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You are in... Forums > General > Design > Details that Inspire
Joined:
Feb 07
Posts: 4482
bertandnairobi says:
How complex does a door skin have to be? I spotted a Fiat Punto Mk2 door interior over the weekend and thought I´d bring it to your attention. It is composed of two major parts, a cloth-skinned upper panel and a hard plastic lower panel. The remaining elements are a window winder and an organically-shaped grab handle. In functional terms, the material split is logical (tough material in higher wear areas) and the overall effect is quite pleasing. Yes, it is a low-cost car but I think it is none the worse for it. I propose that it might be possible to design a more expensive but equally simple door for vehicles in the classes above. It certainly is reminder that until comparatively recently, there was the possibility a door could be designed without resorting to parts overkill.
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Sep 06
Posts: 1316
-Joe- says:
May not be a fan of the rest of the Porsche Panamera, but I have to hand it them with their rear spoiler. The way they have made it to not spoile the 'lines' yet I presume large enough to make a difference. Heres a link to the video of it in action.
"I am an admirer of Jonathan Ive's work and I like to take it as a compliment." Dieter
I thought that someone was going to have some trenchant views on the Fiat Punto door skin but instead it´s the inimitable Joe discoursing on the Porsche Panamera´s spoiler. Granted the Porsche is a competent sports saloon but look, look at the elegant simplicity of Fiat´s interior design....!
Back on track with more Fiat interiors. I was in my friends Fiat Seicento and I do love cars like this cars that get the country moving with cheap, simple cars. I don't understand the fascination with designing supercars like a lot (actually most) people on my course, when you can get a whole country moving. I digress.
The detail in question is the symmetrical interior. I know a lot of cars have symmetrical interiors, but it's the shear simplicity of it that strikes me and the way it keeps the costs down so much. As you can quite simply lift up the steering wheel and the little 'Dial pod' and move it to the other side and then that area becomes a book shelf or whatever (see image). Many other things I like being the Boiled sweet like buttons on the centre console or the ergo placement of the window winders. Although they could probably be the only place to put them due to the size issues. Also like the Ford ka there is actually tons of space for 4 normally size people. Edit: It looks as though it isn't as simple as I first thought as there's the fuse cover and on the other side extra cubby space, which unless the dash is two pieces is another set of moulds. :(
Back to your door card. If it was me I would have made the door pull much more inline with the lines of the oyher parts of the door, so it doesn't stick out as much in terns of it pointing upwards etc. I may be wrong, but will try and do a quick sketch tomorrow sometime to show what I mean.
Joe: ergonomics drive the placement of the doorgrip on the Fiat. I think it would be less comfortable to hold if it were tilted at another angle. Sometimes good ergonomics mean less pleasant design. It´s a trade off which is unreconcilable: head or heart.
The Seiceinto is a brilliant object for study and I congratulate for noticing it and also noticing that designing a supercar is miles less interesting than a €12,000 family car. What would you say if I suggested that the driver for the Seicento design was to minimise the number of tools need to mould it? It´s a big, simple object with what looks like a tooling direction that is parallel to the direction of fitting to the bulkhead. It´s not often realised but tooling directions (draft angles) and the number of tools required is a big driver or how car interiors look.
Aug 06
Posts: 2261
lokinen says:
Being iPod mounted offers no chance of pictures but for a perfect example of what you are admiring Joe, let's remember the Rover SD1.The lower facia was a perfectly symmetrical moulding with an air vent inserted in the hole on the passenger side where the steering column entered on the drivers side. Instruments were in a pod sat on top of the facia and easily moved in manufacture for either left or Right hand drive.They fancied things up with the 2nd generation cars but I love the original 76-79 models for their simplicity. shame the plastics were poor though, The hinged rectangle of plastic holding the choke cable, next to the handbrake always snapped.
Beep Beep
Just happened to see an interior picture of a Saab 99 Turbo. Just look at them headrests.
And the same goes for the seats and their headrests in this Alfa GT Junior.
Mar 08
Posts: 4885
Batty says:
Nice one Joe! Both of those seats look superb, and I'd forgotten completely about those Alfa beauties.
Below is is one of my favourite details. Why did Mercedes have such an unusual tail lamp arrangement? At that time being such an engineering led company, these lamps afforded visibility even when travelling over copious kilometres of dusty roads (as one would enocunter in many of Mercedes' markets). The differing levels created vortices that kept the lense comparatively clean compared to a flat cover. So simple yet so wonderful.
Ha,ha,ha,ha,ha.
Brilliant never even new that, presumed just done for detailing purposes.
Talking of lights the new range of VW headlights are brilliant. Spotted it before and again this morning on a Touran. Just the detail that goes into them especaiily this blade shape across the bottom section.
Also the main graphic that that runs along the back of the rear door on the Toyota Verso and then the way it works it self into the roof and into the spoiler.
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