Show cars provide designs for the future

Show cars provide designs for the future

By Bernie Walsh

Nothing grabs more attention, earns more media space, or
stimulates more conversation than the often-radical concept
vehicles that appear at leading international car shows.

Indonesian consumers are likely to be treated to a range of
these concepts of the automotive future at this year's
Association of Indonesian Automotive Industries Jakarta Auto
Show, to be held at the Jakarta Convention Center from July 24 to
August 5.

Do these dramatic, futuristic exercises have any connection to
reality?

Are they as fanciful and unlikely as they often appear?

The answer, simply, is no. Few carmakers display concept cars
that fail to give at least a glimpse of what the future might
look like.

Hyundai's well-publicized HCD series, beginning with the HCD-I
in 1992, is showing up in recent vehicles, such as the new
Elantra model introduced during 1995. The Honda FSX show car,
that first appeared in Legend-sized form at Tokyo in 1993,
clearly influenced many of the design features in the Ascot, an
Accord twin that sells on the Japanese domestic market, as well
as in various European locations.

The flat side panels and sharp intersection lines that were
revealed in the FSX, plus many other features, including the
basic grille shape that is not strictly Honda-traditional, all
appear, in slightly muted form, in the Ascot.

Another good example is the Toyota MR2. The first hint of the
company's desire to build an accessible mid-engined sports car
was in 1983, only a year before the car appeared in production
guise.

The styling of the new Mercedes-Benz E-Class, which goes on
sale in May, with its striking front end, utilizing four oval
lights surrounding a traditional Mercedes grille, was previewed
more than a year before introduction in the "study coupe", a two-
door styling exercise that used almost exactly the same nose
design.

The German company, more or less locked into its traditional
grille design, had to devise a way of making its new E-Class
visually distinctive and used the oval headlight theme of the
study coupe to "soften" market reaction before the new car's
introduction.

So, while many concept cars might appear to be little more
than mere fantasies at their first show appearances, in reality,
they usually have a distinct and practical role to play.

This may range from gauging public reaction to new design
ideas to teasing future buyers with what often turn out to be
pretty accurate indications of what they will be driving in three
years' time.

Often, show cars can be used to acclimatize buyers to new
shapes and proportions, even if initial reactions tend towards
being negative.

For example, Japan's seemingly lackluster efforts at the 1993
Tokyo show, where many observers speculated that the country's
designers were "losing the plot" on car designs, are revealed now
as an indication of an inward-looking direction the industry was
intending to take.

The latest crop of new Japanese cars shows the same stylistic
direction that was evident at Tokyo in 1993. These are styled
with an emphasis on pleasing the local market, which never really
liked the rounded shapes that were very much in vogue during the
early 1990s.

Engine bay aesthetics -- once only seriously addressed in show
cars -- are now recognized as an important part of a vehicle's
overall image and there are few manufacturers today that don't
spend a reasonable slice of their development funds making sure
the under-hood appearance is compatible with the exterior.

Show cars are also an opportunity for designers to gauge
public reaction to new trim fabrics and colors; the outrageous
trims and upholstery colors used in today's show cars might not
look so unlikely in a few years' time.

Another interesting phenomenon with concept vehicles is the
fact that many people tend to overlook the technical innovations
that are often put on display for the first time. Many of the
forward-thinking ideas that are part of the show circuit are
taken up in mass production three years later.

Although a lot of the advanced technology is slow to reach the
Indonesian market, some of the things that seemed pure fantasy in
show cars are now reality on roads in Japan, Europe and the
United States. These include driver aids such as satellite
navigation, monitors that warn if a driver is getting drowsy at
the wheel, or other less-obvious ingenuities.

So, rear-seat air bags, micro headlights, distance-warning
devices, or even distance-control devices, are indicators of what
drivers will one day see as a regular part of their environment.

There are also less visible innovations in many of the flashy
concept cars.

These might include design breakthroughs in the area of
engines -- such as the ultra lean-burn Toyota concept car at the
1993 Tokyo motor show -- or new suspension configurations similar
to the ingenious system developed by Nissan, also seen at Tokyo
in 1993, that first appeared in production form in the new
Maxima, then in the latest-model Pulsar.

The fact is that the designers showing their future wares
today have a considerable influence on what we will find
acceptable, what we will actually like, in an aesthetic sense, in
the future.

Similar to the clothing fashion industry, top car designers
are able to initiate trends, then nurture them as their concepts
are picked up and adapted by others.

Guided by the culture of the market they are designing for,
the top stylists are usually able to predict pretty accurately
what will, and what won't be acceptable.

This does not always happen. Japanese designers found out to
their detriment that although the rounded "female" shapes adopted
during the early 1990s were in vogue and popular in most other
markets, the domestic market didn't really accept them.

This is largely because of a Japanese culture that has
generally favored hard edges and straight lines. This can be
traced back to ancient warrior costumes that contrast noticeably
with rounded metal armor -- following the form of the human body
-- that, in the past, was used by Europeans.

However, at the end of the day, there is a certain consistency
in what will eventually prove pleasing to the eye and, therefore,
likely to induce a buyer to act.

Generally speaking, a new car buyer, given an open choice of
what is available on the market, will choose the product that is
considered the best looking.

Designing a car that is fashionable and trendy to the extreme
can bring problems too. As quickly as a style becomes
fashionable, it tends to become unfashionable. This is why many
carmakers produce designs that may first be judged as too safe or
conservative.

Doing this, they are avoiding the flavor-of-the-moment trap
and, if the shape is well-balanced and essentially pleasing, will
help ensure the design's longevity.

However, if a car doesn't get its appearance right in the
first place, then no amount of clever marketing, or even
rock-bottom pricing, is likely to make it succeed in the
marketplace.

So, yes, show cars are a relevant and valuable force in the
continuing evolvement of the passenger vehicle. Fanciful they
might appear but within every radical shape and outlandish idea,
there is always a solid, practical core.