Design without tradition? Or with too much?
03/13/2022
When looking at two Buick cars ( Roadmaster Convertible and Riviera Gran Sport) recently, we noticed how little the two cars, which were only a dozen years apart, had in common. Hardly anyone who is not familiar with American cars would have guessed that both models came from the same manufacturer.
The Americans seem to take a much more relaxed approach to design DNA than German manufacturers anyway. Mercedes-Benz, for example , developed the front sections of its cars relatively cautiously over the decades.
However, there are also breaks at Mercedes-Benz. The front of a Vision EQXX, for example, has little to do with the rest of the model range. And sometimes the design also needs a fresh start.
The fact that you can go a little too far in emphasizing brand recognition can be seen at BMW. The kidney grille already adorned the brand's pre-war cars; it became steadily smaller until the 1980s, when it grew again, initially on the multi-cylinder vehicles. In the modern era, however, it became almost monstrous.
Finally, let's take another example: Lamborghini. What are the design similarities between the Miura and Countach, which are less than a decade apart? There are hardly any, with the Countach a radically different path was taken, which has been more or less continuously pursued since then ...
P.S. Perhaps our readers know of a few particularly interesting examples of new design beginnings or continuous design development?
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