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This is an excellent video produced by General Motors Europe, and packaged and posted online by theautochannel.com (boy, and if you ever wondered about the Michigan accent, take a listen to the woman in the AutoChannel spots at the beginning and end of the clip. “Daaaaht Caaahm“).
I take the following points from this little window into the design process:
- These guys are pros. Mr. Lo, your folks are on the right track.
- Using a spoiler to significantly change aerodynamics on a small car is something of a lost art, but I’m glad to see the Saab is there, making a great leap forward. In the case of the Saab 9-1x, the spoiler makes an even larger difference than with many other cars simply because it helps to avoid the pitfalls of the blunt rear shape (blunt-end causes drag due to flow separation). I’m happy to see this type of attention to detail.
- Concept cars used to be mostly about fanciful ideas that weren’t truly ready for technical execution. In this round, Saab has proven that many or most of the technical details are worked out while the car is built as a concept, and this video shows us a few more of those examples. I like that, because it means that the Saab 9-1x can be built more directly from the concept.
Question: Do all designers wear black suits and white shirts to work everyday? It’s becoming a trend, methinks.
9 responses so far ↓
1 Wulf
// Apr 20, 2008 at 12:43 pm
Is there something like a Michigan accent? I always thought Michiganders speak pretty much neutral American English. Unless you go oop in da UP, eh?
2 Saaby
// Apr 20, 2008 at 1:04 pm
Oh there’s definitely an accent.
3 conor
// Apr 21, 2008 at 5:30 am
Its a toned-down canadian accent, i can hear it in my aunts/uncles when they visit.
4 eggsngrits
// Apr 21, 2008 at 5:48 am
Here’s da proof:
http://www.michigannative.com/ma_home.shtml
5 eggsngrits
// Apr 21, 2008 at 10:42 am
conor: I agree. I also hear it as “Wisconsin Light”. The two together give you the Michigan accent, eh?
6 Wulf
// Apr 21, 2008 at 12:38 pm
Thanks for the great link.
After living here for 14 years (with a 2 year break in CA), I guess I don’t really notice it anymore.
7 The Fop
// Apr 21, 2008 at 6:27 pm
The pitfalls of the blunt rear shape? Suggest Wunibald Kamm might have had something to say on the subject…
8 Tompa
// Apr 21, 2008 at 8:24 pm
Richard Shaw says that the goal of the 9-x design is.. I got to have it.. Well..Then produce it! Because I got to have it!
9 eggsngrits
// Apr 21, 2008 at 10:02 pm
Fop: the Kamm back is accompanied by a body taper that the 9-1x does not exhibit. Kamm would agree with the statement.