Ok, bit of an odd one, but here goes. I'm here for suggestions, a bit of market research if you will. As im sure a lot of you here are car enthusiasts, i welcome the feedback. I'm a 2nd year Automotive Design student at Swansea Met Uni, and we are starting a 'live project' with Land Rover, meaning Land Rover will set us the design brief instead of our tutors. Bit of real world practice. It'll last a couple months, and along the way we will probably go to Gaydon (LR Base) to do small presentations, etc. As a big Land Rover fan, i couldn't be happier, as there is a chance for an internship at the end, and LR would be a dream job for me. We dont officially get the brief for a week or two, but we know its very open, ie. we can basically do what we want, go crazy! At least initially. That may change further along, as Land Rover see our work and narrow it down. So here's where you guys come in. Basically i want to see what sort of vehicle you want LR to make. I wont be doing a successor to an existing car, ie the next Disco. I want to do something new, something LR have never done. It doesn't matter if it seems unrealistic, due to cost or material availability, its not like they will produce these designs. They want to see innovative ideas, and understanding of the brand DNA. I'll leave a link to some of my work, bear in mind a lot of it is pretty old, but you get an idea of what i do:- http://garyjpaterson.deviantart.com/
Well...I'm 17 years old and I don't study car design but I'm interested in drawing and tried some ideas. They might look horrible to you P.s. Can you tell me what program are you using for the non-paper sketches? EDIT Something like a competitor to Audi A6 alroad. Inspired by evoque.
Hey you have the talent, you'd likely get a place in Uni doing auto design. They dont look horrible at all, id say its about on par with what i see in my course. I typically use photoshop for digital rendering, with sketchbook pro for quicker more 'sketchy' ones.
While I'm not against what you're doing, I think you should give credit to people if you do end up trying to use parts of their designs. And members who post their designs should probably make sure their work can't be 1:1 copied... We got a topic similar to this a long time ago I think, but I believe it got removed by tdev due to the high risk of the topic starter just copying the work of another member. I'll leave it open for now though... Just be careful. Also, if you want my opinion for a LR car: Put wheels as far on the corners as possible, wheelbase reasonably short(90 inch or so, like a Defender), keep ground clearance high, and make it a very simple vehicle that can be made and sold cheaply. I think there's a huge market for Land Rover/Range Rover to sell cheap(Fiat Panda 4x4 price range) capable off-roaders, but they're not exploring that market at all. The old and basic Defender used to fill that gap I think? Maybe even the Discovery... But look how many Defenders were sold. They're beginning to sell less relatively because they're becoming more expensive relative to other cars. Basically... Just make what the new Defenders should have been: As simple and aggricultural as the first Defender, made for this age. A Panda 4x4 that's more capable off-road than a Panda. Not something silly expensive like a Range Rover Sport. I personally think LR themselves would find that idea itself pretty interesting, since I suspect most of your classmates will just design cool looking cars in the same price-range as the Range Rover... When we had to build cars in class, my teachers were way more interested in my model than those of my classmates, because mine was just a simple Seat Ibiza, not a Ferrari. btw, the 2015 Defender is just EW.
Don't worry, i'm not here to copy peoples designs, im here to find out what car enthusiast want from LR in the future. And yeah, i was thinking small, cheap, rugged, utilitarian kind of car. But then i was also considering a luxury GT, capable of touring europe at speed, while also being able to go farther than where the road takes you. Built in sleeping facilities, lots of luggage space, high price tag. The reason for this is i dont want to a straight up 4x4, LR have seen this time and time before. Yes, the car needs to be capable off road, but why cant it be a GT?
I think they should make something like the Audi a6 allroad on a Jaguar's platform - a luxury sedan with 4x4 and some offroad capabilities.Extending the market is always a good idea.
Because a Range Rover can already do all those things The Evoque or new Sport or something was tested and was faster than a Mini Cooper Works around a track So why build a GT that would be roughly the same price, when the RR has the same function That's my reasoning for a cheap vehicle. They haven't ever done a properly cheap capable car since the first Defender models, which have since then climbed in price I think. As far as I can find, early Land Rovers used to cost 12k when new, a new 2014 Defender would set you back 42.000... Sure, cars have become more expensive too, but the Defender/Series 3 went from a cheap 4x4 to a top of the line luxury off-roader, almost(just like the Golf went from a cheap fast hatchback to quite an expensive and car).
Small update, a designer from LR has come to the uni to give advice on where he wants the project to be headed, and to clarify exactly what we should be designing, as we were somewhat confused prior to his appearance. He made it clear LR is NOT about making utilitarian, agricultural or cheap vehicles anymore. 'Premium' was greatly emphasized, if its not premium its not LR. We all got one to one tutorials with him, to help point us in the right direction, and i explained that id been working on a small defender like car, very back to basics, removable doors etc, inspired by the old Series models. I was expecting to have to start from scratch, but he was very interested in the design, and said if i wanted i could work on that, as long as i make it more 'premium'. This news article basically sounds very much like what im designing, although im sure thats pure coincidence Not entirely sure what the deal is when it comes to showing the design, but i see no problem with showing some initial ideas, which will almost definitely not be used. http://garyjpaterson.deviantart.com/art/Land-Rover-Ideas-432735963
What if you were to design a more "premium" one, then also have a back-to-basics trim level for cheap, good offroading?
If it's going to be a Land Rover you have to be true to the name and make it very unreliable. Gotta be realistic, eh.
I'm sure thats well within the capabilities of LR, but thats not what they want to do at all. And if i'm to have any chance of recognision from LR, im going to do my best to design what they want to see. EDIT* And just incase it wasnt clear, this is just a design project for a bunch of students to gain experience, LR will not be producing any vehicle we design! But we will be presenting to the design team so we want to do our utmost to impress.
Just thought id show my 3 proposals for Stage 1 of the project! This was a few weeks back, and we actually just submitted our Stage 2 proposals today. 3 designs from stage 1 were picked to be refined and changed according to feedback (my Defender concept was one of them). We then worked on the 3 designs individually and submitted ourr versions today, and the final 3 will be decided over the next week or so. I dont think ill get picked next time but we'll see! http://garyjpaterson.deviantart.com/art/Land-Rover-Stage-1-Proposals-438835780
Haha i dunno really, all the guys in my class do the same, especially for this type of vehicle. In general, big wheels look more exciting, and cars with small wheels look pretty dull. Obviously with rough sketches its fine to have big wheels, but more realistic renders tent to be more sensible. That being said, the models we make will be more akin to 'concept cars', which also have unrealistcally large wheels a lot of the time. - - - Updated - - - For example, the Hyundai Intrado Concept at geneva: Chevy Spark:
That's it, ive just submitted my final design this morning! In the coming days/weeks the top 2 will be picked, which we will then work on in groups to refine the design, and produce clay and CAD models for an exhibition. We now have a 3 week holiday so im hoping to work on a new map for BeamNG. Really hope my design gets picked but there are about 20 people in our class so its unlikely. I'd love to see and scale model of it in person, that would be so awesome! check them out here: http://garyjpaterson.deviantart.com/
Thought i should add, final design is finished! Still got to finish the clay model and stuff, were presenting on thursday. The design is such a comprimise between what so many people wanted, but im happy its done. Check it out below: http://garyjpaterson.deviantart.com/art/Land-Rover-Final-Renders-454748797
You should make a blueprint including interior and chassis of this. Would love to see something like that on BeamNG.
Haha if someone wants to put it ingame i would gladly help! Weve got proper exterior blueprints and i could make some interior and chassis stuff too. But i doubt anyone would want to put in the huge amount to time making it
I could give it a try, but I can't guarantee you I would succeed though, I've been looking a little into modeling.
You should change the name to "Luxury Rover" then Land Rover makes one think of a vehicle for going over land, wherever it is, being your trusty steed. When you add fancy (and expensive) fender flares and bumpers, low-hanging bodywork, and (generally) less capable and durable monocoque designs, it completely removes the car's off-road aspect. Some people want to buy an expensive "Off-roader" so that they can look like they go offroad a lot, but with the new Land Rovers, it is hard to imagine driving it over more than a small bump or puddle because of how low and far in front and behind the wheels the bodywork extends, as well as the huge liability of a massive repair bill should you have an accident. I will say I am glad they still have 4 wheel drive and good differential systems, which makes them capable in the snow, but if you are trying to make a car that is fast on the road and capable off-road, then you should start with an off-roader and make additions, like a bigger engine and high range gears, to make it fast instead of starting with a high end "tall hatchback" and trying to make it trail-ready. If you want to make an expensive, luxurious, high-maintenance SUV, then the off-road path is not right for you.
