Chris Bangle - BMW Lovos Design Study Has us Wondering About Art

It must be fun to be a car designer. Unless, of course, your name becomes synonymous with a specific styling trend that very few seem to appreciate... but we digress. It definitely seems that 24-year-old Pforzheim University graduate Anne Forschner had a good time coming up with her BMW Lovos concept, which can alternatively look either like a frightened porcupine or svelte salmon, depending on its needs at the time.

The exterior of the Lovos – which somewhat ironically stands for Lifestyle of Voluntary Simplicity – is theoretically constructed from just one fully exchangeable part that recurs 260 times. Each exterior piece is covered in solar photovoltaic cells and can hinge on a substructure underneath to follow the sun or act as individual airbrakes. We can only assume the concept would be powered by electricity, as it makes our hairs stand up on end.

See the concept in all its glory in our gallery below and check out the rest of the story (in Russian or translated) at cardesign.ru.









[Source: cardesign.ru]

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Skoda Readying Fabia Hatchback Scout - Official Design Sketches

Yep, it's another faux-by-four variant from Skoda. In addition to the Octavia, Roomster and Fabia Estate Scout models, the Czech automaker is now getting ready to add the Scout badge to the Fabia hatchback. These official photos - courtesy of the European trademark office, show that the 5-door Fabia will receive the same visual off-road styling cues as the other Scout models meaning plenty of black plastic cladding all-around and new roof bars, and well, that's about it.

As with the Fabia Estate Scout, the hatchback model will be offered exclusively with a front-wheel drive layout while expect to see a similar engine line-up as in the standard car. That means 1.4-liter and 1.6-liter petrol engines with 85 and 105HP outputs respectively as well as two diesel powerplants, an 80HP 1.4-liter TDI and a 105HP 1.9-liter TDI.

The new Fabia Scout hatchback should make its premiere in one of the forthcoming international auto shows in Europe.

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Audi R7 Concept Study: CGI Designer Creates Uber Cool Porsche Panamera-Like Sports Sedan

We don't know if the VW Group's takeover of Porsche will eventually lead to a Panamera spin-off, but if Audi does gets the green light to develop such a model, Gabriel Rhabi's R7 design study would be a really great point to start from. The French artist has captured the essence of the brand's design DNA creating a sporty four-door sedan that is clearly recognizable as an Audi yet refreshing in a first-generation TT sort of way.

Maybe even more importantly, Rhabi avoided any concept-style gimmicks as the design is totally acceptable for a production version.

This isn't the first time we've hosted a conceptual proposal from the talented French designer who has a thing for the brand with the four rings. You'll be surprised to know that, despite the amazing quality of his work, Rhabi isn't a professional car designer but a CGI artist, video game and graphical software programmer with a passion for anything on four-wheels.

Merci for the photos Gabriel! - You can see more of Rhabi's work here

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BMW Blue Dynamics Land Yacht: A Conceptual Proposal for a Wind-Powered Sail Car

While BMW has its eyes set on its 'EfficientDynamics' programme, designer Stefan Radev decided to take a different approach to environmentally-friendly vehicles with the creation of a conceptual wind-powered bimmer. Dubbed Blue Dynamics, the concept study is similar in design to Richard Jenkin's Ecotricity Greenbird that smashed the world land speed record for wind-powered vehicles in March 26, 2009, achieving a top speed of 126.2 mph or 202.9 km/h.

The renderings show a three-wheeler land yacht (or so to say) equipped with a rigid sail that can be moved either automatically according to the wind direction or manually by the driver via a special control unit inside the cockpit. All of this in theory, of course.

"The challenge was to incorporate the style of a premium vehicle with the exclusiveness of a yacht, powered by an environmental force-wind," says Radev. "It is an interpretation of the idea through the eyes of a premium automobile brand like BMW, which has taken a path of creating environmentally-friendly cars that carry a distinctive style and emotional character."

[Source: Stefanradev , Via: Autobloggreen]

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Hyundai sketches out 2011 Sonata YF, Official Presentation Pegged for Sep. 10

This just in from Hyundai: the South Korean automaker published a pair of teaser sketches previewing the all-new 2011 Sonata YF. Unfortunately for Hyundai, the drawings were released only a few hours after a set of official shots leaked all over the internet. And even though the actual production model is very close to the vehicle depicted on the drawings, let's just say that it's not as aggressively styled as the design sketches imply.

According to Korean media, the next-generation model of Hyundai's mid-size sedan will be fully revealed on September 10, so stay tuned for more details.

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Toyota Rumored to Present Prius Based Hybrid Coupe to Challenge Honda's CR-Z

If you believe that a coupe version of the Prius sounds like a good idea, then you'll be happy to know that reports coming in from Japan say that Toyota is actually working on a dedicated sporty hybrid model. Best Car magazine went one step further by publishing an artist's impression of the Prius-based coupe in its latest issue.

Needless to say that the illustration is nothing more than a speculative take on the Prius coupe and shouldn't be taken very seriously. For what it matters, the Japanese magazine claims in its report that Toyota is considering to employ a famous Italian design house like Pininfarina or Guigiaro's Italdesign for the coupe's styling.

If the reports turns out to be true (now don't go making plans yet...), the Prius based sports car would compete head-on with Honda's dedicated hybrid coupe, the CR-Z (pictured below) that is set to be introduced in final production form at this fall's Tokyo Motor Salon with sales expected to begin the following year.

[Via: Best Car]

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Nissan R-TX Concept Study for the Race-Track Enthusiast

One of the concept studies that caught our attention at the 2009 Degree Show at the National Waterfront Museum in Swansea, UK, was the Nissan R-TX that was penned by design student, Matt Jones. While the sports car's styling is heavily influenced by the Nissan GT-R, what makes this concept proposal pretty interesting is its modular construction.

What we, or rather Jones means is that the driver can remove the vehicle's front, rear and roof panels along with the wraparound front windshield transforming the R-TX from a road-going sports coupe to a KTM X-Bow-like track car.

The designer says that aside from lowering the weight of the sports car and (supposedly) improving its aerodynamics, a key aspect during the design development of the R-TX concept was the driver's emotions।

[Source: Swansea University , Via: Carbodydesign]

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Fiat Sentiero: Concept Study for a Compact Pick Up Truck

No, Fiat's marriage with the Chrysler Group has not spawned its first offspring. What you see pictured here is the work of Dragos Prodan, a 2009 industrial design graduate of George Enescu University in Iasi, Romania. The Fiat Sentiero, which was created as part of Prodan's final year project, is a conceptual proposal for a compact-sized pickup truck for the European market. The designer states that the vehicle's styling is based on Fiat's current design language and Italian design in general - whatever that means.

We also see a "tee-bit" of the 2006 Dodge Rampage pickup truck concept in the overall shape of the Sentiero, but then again, we could be wrong.

The concept study features several storage compartments that include those behind the doors, the rear bed and even once incorporated in the tailgate. The Romanian designer says that the proposed engine for the Sentiero is a 3.0-liter V6 diesel with an output of around 250 HP driving all-four wheels.

[Photos: Dragos Prodan , Via: Disenoart]

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