McLaren F1 designer Peter Stevens has spoken out about the criticism surrounding several recent car designs, including the Ferrari Luce and Jaguar Type 01. Stevens, whose career also includes work with Lamborghini and BMW, believes some of the reaction has been blown out of proportion.
In a social media post, he pointed to what he described as repeated cycles of controversy, with attention shifting from the Ferrari Luce and Murray Group’s F1c to Jaguar’s latest design and Porsche’s Mission S. He also questioned some of the design choices seen on other recent concepts and production cars.
“It almost looks like the attention span of some, but not all, Instagram and Facebook readers/viewers is about three or four weeks.”
“The fuss and misunderstanding of the Ferrari Luce, followed by the fuss and misunderstanding of the Murray Group’s F1c solid fibreglass model, has subsided.”
“It has been replaced by the fuss and misunderstanding around the Jaguar Type 01, and now the new Porsche Mission S which may be petrol, hybrid or electric.”
Stevens highlighted work from Fiat and Renault as well, praising certain ideas while questioning others, particularly the increasing weight of electric vehicles and Renault’s apparent move away from lightweight engineering.
His main point was that new cars should not simply copy the appearance of older models. Instead, designers should take inspiration from the thinking and philosophy behind them.
“New cars should not be about feeding off the looks of past models but more about learning from their philosophy.”
Source: @peterstevensdesign
