Factory Five design contest thread

In reply to bbjones121:

While I do see near-term future designs becoming more angular like the current Lamborghini, I feel like curves hold up better over time compared to sharp creases. If you look at boxy 80s cars (even the good looking ones) they don't compare to the curves of 60's, or even 90s cars. That's my take anyway.

TCL1999 wrote: In reply to bbjones121: While I do see near-term future designs becoming more angular like the current Lamborghini, I feel like curves hold up better over time compared to sharp creases. If you look at boxy 80s cars (even the good looking ones) they don't compare to the curves of 60's, or even 90s cars. That's my take anyway.

Its when you combine the two that designs really stand the test of time. Then again, my favorite car of all time is a ferrari 575 m superamerica. If anyone has one of those and wants to give it to me, that would be awesome.

kreb wrote:

That's a lovely car, but I have one request: Can we please have a decently low sill height and good sight lines? Does the world really need another claustrophobic car where your head is just visible above the sills, and you've got massive blind spots at the rear quarters? I for one do not want this car to remotely resemble a Lotus 7, but we can recall one of that car's greatest virtues - a wide-open driving experience.

Actually, once you see the rear treatment for the roof you would be amazed on how THIN those rear A pillars are. The full Subaru rear glass lays down across the rear, the sills are very high as are the quarters but the sight line should not be impeded from the slope of the quarters and the short overhang.

bbjones121 wrote: That is a sweet design John. I really think this is what future sports cars are going to look like. They won't be bubbly, they will have shapes and lines similar to the F-22 raptor. Just look at the new proposed Lotus cars coming out in the next couple of years. You will notice how both Lamborghini and Ferrari have future concepts to mimic this new style. Even the Lexus LFA follows some similar lines. Anyways, nice work on the design. I think you could easily add a roof/rear top scoop to bring air down through an intercooler in the rear.

Again, this is really me modifying a design brought forth by someone else. I use it for reference cues but I can not claim it as my own.

Although IF I were to have a 2 door mid engine car built it would look like this.

Here is my other design...

It only LOOKS like a Toyota Sponsifier design resembling Miss Piggy.

xabier wrote: okay, I have created a photobucket account so I will upload it once again, sorry guys...

The front end of that car reminds me of the Dodge EV concept from a couple years ago...

Great drawing Xabier! It inspired my to try an isometric sketch/digital painting of the original blue concept I submitted. I'm not a very strong sketch artist, but I figured I'd give it a shot

To answer a question from earlier, the idea for the headlights is very similar to what exists for the GTM and Daytona coupe. The bucket itself is molded into the body, projector lights added to it, and then a clear molded "glass" cover the sits over flush with the bodylines. The same idea would go for the rear except for projectors, you would have LED lights encased in a plastic light diffuser. A red tinted molded taillight cover would finish the lights.

I initially tried using the hawkeyes since they look great but abandoned the idea for a couple of reasons after having a pair in my hands.

First they are kinda bulky in size, and were designed for a car with a flatter face. The housing has a lot of extra stuff attached to it. Also when viewed from the side, the lights are kinda too flat vertically for use in an smooth angled aerodynamic design. You could tilt the light to get a nice angle out of it, but then the lights are aimed too far off the be adjusted in spec, and the bottom edge becomes visible.

Also most donor cars probably wont have those lights, so they would have to purchased additionally, and they are over $500 a set OEM wholesale, with no bulbs.

So I decided to go with a new "almond eyes" design

xabier wrote: okay, I have created a photobucket account so I will upload it once again, sorry guys...

This is awesome

In reply to TCL1999:

Definitely a combination of the two would be best, an F-22 is not just a straight angular design. The only styles that will stand the test of time are the ones that are already old. I guess maybe a real test will be in another 15 years to look at both a Lamborghini Diablo and a Murcielago and ask someone who doesn't know anything about them which he thinks is older.

I guess, usually despite the styling, if you can upgrade headlights and tailights at a later date, you can fool most people into thinking your car is newer than it may actually be.

In reply to TCL1999:

Thank you for posting this, I knew my design reminded me to another existing car but I could not figure out which one, I think that it has some similarities in the front details, still I think it is quite different to the dodge

I have to develop more the sketch so in the end it may look still more different

xabier wrote: In reply to TCL1999: Thank you for posting this, I knew my design reminded me to another existing car but I could not figure out which one, I think that it has some similarities in the front details, still I think it is quite different to the dodge I have to develop more the sketch so in the end it may look still more different

It is definitely different (and better looking) than the Dodge concept, I just saw some resemblance in the shape of the nose of the car. I wouldn't change anything! :)

In reply to TCL1999:

Well thank you very much! I´m glad you like it this way. At the moment I´m doing some other research sketches trying different designs and I will see which looks better, for example now I´m doing one with a removable hard top as someone suggested me before. I will soon star with the photoshop renderings, that way every design looks a lot better.

TCL1999 wrote:

xabier wrote: In reply to TCL1999: Thank you for posting this, I knew my design reminded me to another existing car but I could not figure out which one, I think that it has some similarities in the front details, still I think it is quite different to the dodge I have to develop more the sketch so in the end it may look still more different

It is definitely different (and better looking) than the Dodge concept, I just saw some resemblance in the shape of the nose of the car. I wouldn't change anything! :)

+1 on not changing anything

seansverige wrote: In reply to Tom Heath: Thanks for these - much better. One question: what is outlined area at the rear? Looks a little long for transmission, pic of SDR V-Storm (which also uses Subaru boxer) attached. Even if not, this only dictates the maximum overhang over the width of the tranmission casing: would it be safe to say only the central 300mm needs to extend this far back?

Thanks for introducing me to the SDR V-Storm. I have to say, I like the 3-seater layout. It's the optimum number of occupants I tend carry in my car. It's why my 2-seater can't be my sole daily driver. - Would this be possible for the Subie-FF car as well?

SDR V-Storm on Autoblog

Video of the car in action. Hope the Factory Five car is even cooler than this by virtue of having doors and a Winshield. :D

A closed roof version of this would be great, and a cheap alternative to the McLaren F1 3-seater that most of us will never see, let alone own.

I hope this would work with the 95" wheelbase as the McLaren F1 has a wheelbase of 107".

We may be able to build an even lighter car than the McLaren MP4-12c, as the Subie motor is lighter, and Factory Five's design is a tube chassis.

Please don't forget interior design as well.

I'm really glad this thread has 13+ pages by now, which means it has a varied discussions with (hopefully) lots of input for Factory Five.

This is berkeleying sweet. I like the implied Maserati or Aston front and FD RX-7/Maserati rear. Cool man. End the bottom door treatment, and you've got a buyer here. I'd really like to see the 3d version.

Stavros wrote: Here is another one. The doors swing out pretty much flush with the side vent. Next one I'll do will be an edgy, no frills rally/track special.

Really enjoying this thread, let's keep the entries (and related discussion) coming!

In reply to Teh E36 M3:

Front and rear are from an Alfa Romeo 8C I think... the side however is from the porsche 918 concept, but it looks absolutly harmonious! Very nice

Can the frame be slightly modified? I've been thinking of a design that incorporates the frame with the panels, sort of like the Atom and the X-Bow.

And also, would interior designs be looked at too? It would be pretty sick if the interior could be integrated with the exterior.

I am loving the community collaboration aspect to this. I actually envision this being the future of a lot of product development. This is applying to a whole car what MegaSquirt applied to EFI.

Wow, we have some talented people on our board!

Well, thanks Tim, Im honored, but I cant take all the credit, some of the other guys are pretty good too

seriously, Im almost ashamed of some of the stuff Ive drawn up when I see some of the other submissions. This new FF car is gonna be cool on an epic scale...straight up arctic

Hi Guys heres an early sketch i put together ,its kind of a Lotus 2Eleven by Pininfarina sort of vibe.

In reply to NXXN:

Love it!