Center College of Design moved its annual car show from July to the middle of October. While the event, which happened last weekend, did escape the heat, it still couldn't catch a break from Mother Nature. The inaugural autumn edition of the show was hampered by rain throughout the day.

Still, the Art Center managed to put on an excellent event to celebrate this year's theme, "Freedom of Motion." The best part of the show has always been the eclectic selection of cars on display, and this year was no disappointment. Everything from the 2010 X-Prize winning Peraves X-Tracer to the new 2011 McLaren MP4-12C could be seen on the grass. The Mullin Museum was gracious enough to bring out the famous 1937 Bugatti Type 57SC Atlantic, and the Petersen brought out a few of its cars as well. You can see all of our photos from the event in the high-res gallery below.

Gallery: 2010 Art Center Car Classic

2010 Art Center Car Classic celebrates Freedom of Motion originally appeared on Autoblog on Sat, 23 Oct 2010 19:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Never-built Bugatti Type 64 Coupe to be resurrected on Chassis #002

Jonny Lieberman — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 14:58:00 EST

Filed under: Classics, Coupe, Performance, Europe, Bugatti, Design/Style

Bugatti Type 64 Coupe Chassis - Click above for high-res image gallery

Bugatti buffs know that only one Type 64 was ever built way back in 1939. What they may not know is that an extra two Type 64 chassis were stamped at the factory in Molsheim but sadly never finished. That is, never finished until now. One of the two Type 64 chassis wound up in the hands of car collector extraordinaire Peter Mullin and is currently on naked display at his new Mullin Automotive Museum in Oxnard, CA. Thanks to a design contest at Pasadena's Art Center, Stewart Reed Design will be building a brand new body for chassis #64002. A new gullwing body, we should add. Continue reading, after the jump.

Gallery: Mullin Museum: Bugatti Type 64 Coupe Chassis

Continue reading Never-built Bugatti Type 64 Coupe to be resurrected on Chassis #002

Never-built Bugatti Type 64 Coupe to be resurrected on Chassis #002 originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 29 Apr 2010 14:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Pininfarina replaces design director Ken Okuyama

Frank Filipponio — Wed, 13 Sep 2006 17:12:00 EST

Filed under: Europe, Hirings/Firings/Layoffs, Ferrari

UPDATE

Barely a year into his second stint at Pininfarina, director of design Ken Okuyama has been let go by the Italian design firm. Ken was previously with the company back in 1995 and is credited with designing the Enzo and 612, among others. We recently ran into him at the Pasadena Art Center Car Classic held at the Pasadena Art Center College of Design, where he remains on staff. He was also up in Pebble Beach where he was an honorary judge at the Concours d'Elegance close to where Pininfarina and Ferrari also showed off their new 599 GTB, as well as the James Glickenhaus-commissioned 612 P4/5 and Peter Kalikow 612K.

Replacing Okuyama will be company Chairman Andrea Pininfarina until a permanent replacement is found. Ken's philosophy of emphasizing practical design techniques and a more rigid engineering-based approach to projects led some to speculate that he might not be long for Pininfarina. Indeed, some have argued that Pininfarina and Ferrari have lost some of the passion that saw breathtakingly beautiful new models rolling out of Maranello every few years. Slightly more conservative in design (albeit more user-friendly and real-world practical), the 612, 599 and F430 have been criticized by some of the die-hard Ferrari fans out there for being too tame.

[Source: Automotive News - sub required]

UPDATE: After posting this article we received an e-mail from Mr. Okuyama. In it he explains that the success of his other industrial design projects and the time commitment they required, factored into the decision to not renew the contract at Pininfarina. The "Ken Okuyama" brand of interior design products and optical glass will continue to grow, but no decision has been made about his automotive design consultancy options as of yet.

Pininfarina replaces design director Ken Okuyama originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 13 Sep 2006 17:12:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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