Gojirra99

Car Design News, a website produced by and for the automobile designers of the world, has polled its own audience of designers and design students to discover which car auto artists themselves believe to be the best designed :


Mar 24, 2006 – As part of our recent survey, we asked Car Design News readers to vote for their favourite current production car design. The response produced some fascinating results, with the Aston Martin V8 Vantage being voted the clear favourite from over a thousand responses. While other 'Best Design' contests are largely made up of votes from journalists, the voters for this survey were mostly automotive designers and students of car design.


The top ten rankings are:

1st: Aston Martin V8 Vantage

2nd: Mercedes CLS

3rd: Aston Martin DB9

4th: Bugatti Veyron

5th: Lamborghini Gallardo

6th: BMW 5 Series

7th: Audi TT

8th: Alfa Romeo Brera

9th: BMW 6-Series

10th: Lotus Elise

This result represents an impressive result for Ford-owned Aston Martin, with first and third places for the V8 Vantage and DB9 respectively. It's also surprising because the two models are fairly similar in appearance which suggests that if one of these models did not exist, the remaining model would have won by an even greater margin. Indeed, the scores for all three models of Aston Martin (V8 Vantage, DB9 and Vanquish) were higher than for any other brand; Porsche, Mercedes, Lamborghini and BMW included.

The second-placed Mercedes CLS is in some respects an even more impressive result, given that it is a large four door sedan – albeit one with some coupe DNA in its design. For it to score higher than its sports car siblings, the SLK, SL and SLR McLaren, is an impressive achievement. Similarly the high ranking of the BMW 5 Series, ahead of the sister 6-Series coupe and Z4 sports car, is a significant achievement.

European models dominated the results, with relatively few nominations for American or Japanese designs, despite 52% of votes being from the North America or Asia-Pacific regions. While this might reflect the higher presence of premium brands and more exotic models, it also suggests there's an ongoing respect for European automotive design that appeals to designers' sense of 'beauty' regardless of their nationality.

The top American score was for the Ford GT, followed by the Ford Mustang, whilst the best Japanese design was voted as the new Honda Civic 5-door ahead of the Infiniti G35 coupe and Nissan 350Z - and ahead of the Lamborghini Murcielago, Ferrari 430 and Bentley Continental GT – another exceptionally impressive result for such a mainstream practical car.

Examining the results more closely by profession also throws up some revealing results. Looking solely at professional OEM automotive designers, the Mercedes CLS would have ranked first, followed by the Aston Martin V8 Vantage, with the BMW 5 Series and Aston Martin DB9 close behind. If we look only at design students however their clear preference for exotic sports cars is more marked with the Alfa Romeo Brera ranked in second place behind the Aston V8 and just ahead of the Mercedes CLS, and the wild Lamborghini Murcielago and Gallardo in fourth and fifth places respectively.

Other surprises of the survey included the low rating of Renault, Chrysler and Mazda models, perhaps reflecting the relatively unglamorous nature of their brands and production car line-up as opposed to their strong reputation for concept car design

source with pics : CLICK HERE

LexFather

It seperate news, the average I.Q of a Car Design reader is 12, matching their age.

spwolf

lol, true!!!!

mmarshall

Yes.....a couple of points above us here in CAR CHAT.

( Just kidding )

Seriously, I do agree with the Ford GT as the most beautiful American design, but just TRY and get in and out of one....I have.

GFerg

I dont mind the list. I like all those cars from a design stand point(well, minus the 5-series). The only car I would add is the 3GS.

mmarshall

While styling, to some extent, of course, is personal taste, I can understand the low ranking of Renault and Mazda vehicles. The new Mazdas, while excelling in chassis and steering dynamics and to a lesser extent in interior quality and workmanship, IMO tend to have somewhat awkward-looking exteriors, and about the only way you can accurately describe Renault styling is that it is done by French pastry chefs after they have had a couple rounds of French wine.

LexFather

Uhh no.

I wasn't looking for ANY Lexus to be on that list. Nor any Toyotas. The list is ridiculous.
1. I love Aston Martins but honestly, they all look the same. The DB9 and AmV-8 look identical. Its the same thing, different size. Gorgous? Hell yes. Both, nope. If your going to do that, might as well throw the Vanquish in there.
2. Mercesdes CLS. I can see that, hate it or love it, a grand design. Looks like no other sedan, forget the dumb 4 door coupe moniker.
3. Buggati. You got to be kidding. Hideous. The front is awful, the sides are awful, the back is the only decent angle. I would suspect the top view is the best, b/c the engine is totally uncovered and you can see that. Does it look different? Of course it does. If your company spent over $400 million to make a car and sells it for 1.3 mill, it WILL look different. But this is a bad design, it looks nothing like past Bugattis and I don't see anyone copying this car.
4. Gallardo. Wrong Lambo. Should be the Murci. The Gallardo looks sensational, don't get me wrong but is much fussier than the Murci. The Murci design INFLUENCES the Gallardo, not the other way around. Somehow, Audi managed to make the Murci look like a Lambo and modern with its crisp lines and keeping the scissor doors. Add the functional scoops that open at speed, that is great design.
5. BMW 5 and 6? I think we can safely say if any BMW deserves the design award, its the 7. No other large, expensive sedan in modern times broke so much ground, no matter love or hate. I don't like it, but its INFLUENCED the OTHER BMWs, from the 6's backpack to the 5s headlights to the 3 NOT having a Backpack and playing it safer. The 7 was the BMW that defines their new current design.
6. Audi TT, old but its effect is still relevant today. The 350Z and others are influenced by the exterior, the interior influenced EVERYONE. And looking at it today, what 7 years old, it doesn't seem too familar or old yet. And looking at the Audi spy pics, the new one will look pretty similar, showing how happy they are with the design.
7. Brera, I haven't seen in person but from what everyone writes, simply gorgous. The front end is very dynamic, not a fan of the rear but very different yet being distictly Alfpha.
8. Elise, yeah it looks fun and sporty but not influential.


But who cares right, just my lil ole opinion

bitkahuna

iTrader: (20)

I agree with these - they're all stunning.

I agree with these as distinctive very attractive volume models.

Maybe - it's functional and distinctive at least.

I don't get it.

This design is ancient now isn't it? It was neat when it came out though.

Don't know this.

Iceman

Remember that these are DESIGN professionals. That field is an interesting blend of art and science. Designers tend to like things that are ground-breakingly different or stunningly original. Those things tend to be, not coincidentally, "polarizing" items that the mass public either loves or hates. As a small example, designers worldwide love Chris Bangle because he has gotten famous for his DESIGNS. While it's true many people think they look awful and have ruined some wonderful-looking cars, the very debate about the designs and the fact that the guy's name has become an adjective in common speech ("Bangle-ized, anyone?") make him a hero in design circles.

Of course the world's BEST designers realize that, as they say, form follows function and that an object's design needs to be in harmony with its use and environment. Ikea furniture, Bang & Olufsen home theaters, and Apple personal electronics are good examples. In cars, I would personally hold up the Acura NSX as a pinnacle of design excellence.

LexFather

And I totally agree with you these guys are the professionals here but also, they don't knock each other when they are DEAD WRONG and we have some of the ugliest cars ever made all at once. But its "different". No its just ugly. I have found in the last 10 years, cars are bigger, bulkier, uglier with a few bright spots.

mmarshall

2. Agreed...the CLS does look different from most sedans, but the roofline reminds me of a humpback whale with ( like the Dodge Magnum ) slit-holes for windows.

3. Agreed.......the Veyron is a classic mixture of beauty and awkwardness.

8. The Elise not only looks sporty but IS sporty.......in the extreme. Many people consider it
the best-handling car in the American market.

mmarshall

I agree that Bangle is a hero or a zero depening on who you talk to. However, my vote goes for a zero....as does that of much of the auto press and many more former BMW enthusiasts.

doug_999

I can't believe the article had thumbs up and thumbs down in it. Weird!

GFerg

Good design may always be on our shopping list when we look for a new car, but what’s to say that a vehicle is well designed? To some, design means the overall shape of the car, while to others it’s the way the car fits its function, how it addresses the details or even how well the car performs.

To help take a look at just what good design is and choose the best-designed vehicles sold today, we enlisted the help of several top-name design experts in the U.S. currently working outside the industry.

http://www.forbesautos.com/advice/to...gn/design.html


Top 10 Best-Designed Vehicles


1. Mini Cooper
2. Chrysler 300
3. Land Rover LR3
4. Infiniti FX45
5. Bentley Continental GT
6. Rolls-Royce Phantom
7. Aston Martin V12 Vanquish
8. Cadillac CTS
9. Toyota Prius
10. Koenigsegg CCX

Trexus

I keep in mind this is only Forbes opinion. Obviously they're sitting in a cave somewhere and they don't specialize in automobiles...