Jalopnik has put together a gallery of concept cars from a decade ago. Back in 1999, then head of design for Ford, J.Mays decided to try an experiment and work with a designer outside of the company on a concept car. He chose Marc Newson who had been designing furniture and products. He had never designed a car before.
Newson worked with a team of modelers and fabricators at Ford to complete the project. His idea was to create a simple and affordable small car, which in 1999 with gas cheap, was contrary to all the big cars and SUV’s that were starting to saturate the market. Newson named the car 021c after his favorite Pantone color. It had some interesting features like wide opening doors and swivel seats for easy entrance and egress. The trunk functioned as a pull out drawer instead of a lift up lid. This allowed the car to have a unique profile somewhere between a small sedan and a hatchback.
When the car was unveiled, it was almost universally despised. Part of the criticism was targeted at Mays for going around Ford designers and using someone else who wasn’t a car guy. But also the design was so leftfield from everything else that people just didn’t understand it. It was perceived as boxy, toylike, and almost anti-designed. The 021c was quickly hidden away and not shown again.
So maybe it was too shocking then, but scan the reader comments on Jalopnik’s post and you’ll see a very different attitude towards the 021c today. Actually of all the other concepts that came out that year, the 021c is the only one that still looks fresh today. Anyone else think this should be dusted off?
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I loved that car when I first laid eyes on it. It was in Wallpaper ages ago. Always wondered why it did not materialize. I vote to put it into production asap.
May 21st, 2009 at 8:27 am
I would buy that. Better looking than pretty much any car I see on the road today. I feel like if Karim Rashid designed a car it would look similar to that, but his version would come with more ego.
May 21st, 2009 at 9:15 am
This car was way ahead of it’s time. I think it’s time to dust it off and make it. It kinda reminds me of the old school Datsun 510’s and I love those cars
May 21st, 2009 at 12:18 pm
Comparisons to the BMW 2002 have also been made. What’s interesting about the 021c is the design vocabulary seems a perfect fit for an electric or hybrid engine.
To rion….actually Karim is quite a nice guy. You’d be surprised.
May 21st, 2009 at 12:35 pm
@dave pinter: i know. i was just being ridiculous. i’ve actually met him once as well. really nice guy. hell, i’d have an ego if i was him. oh and karim rashid’s handheld vacuum would be the greatest thing ever if they didn’t put a motor that can hardly move a dustball. i blame target for that one. he’s a super talented guy.
May 21st, 2009 at 1:27 pm
@dave pinter: i should also mention and clarify that i do not think of ego as a bad thing. a healthy ego is an important. especially when it comes to art.
May 21st, 2009 at 1:42 pm
Well with all the job cuts the car companies are being forced to make, wonder if working with outside designers might become more common. Maybe Karim will get his chance after all.
rion, yeah there have been some things he’s done that have made me scratch my head and think really?
May 21st, 2009 at 2:08 pm
Thanks so much for sharing this Dave – a great example for a topic that we’ve been talking about with our clients over recent weeks.
Too many of the tools we use to ‘inform’ the creative process end up stifling innovation. Democracy hampers innovation, because it drives us towards a lowest common denominator that is acceptable to the masses:
“Pre-testing truly innovative creative will likely provoke negative responses, because respondents don’t have time to assimilate the innovation and realign [their worldview] accordingly. It’s easier to reject sudden change than it is to try to understand it.”
Sadly, the end result is usually mediocre.
There’s more here: http://eskimon.wordpress.com/2009/05/21/the-difference/
May 21st, 2009 at 9:05 pm
Thanks for sharing eskimon. Clearly if the 021c had been focus grouped, Newson probably wouldn’t have gotten any farther than a napkin sketch of it.
May 21st, 2009 at 10:04 pm
Dust it off, power it with an electric motor and get it out on the road. Go after the 100 miles/gallon market. It could make a great commuter car.
May 22nd, 2009 at 1:40 pm
I love this car! I’m about a month shy of buying a new car and if this were on the market, I’d rush out and buy it, hands down. Can I write my congressman or something? LOL. I want this car! Someone please tell them to make it!
May 22nd, 2009 at 3:00 pm