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It's the Danish "Zenvo ST1 Supercar". Only 15 will ever be made, and 3 will be coming to the US....Web site with galleries and other info here....
http://www.zenvoautomotive.com/cars/gallery/
If the most beautiful typeface were to become a car, would this be it?
In terms of contemporary car design, I think the Bristol Fighter T is a lot more beautiful than the Zenvo. It manages to pull off that clever trick of referencing the design tradition of the earlier Bristols (in turn based on pre-war BMW), while clearly displaying things that are possible with modern materials and techniques that were not in Bristol Cars' heyday.
[Laurence Penney and I drove from Bristol to Bath in his 1960s Bristol in June. Very nice car.)
If this is about elegance, I’d prefer something like this.
Contemporary and having more self confidence in its design is another British car: http://www.astonmartin.com/en/cars/vanquish
It’s typeface is Optima – a bit conservative?
@ J. Weltin:
Aesthetics aside, though, it appears that the Vanquish does not use ordinary tires, but instead requires special tires that rest on a larger wheel, which are no doubt more expensive.
Of course, that is unlikely to be a significant concern for those in that car's intended market.
EDIT: Checking at a site called "Size My Tire", the Vanquish tires have an aspect ratio of 40%; this was shared by the first other type of car that I checked, a Chevrolet Corvette, although a Ford Econoline van had tires with an aspect ratio of 75%.
I hadn't realized there were so many different sizes of tire; I had thought there were only a very few standard sizes, one for cars, and bigger ones for trucks and buses.
But the rear tires on a Vanquish are wider than the front tires, which prevents normal tire rotation.
In the category of the Borgward, Wartburg, etc. I like this Humber, one of which is parked on my street. Of course, these are all much more humble cars than the supercar class with which the thread began.
Craig, while the subject of cars is categorically off-topic, I'd argue that getting a sense of the kind of cars that appeal to people who are also typophiles isn't any more off-topic than any other kind of design. Insofar as type design can be considered a branch of industrial design -- Briem first suggested to me this when he visited us in Vancouver many years ago --, this topic could be considered more on-topic than the graphic design talk here. Type and automobiles both have functional jobs to perform that are in part independent of their aesthetics (although their beauty may result from features that make them, respectively, more readable or more aerodynamic).
I hadn't realized there were so many different sizes of tire
What's really strange about tire measurements (at least in the US) is that they contain three different systems: inches (for the inside diameter), millimeters (for the width) and a percentage (for the ratio of "height" (inside to outside circles) to width).
John: I can credit Miles Newlyn to opening my eyes to interesting parallels between automotive (and nautical*) design and type design. And let's not forget where bézier curves come from! :-)
* In fact he's heavily into boats now!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/69998588@N00/
hhp
I really don't like the AM Vanquish: it looks too much like an American muscle car, all massive body and tiny head space. I prefer the more classic AM lines of the DB9 Coupe, although in general I don't think AM have made anything really elegant since the DB5.
@John You’re right about the AM Vanquish, the American muscle car look is a design feature that many modern cars share, unfortunately. Yet, i prefer the Vanquish over the new Porsche designs, which to my eyes are all too blunt and fat. The most beautiful Porsche was the 356, after that it never became the same.
So far, my type incomes are not enough for any of those cars, that’s why i stick to collect bicycles. Maybe one far day a Triumph or BMW 507 …
For me the two most beautiful cars ever made are the Citroën DS mentioned earlier and the Aston Martin DB4 GT Zagato.
Yes, the DB4 Zagato is lovely, and it reminded me of something I loved as a kid: the Lister 'knobbly bodies'.
Hrant, after considering it for a couple of days, I've decided that the pointy thing on the hood of the BMW 507 just ruins the whole car for me.
John, fair enough. In case it matters though (to me it's central) that element isn't just decoration - it's an air intake, for that amazing V8.
http://www.conceptcarz.com/view/photo/263913,2542/1957-BMW-507_photo.aspx
hhp
Laurence's Bristol
[Note hole beneath the grill for the handcrank handle.]
If you want something very functional, then how about the only car (that I know of) that could ever say its name: The Trabant?
I like the curves of car bodies from around 1952, whether Caddy, Jag or Roller.
They look good driving down main street, catching reflections.
My soft spot for things of that era may be because it’s my vintage too.
I don’t think those shapes have had much influence on my type designs, though.
I’ve long had a fascination with the wedge shape (mid-seventies: Countach, Esprit, Bricklin &c.), and have tried to implement it in type designs over the years, but never got beyond sketches and rough prototypes.
Maybe back to contemporary cars:
What typeface would be Renault’s Twizy electro car: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renault_Twizy ?
Which from its design is clearly derived from the avantgarde Smart.
Captured from commoncrawl.org on 19 Apr 2015. original URL
