MALLINation

Fisker Sunset

After all is said and done the New York car show, or at least its preview days, gave a good sense of where the industry and its players are at as well as allowing me a close up look at some of this season’s most interesting designs.

Ford Taurus halved

The overall mood was glum but tempered by some bright spots. GM and Chrysler had drastically reduced floor space and bare bones presentations and displays. Ford on the other hand engaged with the press and with showgoers with a slot car track, a new Taurus that coheres around the driver as they sit in the seats before splitting apart again, and a display featuring submissions from their innovative Fiesta Movement social media campaign.

The newly roomy main hall was able to welcome Volkswagen – upstairs for the first time I remember, as well as Fisker automotive and a Mini display that featured astroturf and the artificial smell of fresh grass which I suspect is toxic.

Here were some of the sights of the show:

2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee

2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee

Chrysler’s in dire straits but if they can hang around for a year they should be able to launch a successor to what was once a best-seller. The current Grand Cherokee has some nice lines that fight with awkward detailing and lackluster quality of materials. The new version is nothing revolutionary but feels like a more substantial quality vehicle.

2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee

The front end is particularly well resolved with a sweeping hood bulge that meets the a-pillars, a handsome grille and headlamp treatment and very German lower body cladding. Even more impressive was the interior:

2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee

The wood was high quality fake, the dashboard trim satisfyingly seamless, but most impressive were the rich leather seating materials and the expensive looking piping around the seats themselves. This is easily the best looking interior of any Chrysler product I’ve ever seen. Now they just have to survive.

Fisker Karma

Fisker Karma and Sunset

Fisker Automotive is a startup dedicated to plug-in hybrid electric luxury vehicles. The Karma is far more stunning in person than in photos – low, wide and sleek with incredible presence. The same goes for the two-door Sunset convertible which at this stage is billed as a concept.

Fisker Sunset

I still don’t know whether designer Henrik Fisker, ex of Aston Martin among others, is for real or whether this is the second coming of Vector – a giant scheme designed to liberate people from deposits with exciting concepts that keep getting pushed back from actual production. What I do know is that with their voluptuous fenders and outrageously large wheels Fisker knows his proportions.

Fisker Sunset

Fisker Karma

From the back you can see the diamond shaped exhaust tips and how low both cars are.

Fisker Karma

You can see the huge bulging fender lines of the Karma with the back door open – the door itself is flared and contains the trailing edge of the bulge.

Fisker Karma

The front wheel cutout on the Karma shows the sure hand of a master designer – the radius of the fender flare is cambered to create a flate surface that houses the side reflector. Check out the low profile tires too.

Fisker Karma

Similarly the care taken to line up the bumper seam with the headlight washer unit with the whole outer edge of the light housing framed with LED lights. The projector-style main lighting units are staggered in both height, size, and protuberance.

Acura ZDX Prototype

Acura ZDX Prototype

Acura bills the ZDX, which made it’s debut in New York, as a prototype but it’s a thinly disguised version of a crossover that’s due to hit dealerships this fall. The fastback roof and rear glass have some overtones of sister company Honda’s products like the FCX fuell cell vehicle but overall this is one of Acura’s best looking recent vehicles and considerable more easy on the eye than competitors like BMW’s X6.  The wavelike plane over the rear wheels is especially nicely done, skirting a heavy look that can ruin this sort of neither-fish-nor-fowl layout.

Acura ZDX Prototype

The front is the least-pleasing aspect of the ZDX. The headlights are the least likely part to make production though their housing shape is probably accurate. Unfortunately Acura’s can-opener grille seems here to stay. While this is its least offensive application yet I hope that this begins to be phased out sooner rather than later.

GMC Terrain

GMC Terrain

GMC’s Terrain sharply divided viewers with some admiring it’s sharp angular theme and strong differentiation from Chevy’s platform-mate the Equinox. Others found the detailing to be too heavy. To be sure this is a truck that is very color and wheel combo sensitive. I found the fender bulges to be a bit cartoonish and the lower body cladding to be the wrong side of brutalist though I like the striking face with its strong grille form.

GMC Terrain

This shot of the rear of the Terrain shows how a darker color and flashier wheels can alter the looks from techno cool to something more, well downmarket looking. The shape of the rear glass is neat but the black plastic panel over the pillar looks cheap rather than classy.

Chevrolet Equinox

Chevy’s new Equinox is built on the same platform and mechanicals as GMC’s Terrian, but in a  far more attractive and less polarizing wrapper.

Nissan 370Z Convertible

Nissan 370Z Convertible

New York also saw the premier of Nissan’s droptop version of the latest Z. The previous incarnation was one of the rare convertibles that turned a handsome coupe ugly. Though the back end is still too bustle-like, the curved fenders soften the impact of losing the distinctive roof far better than on the previous model.

Nissan 370Z

The 370Z in general is full of intriguing curves and fillips that stay just this side of busy, like the comma-shaped front and rear lights and the buckle style doorhandles.

Nissan 370Z

Hyundai Nuvis

Hyundai Nuvis Concept

Hyundai’s design team is in the midst of transition with the Nuvis representing the last of Joel Piaskowsk’s supervised designs. Under him Hyundai has gone from an also ran to a real design contender and the Nuvis has some very interesting forms indeed.

In some ways the overall shape is reminiscent of Mazda’s concepts though the detailing is very different. The intersection of forms between the taillights, rear fender, roof, and sidelight is the most interesting area of the concept. The fender creeps up almost to the trailing edge of the roof, covering the pillar but not actually making it all the way to the top.

Hyundai Nuvis

The clean line that sweeps from the lower bumper vents up and over the headlamps, the bottom edge of the A-pillar and opens like an eye to create the side window opening before pinching over the rear fender is brilliant. Less brilliant is the heavy crushed grille treatment which seems constricted, especially in light of the airiness of the rest of the design.