SUSO_Millechili

The Lab Ii

What is it with Italians? First Becks gets the slimline treatment, now Ferrari launch their very own car dieting clinic.

What do you do when you’ve pushed an engine to its pinnacle and streamlined to the hilt? The only option if you want to go even faster is to shed the pounds. Last year Ferrari unveiled a design study for a new small supercar, the Millechili, target weight 1000kg. Things must have gone well, because they have just announced the creation of the Mille Chili Laboratory - a secretive facility offering eight whizz-kid students the chance to learn from the best as well as contribute their own ideas to the future of Ferrari. The focus is solely on taking the weight reduction methods uncovered by Ferrari to the next level.

In their words:

“It is a great pleasure to inaugurate this laboratory, which will work on a very important issue for the future. The experience confirms that constant collaboration between private industry and University is a fundamental part, and contributes to growth for both parties: the University has to work with not exclusively theoretical issues, while the industry can confront itself with new ideas."

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Categories Design Tags Cars Design

By on 19/2/09

lowrider_family

Low And Slow

Turning the jalopy into an ethnic banner.

The Lowrider has a strong claim to be one of the most grossly misunderstood subcultural icons of Americana. Spawned on the boulevards of East L.A, these hydraulic ‘carruchas’ have been embedded in gangland culture by Hollywood and in turn the white middle-classes of the United States.

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Categories Culture Design Tags Design Cars

By on 21/10/08

Olaf Hauschulz

Olaf Hauschulz

If David Lynch took pictures of cars.

A period spent working in the darkroom of Mercedes HQ, Stuttgart, awakened Olaf Hauschulz’s love of cars; he’s since made his name as an automotive photographer. In this particular set he creates a sense of cinematic theatricality that befits some of the world’s most desirable automobiles.

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Categories Photography Tags Cars Hauschulz Photography

By on 18/9/08

A NOBLE PURSUIT

A Noble Pursuit

IN A FACTORY NOT SO FAR AWAY.

Picture the scene: An English Gent reaches a certain point in his life and thinks “Right, I’m going to buy a proper British sports car.” His wife says “No, Darling. Don’t be silly!” But off he trots. He always fancied a Jaguar, but they are now owned by Ford. How about a Bentley? No, Volkswagen have got their ruthlessly efficient paws on that. “TVR (named after the founder, Trevor) must be British”, he thinks. But even they have gone - the new toy of a 28 year old Russian oligarch. Our intrepid Gent, determined to enjoy his mid-life crisis, has nearly given up hope...

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Categories Design Sport Tags Cars Design

By on 11/6/08

MASTERY IN MONACO

Mastery In Monaco

"IT'S A BADGE OF HONOUR. IF YOU DON'T COME OFF THIS TRACK WITH PAINT ON YOUR TYRES YOU HAVEN'T TRIED HARD ENOUGH." MARTIN BRUNDLE

Is anyone else getting a little tiny bit tired of the Lewis Hamilton post-race persona? It’s that meeting-the-parents, slimy kind of maturity that just seems to rub me up the wrong way. The faultless analysis of his pit strategy, the holier than thou praise for his team, the underlying arrogance that makes Formula 1 racing about him and no one else. Media sentiment is still very much on his side and, in spite of my bitter undertones suggesting that this has all gone to his head, so it should be.

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Categories Sport Tags Cars determination driving Motorsport speed Sport

By on 27/5/08

EXCLUSIVE OBSCURITY

Exclusive Obscurity

There are few things in this world that are at once insanely eccentric, staunchly traditional and devoutly practical. In most circumstances there is no room for tradition while technology and design are forging new and improved paths, especially in an environment that is obsessed with innovation - the motor industry. From the moment Henry Ford rolled out his Model T, the race has been on to be the most modern, the most advanced, the quickest, the safest.

How extraordinary, then, that a small, privately owned British car company, Bristol, has for 60 years turned its nose up at fashion and convention in favour of what some might see as archaic practices in car design. The styling is discreet, penned by aeroplane engineers rather than car designers. Bristol cars are an acquired taste:

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Categories Design Tags bristol bristol cars Cars creativity Design determination model T

By on 27/3/08

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