I am !! :toetap:

LOL

Well hell, when you you've been raised on Slim Jims, admiring Snookie on MTV, and drinking Redbulls your bound to have a hell of a short attention span.

Well, that's certainly an interesting counterpoint to those who have criticized Forum members for suggesting that there was an Asian design influence.......:toetap: As for "snippet views" - that's exactly what many have been saying in different words, that the various sections of the car are not well integrated.

It seems to me that by Peters' own words many of the objections voiced about the design have now been confirmed.

A.D.D. - Attention Deficit Design? :lol:

Vindication is sweet sometimes - especially when it comes from the "horses mouth"..................:rofl:

Is it me, or does it look a little like a shark ready to bite
 

Or like a Mako shark that already ate in this pic

http://goaheadtakethewheel.com/rwrt/...1/IMG_4643.jpg[/QUOTE]

Thanks for the write up. Looking forward to seeing it in person for sure!

:yesnod:

Many, many years ago, the Asian car companies set up design studios in the US, on the west coast. Why????? They understood that if their cars were to appeal to the American buyer, then they needed to design their cars for the American taste in styling. They also understood that exporting their cars to America was paramount to their financial success, as their market for "home" sales was limited.

Now, we are trying to design the All American sports car, The Corvette, to fit the Asian taste in automobile styling. WTF. Very few Corvettes will be exported to Japan, Korea, China, etc. The bulk of the Corvette sales will be to the lower 48.

I'm a redneck hillbilly, born in Arkansas and living in Missouri, and that's where I drive my Corvettes. I don't live in a cramped little city in Japan, Korea or China. When I look at my Corvettes, I see them in their totality, not in little "snippet views".

I don't recall saying that they're designing the car to fit the Asian taste.
Sorry if I worded that in such a manner as to lead to that conclusion.

If you were to walk the halls of Art Center in Pasadena, or the design shops and fab shops in Southern California, you will see a significant Asian population. Often thats second or even third generation. I'm not sure exactly why it is that way, but there seems to be a lot of interest among the Asian population in designing cars. Typically Art Center gets way more applications and portfolios for admission to the Transportation Design program than they accept. In the end, only very advanced and talented students get in, and the ratio is very mixed. certainly the "Average American" is a minority.

I mention that only as background to illustrate where design values and trends come from. Look around, its not just cars, but other products as well, theres a lot of surface activity on products today, much more so than years back.
Many people think that this is a trickle down form the Japanese designs that are what I called "Snippet views". But, they've been Americanized, and what we see today is more of a hybrid, or a melting pot of sorts.

Look at the Lexus LF LC concept. Lots of stuff going on, but extremely well resolved. Done in So Cal, at Calty, by Ian Cartabiano and Edward Lee for exterior, and William Chergosky and Ben Chang for interior.

American studio, with a melting pot of designers.

A synonym for this statement would be that they are immature.

I think that I'd be quicker to say that if there wasn't soooooo much time spent in the wind tunnel. Everything we mentioned about the exterior had a reply that made sense, at least to me. I went into the event thinking it'll be a cool event to experience, to I really, really want one a used one in a few years when I can afford it.

Bwright, nice post.

I wonder what Porsche and BMW were thinking after this was released. In the past, I am not so sure Porsche thought of the Vette to be a huge threat to the 911. Now??

We did also semi-joke about there being a 4 seat Vette in the future citing the Fisker which received a Vette engine, and what the Porsche Panamera has done. Not much response when that was asked, either in disbelief I'd ask such a dumb question OR that who knows? Talk about a thread derailment. lol Carry on. :)

Granracing - I agree with you all the way for every part of the car except the rear fascia. Matter of fact, I have often wondered if the design team ran out of budget on the rear fascia because so much money had been spent developing and testing the shape forward of that...

TWO WORDS.... LARRY SHINODA

S-H-I-N-O-D-A

Sounds Japanese to me! Who's that crazy *** guy? oh yeah....something with the Corvette and the Mustang....hmmmmm

Interesting...I always felt that way about the C5 and even more so the C6 rear end....sort of like the designers ran out of ideas and just lopped off the back and added round taillights.

The rear of the C2,C3 and even the C4 looked sexy....the C5 and C6...no way. IMHO the C5/C6 rear was the weakest point visually. I guess for some the C7 upholds that tradition?

Just a camera phone shot, but think it better shows the rear end of the car.

http://i922.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps47e3cc63.jpg

Some things to think about when viewing specific parts of a car vs taking in the entire car as a whole: what's it do to the flow of air over, around, under, or through the car? The ass-end of a car is just as important as the front of the car when it comes to aero. I know it may seem like they just designed the ass of the cars (C5/C6/C7) in a vacuum, or they ran out of ideas, or ... (I've heard them all... :)) but in truth they didn't. They had to balance aero and styling to try and keep the Cd down.

jas

Best thread I have read all week. I enjoy the input from the lovers and the haters. If you do not like something you have the right to voice that. Same with the people who love the car. Nice that there are no personal attacks.
I have placed a own payment on a C7. I have not ordered. I would really like to see the colors better then pictures.
Bill. Save the wave...

I think perhaps you miss the point. It's not about the ethnic ancestry of the individual designers, it's about the cultural and societal influences driving the design.

Larry Shinoda was a "born in the USA" American of Japanese ancestry. He was about as hard core an all American car guy as it gets - street racing in LA as a kid, won the NHRA Nationals in 1955, kicked out of the Art Center College of Design, etc, etc, etc - all of this long before the GM and Ford times. The fact that he was of Japanese ancestry is totally irrelevant.

The point about the C7 is that the chief designer - a guy named Tom Peters ( funny, I don't see any London Taxi cab or Morris Minor design influences.........:D) has said there were Asian design influences. That's as in cultural and societal, not ethnic.

There is a difference between an individual's ethnicity and their cultural and societal values.

:cheers:

Ever heard of the politician that gives a stump speech in a Union hall and degrades "big Business" etc and then he goes across the street to the Chamber of Commerce and degrades "unions".

Called talking out both sides of your mouth, I believe.

Tom Peters says one thing while this is said elsewhere...

".....the Corvette remains an American affair...........From a business case, the car is done for North America first," Reuss said. "Anything else that happens because we made a fundamentally sound car is extra benefit."

Yes.

Well, I wouldn't go so far as to lump Tom Peters and politicians in the same general category................. I never met a politician who didn't "speak out of both sides of their mouth" or know how to slickly cater to different audiences - and I spent 40+ years in a career that required me to interact with them on a daily basis............:ack:

A lot of words in your reply but I highlighted the part from your post....

",Also, theres a significant Asian influence, and their design tends to reflect that it's difficult to view cars as a whole in their tight cities, and the designs are driven by 'snippet views'."

Either you said it or Tom Peters said it. It was said, and I replied.

My post was factual a to why the Asian companies set up design studios in the US. They were not to design cars for the Asians living in California but for the Americans living in Wichita, Chicago, Tampa, Rutland, Billings, Atlanta, San Antonio, etc.