Car Design: Paris Auto Show '08 Part One

The Paris show kicks off the long circuit of car shows that culminates with New York next Spring and as such can be seen as a bellwether for what sorts of designs and concepts are at the top of designers minds this season. Judging on the evidence here the two big trends are electric cars and big four door exotic sedans.

Blockbusters were few but there were some notable debuts:


The Lamborghini Estoque Concept is their entry into the burgeoning four-door supercar market alongside Porsche's upcoming Panamera and Aston-Martin's long-awaited Rapide. The reception to the Estoque was somewhat muted - compared to the typical Lambo it seems downright restrained.

It's at the front end - like the Porsche and Aston - where the most resemblance to it's stablemates is conveyed. The harder edges of the Reventon are finding it's way into other Lamborghini vehicles and the sinister rectangular headlights add a bit of distinction to the familiar shapes on the face.

The very aggressive rear (see pic above) is masterfully shaped and detailed - there is perhaps a hint of the Dodge Charger concept but the rear three quarter view is probably the car's best.

Where things get less certain are the bland midsection and ultra-low roofline. The window and roof shapes lack some distinction and the smooth sides don't seem well integrated with the dramatic rear flanks.

At the opposite end of the spectrum was Nissan's neat electric NuVu concept. NuVu has a very unusual undulating greenhouse which flows skirt-like around the wheels. The detailing is extremely well done, from the chamfered wheel arches to the bumper cutlines to the "brows" over the headlamp units.

Though the proportions may seem a bit clown-car like the eye is drawn to the unusual shapes and the harmonious balance of elements. One of Nissan design's best recent concepts.

Politics: Triumph At (but not of) the GOP

Looking for the best coverage of the convention? Look no further than Triumph the Insult Comic Dog and his man, Robert Smigel:

Film: Oscars -- What Goes Into Good Editing?

Slate.com has a great feature on the Oscar nominated films in the editing category. Mark Helfrich, Academy member and film editor and director explains what makes each clip interesting from an editing standpoint. He does make the inference that Sean Penn's Into The Wild is something of an "editor's movie", but he steers clear of a favorite. Here's the clip:

Design: GMC in Truck Denial with Denali XT

GMC is Genral Motors trucks-only brand in the United States. Despite the slowdown in SUV sales they are GM's numer two selling nameplate here currently and the General wants to protect the brands growth in the coming gas sipping era.

The Denali XT concept, to be revealed to the public at next week's Chicago Auto show, is a stab at a more efficient pick-up truck. Some commentators have compared the rwd car-based vehicle to the Chevy El Caminos and GMC Caballeros of the 60s-80s but to me this seems like a logical outgrowth of the current "crossover" craze.

Just as crossovers build a new vehicle that has truck attributes off of a car platform, the Denali XT has pickup truck features but a platform that is the same as GM Australia's new rear-drive base (which also makes it the same as the upcoming Chevy Camaro coupe and Pontiac G8 sedan.) This is unlike the El Camino/Caballero which were usually just Malibu wagons with their rear sections modified to form a pickup truck bed.

A malaise-era 1979 Caballero

As a design the Denali is very strong, and this represents a possible exciting new direction for GMC. There is a touch of Chrysler's fulls size LH cars in the stance and the high beltline/ low roofline, which makes for a chopped side window profile. The face is fantastic, aggressive without being over-the-top cartoonish. The texturing of the grille, the placement of the headlight/vent units that sweep back into the sculpted fender forms, the sides of those same forms that flow from the bumper face are all expertly handled. The rear echoes the front lamps with tailight/vent clusters of its own. The tailights are very nicely shaped, as is the oversize chrome tailgate handle. The roofline is extremely well-executed and overall the design is a real winner. Here's hoping GM follows through and produces this.

Music News: New Radiohead Next March?

Radiohead: almost out of the woods...

Rolling Stone claims to have cracked Radiohead's code, and they didn't need Robert Graysmith to do it. The venerable music pub has been peering at the cryptic messages on the band's website and have suggested that the release date for their eagerly awaited seventh album will be March 10th (in the UK new music comes out on Mondays, unlike the U.S. which does it on Tuesdays). No word yet on a label for the band, which is free of their contract with Parlophone/Capitol. Below is an example of one of their coded images:

Veepstakes Underway!

Wes Clark theorizes on how wide a "wide stance" is...

Things are looking good for Hillary Clinton -- up in the polls, on 5 of the Sunday gabfests without a gaffe, her health care plan is being taken seriously. The only bad news is the Republicans seem to be as excited as she is to have her as the nominee. President Bush, once again wired into his Rovian brain, predicted a Hilary win this weekend. The good news is, this guy also predicted a Republican House and Senate in 2006 and a quick victory in Iraq.

So now Team Hillary can start the process of trotting out VP picks. Look carefully at her recent string of endorsements: Vilsack, Bayh, and Wes Clark. All three of these guys have to be considered front-runners, more so than Obama or any of her other primary opponents. My money is on Clark. I saw them in a surprise joint appearance last week and Clark really brings the right kind of balance to the ticket. He made a football quarterback analogy when asked about General Petraeus (the quarterback doesn't say it can't be done even when the score is 20-0) that may have made a bunch of liberal New Yorkers eyes glaze. For voters who aren't sure about Hillary however, here is a way of viewing the world that they can feel comfortable with. His military experience helps to shore up her perceived weakness in relating to the armed forces and is directly relevant to the war in Iraq. You heard it here first!