Automotive design originated in the late 1920s in the United States. At that time, what was required from the first designers? They needed to reduce the height of the car. From this it can be understood that initially the design of cars was aimed only at increasing universality bodies, but in our time, this industry has taken a completely different beginning. In those years, people did not pay much attention to the shape and style of the car, as they were more interested in the technical component.
Cars at that time needed to drive off-road quite often, so they were attached huge wheels and low body. Car design today includes two leading features: streamline and brutalism. Streamlines are streamlined car shapes. Brutalism is sharper forms, simplified geometry. In modern times, people expect from cars not just movement, but also individuality, character .
For people, the car has become a means of self-expression, a shade of status and style. Most owners begin to remake their iron pets, making them real masterpieces. In this case, they apply for design services. In our market you can find a huge number of cars that have a unique design.
For example, Daewoo cars have their own unique design. The company was founded back in 1967. During this time, the Daewoo car line has undergone considerable changes and continues to be modified.
Today, the interior, the design of the car from the inside, is very popular. Interior car styling, the interior, has undergone new fashions such as futurism. Its principles include the use of bright colors (very bright, eye-catching) and the pop art effect (this style uses an optical illusion). If designers combine light and color well, then the design of the car gives a great opportunity to create conditions not only outside but also inside it, and well-finished details complete the overall look.
The modern design of our days is the ecological design of cars, because our cars are a source of atmospheric pollution. The individuality of the interior in such a car is the “green pavilion”. It uses color gamuts: gray, white, green. Trends in modern automotive design include modesty of line and rigidity. Business liners are more and more often present at automobile workshops than colored cars, buses. Newfangled trends are high-tech and minimalism, brought to us by the 21st century. And we all know perfectly well that car design keeps pace with the times.
It is customary to call autodesign a preliminary, sketchy stage of creating a car model of its own unique and individual art form. Automotive design is based on the given conditions of rationalism and manufacturability when creating cars. Something without which the car cannot drive, as well as meet the requirements of buyers and regulatory authorities, must be provided in one form or another in the sketch, drawings and in the metal. Space is needed for the engine, wheels and other equipment, items and devices that ensure the comfort and safety of the driver and passengers.
The flight of fantasy of designers, their vision of beauty and following fashion follows and “flows around” everything necessary, functional and rational. But this is a two-way process. The emergence of new forms, proportions, individual details gives impetus to the search for new technical solutions and materials, as well as the "rearrangement" of existing ones.
It is most profitable for any manufacturer to create and sell large-sized things. It is also beneficial for designers - nothing limits the flight of fancy. But if there is a demand for miniaturization in society, and large cars are sold in small batches, then the company will change the production vector.
Story
Despite the fact that cars began to be produced on a significant scale since the end of the 19th century, and therefore there was some design of them (at least as an imitation of a carriage or wagon), it is believed that automobile and transport design as an artistic design with a theoretical justification and as real business appeared in the North American states in the late 20s of the last century.
Ahead of all was the General Motors concern, which formed the corresponding division in 1926. A year later, the Cadillac La Salle, which struck everyone, was already released. Immediately after the end of World War II, automotive design began its triumphal march through European countries and Japan. Forty years later, all automakers, including the USSR, had design groups and departments. And in GM, more than one thousand four hundred specialists worked on this topic (in the Ford concern - 875).
Western auto design
In the first decades of the 20th century, the appearance of the car takes on the features we are used to and is no longer a copy of a horse-drawn carriage. There is a fierce struggle not only for the type of engine used (steam, electric or gasoline), but also for the type of body - “salon” or open.
Automotive design of the 20-30s of the last century was defined by the workaholic Budd - this is a "streamlined shape" (Streamline). In the 40s, the Art Deco (decorative art) style also had a strong influence. This is a mixture of neoclassicism, cubism, constructivism. The design of cars embodies the severity of forms, unusual geometric solutions and luxury finishes (rare types of bone, wood, as well as aluminum, silver, and so on).
With the advent of the Cadillac Model 62, a new “aerostyle” began in the United States (at that time, military aviation was at the peak of progress). She also dictated fashion. England has its own style - "razor blade". A little later, the “fin style” appeared in the USA, which spread throughout the world and existed even longer than in the “homeland”. It is named so because of the presence of stylized fins of various fish or keel. Fins of different positions and shapes created a catchy appearance, but were extremely impractical.
Fifteen years later, “pseudo-sporty” style comes into fashion, spawning a numerous class of pony cars (pony cars). In parallel, in the 70s, there was a struggle between "muscular" (insidious killers) and "moths". Muscle-cars are mid-range 2-door models with engines from the older class. At this time, more attention was paid to the safety of the driver and passengers. "Muscular" defeated "moths", but those constantly appearing and being an alternative to the "insidious killers", have made significant improvements in security.
The laws of aerodynamics began to dictate fashion in the next decade. The streamlined, smooth shape of cars reduces the resistance to oncoming air flow and gives significant fuel savings, which is becoming more and more relevant. In the last decade of the last century, the aerodynamic "era" continued, but the style of "biodesign" was added to it. This is an imitation of natural streamlined shapes, for example, the shape of rounded pebbles.
In the zero years of the current century, rational "computer" forms of cars became familiar - all 3 volumes clearly stand out. In parallel, there was a wave of "nostalgic" design - automotive design with a bias in the 30-50s of the last century.
At present, there has been a gradual departure from the styles of the previous decade in the direction of complicating the outlines of the body and increasing passive safety.
Russian car design
Automotive design in the USSR appeared much later than in the West. Until the 70s of the last century, a few automakers, both officially and unofficially, worked under "Western licenses". At the beginning of the second half of the 20th century, under the “wing” of NAMI, several interesting original domestic projects were created (NAMI-013, “promising taxi”, “Maxi”), but they were not implemented in production. The PAZ-Tourist bus also failed to get into the existing models, although twice this concept bus received prizes at international exhibitions for innovation and originality. A slightly different situation developed at the Gorky Automobile Plant, where in 1961 the design bureau was headed by B.B. Lebedev. His projects of trucks, including caterpillar ones, were realized.
Russian automotive design has always let down production, its sluggishness and technical backwardness. The picture does not change in the current century, in the age of the global division of labor and cooperation, in almost all areas of production.
The design of the appearance of the car of the future
Design is quite difficult to predict, since it is impossible to predict all the incoming factors and, most importantly, scientific discoveries. What is important now for body design? This:
- durability;
- ergonomics;
- safety;
- minimizing production costs.
Everything can change dramatically with the introduction of such a factor as the invention of a new type of fuel and / or propulsion. And most of the vehicles, for example, “soar” up and hover in the air, as is often shown in science fiction films. Or is there something else going on. The design of the air car will immediately change, as will most of its principles.
If there are no drastic changes, then, most likely, by the end of the century, the electric motor will finally win, and there will be a final division into vehicles for super-cities (cities of huge size) and for everything else.
Salon design
The design of interiors can be carried out by the manufacturer of the car, as well as after its purchase at any time, although most often this happens at the stage of preparation for operation in parallel with its tuning. Leaving aside crazy ideas and radical alterations, the task of post-design is to further emphasize the style of the car (its particular feature) and / or the lifestyle of its owner. As a rule, there is enough refinement of individual details, but with bringing them almost to perfection in the Hi-End class. The inimitable texture and elegance change the feelings and, to some extent, the attitude of the driver and his passengers. And this is achieved, for example, with just inserts of reptile skin and ivory. Although not everything is so simple, and to create an appropriate atmosphere, a complex effect of many factors is needed.
Disks
Wheel design is an integral part of car design. Not uncommon are wheels that are like the same car, but in a used condition. For example, US Nutek products cost just under $25,000 per four wheels. Savini wheels are very good for sports cars. They look modest, but elegant, forged and incredibly light. For off-road vehicles, large, one-piece aluminum Dub wheels, which are constantly receiving awards at specialized exhibitions. Vossen, produced with special "low" casting techniques, look sophisticated (chrome finish on a black base) and innovative, and cost half as much as Nutek.
armchairs
The task of car seat design is not only to give them the appropriate forms and functions for greater ergonomics and safety, but also to create an appropriate interior, including with the help of seat covers. The material for their manufacture and decoration can be used very different. As they say, for every taste, color and size of the wallet (upholstery fabric, leatherette, genuine leather). Comfort and piquancy are given by capes on seats made of natural fur. Eco-leather allows air to pass through, but prevents the penetration of water.
The design of tailoring car covers also consists in decorating the fabric from which they are sewn. Both modern technologies, for example, machine computer embroidery, and ancient ones are used. Even in ancient China, the technology of decorating fabrics by imposing pile on them (flocking) was used. The volume of drawings and the play of colors are achieved by using the “flock on flock” method.
Boats and automotive design
Since many automotive companies produce small-sized river and sea vessels and / or equipment for them, they also design them. Affordable and futuristic-looking boat Toyota Ponam-31 is shown in the photo.
A very original model is launched by Lexus, but it is much more expensive, and not only because of the finish (carbon, leather, wood). The luxurious yacht Arrow460-Granturismo produced by Mercedes-Benz is admired for its appearance. Aston Martin or Bugatti yachts are real works of art. And the products of Cigarette Racing (up to 160 km / h) and Marine Technology Inc (up to 300 km / h) are intended for those “obsessed” with speed, headwind and spray in the face.
Conclusion
So, we looked at the history of automotive design. Now it is at the intersection of high art and technical solutions, therefore, to implement the ideas of "geniuses", design engineers are needed who can shift the ideas of brainstorming groups and departments into a completely technical language. Painstaking and detailed study is the completion of the project.
Recently, there has been a tendency for women's thoughts, logic and vision of problems to come into autodesign (by the way, it fits into the general trend of the development of society). As they say, let's see and feel what they will create. Or maybe it's for the best, as some experts talk about the "decline" and others about the end of automotive design.
Indeed, is the appearance of twin-like cars, differing only in the appearance and layout of the headlights, as well as other minor details, really a design job? Cars are beautiful in themselves, but very similar, and therefore faceless. It's good for mass production. But I want something else, new and untested.
I don't know if you notice how much auto design is getting more and more exuberant. I don't mind weird and riotous design in general. But it seems to me that in recent years, designers clearly do not know what to do. As a result, cars with a very strange and extraordinary design appear on the market every year. Maybe it's time to stop and go back to simpler solutions, and not experiment with futuristic car design?
If you look at all the cars that have been produced since 2000, you will immediately notice how drastically design has changed throughout the automotive industry every year.
First, all cars have increased significantly in size. Secondly, since the 2000s and ending today, car design has become unrestrained.
Yes, sometime in the mid-2000s, many car companies were trying to make cars with clean, rational geometric design. By the way, this simple style of cars was especially noticeable in the work of designer Jay Mace, who designed a lot of Volkswagen cars produced from 1998 to 2005. But then modern car design began to progress towards a futuristic future.
Since then, the auto design of most cars has become more sculptural, and the car body has been constantly growing in size. Also since those years there has been a constant increase in the size of the front optics and vents in the exterior (real or imitation).
In particular, chrome has recently become fashionable again, which is becoming more and more in modern cars.
But most importantly, more recently, designers have taken the fashion to come up with strange body design textures, with a combination of torn lines.
Look at these cars 15 years apart. Here are cars from the 2000s and 2015 (2000 and 2015 BMW 4-series, as well as two generations of the Nissan Teana).
Pay attention to the design of cars from the 2000s. It is fresh, clean and concise, which cannot be said about the appearance of new cars, the design of which has become full of wavy surfaces (it often seems to me on the road that many new cars have damage on the body, but upon closer examination of the body parts, I understand that from - because of the uneven surfaces of the exterior elements, the light glares, which leads to an optical illusion).
Also notice how the headlights of modern cars have grown. Including immediately catches the eye, how modern cars have grown in size. And so it happened with the models of any automaker. All cars since the 2000s have grown and stretched in size. But of course, many modern cars have received large radiator grilles, a lot of air intakes and much more.
You can also see the progression of auto design since the 2000s with the Lexus car. Notice how the designers of the Japanese brand have been experimenting with their products since 2000. You will see how every new car has taken on more and more angles and different lines and curves.
By the way, maybe someone will think that I am trying to condemn modern design. No, I'm really just pointing out what's going on in the modern era of auto design. It should be noted that not all companies are mastering modern trends in auto design. In fact, each automaker experiments in its own way.
For example, Toyota has been experimenting very boldly in recent years, creating new models with an extraordinary futuristic appearance. Do you know why such a design is obtained in modern Toyota cars?
The thing is that the designers of this company began to mix the baroque style with lines and textures that are found in the wild. As a result, we got not quite ordinary cars. Although it is worth recognizing that every company in one way or another is currently going in this direction.
Take a look at the latest generation Toyta Prius and you'll see what the designers had in mind when they created the look of this controversial car.
The front part of the hybrid car seems especially strange. For example, the new Prius has 8 main road headlights (4+4). Plus, in addition, the car received 18 more LED lamps on the bumper (9 on each side). And that is not all. The designers also decided that fog lights are not a relic of the past.
Well, if all this optics were placed on ordinary bumpers and a body. But the new Toyota Prius model received a very complex configuration of the front bumper and grille. As a result, as it seems to me personally, the exterior design turned out to be too heavy, the elements of which, in principle, overload the appearance of the car. Therefore, it is not easy to understand the idea of Toyota auto designers. Especially if you try to unravel the mystery of the designers who decided to equip the front of the Prius with design elements with different textured surfaces and different color schemes.
It seems to me (and many other brands) overdone in recent years. Although of course there is no dispute about tastes. However, this is not just my opinion. For example, many say that modern auto design has become somehow incomprehensible. Including well-known and authoritative auto experts, known throughout the world.
By the way, such bold experiments, which are currently being carried out by all automakers, are not the first time in the history of the automotive industry. For example, something similar was already seen with the auto design of American cars in the 1950s.
Look at the two cars below. Yes, both cars, of course, are made in completely different styles and are separated by eras.
But these machines actually have something in common. You know what?
Their auto design is very loud, defiant and a little crazy. By the way, if you don’t notice this on a 1950s car, then this is quite natural. After all, you did not live in that era. But it is worth noting that for the 1950s, the design of American cars was really very violent and defiant. And what is the result? As you know, cars of those years with exuberant design are a thing of the past.
The thing is that car buyers of those years were simply tired of the defiant design. And this, by the way, happened when the auto designers of American cars did not figure out how to further improve.
Approximately the same trend we are now seeing in the car market. It is quite possible that very soon the fashion for the constant global external change of new cars will end in the auto industry, as well as auto designers and aircraft designers will understand that too exuberant design cannot be constantly improved.
Most likely, in the next 20-30 years we will see that the design will become much more modest. True, this will have to wait before the car designers, who are still happily experimenting, create a new era in car design, calm down.
Yes, of course, modern design is based on high-tech and there is nowhere to go from this. Every year we will see all the fresh and unoriginal ideas in the exterior of new cars. But, nevertheless, I believe that sooner or later, automotive companies will have to moderate the creative dreams of designers and constructors a little.
At one of the shows of promising models at AZLK, the then Minister of the Automotive Industry, Vladimir Polyakov, according to eyewitnesses, said: “Where did you see such a car? There are no such cars!
The designers have deciphered the minister's idea: it is necessary to make cars according to foreign models, and not look for untrodden paths. In the USSR, as a rule, this is exactly what they did. But not always.
To make a fairy tale come true
It's no secret that all our cars, created before the Great Patriotic War, were copied to one degree or another from Western ones. Or rather, almost everything. In 1938, a young ZIS artist (the term “designer” appeared about thirty years later) Valentin Rostkov painted a very unusual and even avant-garde two-door roadster, which is commonly called the ZIS-Sport. The appearance of the car - in particular, the line of massive wings - followed the then American fashion, but in solving the front end with built-in headlights and an aerodynamic radiator grill, Rostkov not only did not copy anything, but even outstripped global trends.
It is not difficult to make sure of this, it is enough to compare it with the thoroughbred sports models of those years. That's just the creation of Rostkov was not intended for mass production, and it is not a fact that then our industry would have mastered such a body.
This is a very important touch to the portrait of Soviet design. After all, artistic design, as this craft was once called, also implies technological development - bringing a product from a sketch to a commercial sample. Of course, it is impossible without a flight of fancy, but we are still talking about commodity cars, and not about exhibition concept cars.
As for fantasy, one of the first to dare to fly it in our country was an artist, engineer and famous popularizer of the car. In the 1930s, he, like many foreign engineers and stylists, became interested in the rear-engine layout, inspired by the avant-garde Czech Tatra. It was Dolmatovsky's authority that influenced the fact that for two decades the creation of cars of all classes with a rear engine has become one of the main directions for our designers.
Futuristic sketches resulted in the same avant-garde, but already running, really very advanced for 1951. (Something similar - the Fiat Multipla minivan - was put into production by the Italians only in 1956, but it did not gain much commercial success.)
It's one thing to admire unusual cars and quite another to buy and operate them. And to put on the conveyor in the USSR something similar to the conceptual NAMI-013 was completely unthinkable. It is hard to imagine a person who would voluntarily move from Pobeda or ZIM to such an unusual, and even structurally dubious, car.
Artists, of course, were eager to create, that's why they are artists. But from the leadership of the industry, as a rule, came the installation: to copy Western models. And there was a certain reason for this, since foreign designers had much more experience not only in creating new models, but also in bringing them to the series.
However, we must pay tribute to ours: they did not just copy, but deftly reworked foreign style, adapting it to our conditions, including production capabilities, and creating machines, albeit not the most advanced, but quite appropriate to the time. The most striking examples are and. And here are the ZIS products of the 1950s - a frank copying of American designs.
But the artists are not to blame! It was on such machines that those wanted to ride. It is hard to imagine that the leaders of the USSR would have preferred an avant-garde minivan, drawn by, say, the talented artist Eduard Molchanov: a somewhat strange combination of a wagon body and huge windows with whimsical curves, characteristic of the American style of the turn of the 1950s and 1960s. But something similar appeared in metal.
Ticket to life
The heyday of Soviet design fell on the era of the Khrushchev economic councils and the relative independence of industrial enterprises. Under the Moscow City Economic Council, a Special Art Design Bureau (SKhKB) was created, which worked on orders from MZMA, ZIL, and the Serpukhov Motorcycle Plant. There was a romantic upsurge in the factories themselves, as well as in US.
Two characteristic works of the early 1960s, brought to a small, but a series, are the Moscow and Ukrainian Start. It is very interesting to compare them, because the machines, at first glance, have a lot in common, but there are also very significant, and in fact - fundamental differences.
Both cars had a wagon layout. Both did not escape the influence of American style (many European companies were also subject to it in those years): extensive radiator grilles, visors over four headlights.
But there are also differences. ZIL-118 Youth, which was worked on by a group led by one of the best Soviet designers Eric Szabo, in the process of fine-tuning to a prototype, became much calmer in lines and decor than in the first sketches. But the Start made a strange impression. Original? Yes! Remember? Certainly! But the artists turned out to be painfully eclectic this minibus, endowed with frilly features of American "cruisers". After all, the design implies a combination of beauty and rationality, and the Start has a trunk protruding, like a car, with defiant "keels". It would be nice if the engine was at the back, like in NAMI-013, but it was traditionally located for such cars - between the front seats. Habitual - more rational, more spacious, more harmonious than the Start.
In general, Moscow Youth is a professional and original work, and Start is the work of amateur romantics. There is no special originality in it, but there is a sharp eclecticism - a bizarre combination of several styles that creates, I repeat, a memorable, but disharmonious image.
Another important sign of the professionalism of the creators of Yunost is the ability to modernize the machine without a radical alteration of the platform, which was done in 1970. But it's hard to imagine how Youth could be modernized just a couple of years after its birth, when American "aerospace" breaks went out of fashion.
Modernized Youth ZIL‑119 19
Cars have long been a regular occurrence in our lives. Owning a car, at least in Russia, is a sign of belonging to the "middle class". And the better, the more expensive the car, and accordingly, the higher the "class" of its owner.
And what in modern cars attracts most of all? Design! Who hasn't looked long and thoughtful at some red Ferrari? Or who hasn't watched the passing BMW X6?
Design - automotive beauty, is one of the main "hooks" of car manufacturers, which is well "pecked" by the buyer. Have you heard about the most popular car in Russia Hyundai Solaris? Many have identified the reason for its success as a balance of reliability, modernity, a good price ... No! He's just handsome. And, of course, relatively inexpensive. That is why they buy this car in large quantities, mainly in large cities. For design. Neither technical characteristics nor the notorious relative reliability play a role here. Here on such a "hook" Koreans hooked Russian motorists.
Let's try to briefly trace the development of car design in the entire history of the active production of cars.
As you know, the first cars were not very beautiful. We are talking about the very first steam models on huge wheels and with a small seat for the driver-passenger. At first no one thought. It was only required to prove that mechanical vehicles are capable of independent movement. They argued for about 50 years - from about the second half of the 19th century to the first decade of the 20th century. Indeed, mass cars began to appear precisely by 1910, some earlier - by 1903-1905, some later - by the 20-30s. But it is precisely this time that should be considered as the beginning of the modern car. And automotive design too.
It is conditionally possible to divide the periods of the history of automotive design into three stages. I'll try to come up with names "from the ceiling."
First stage - " Classical". It can be defined by the following period of time: from 1910 to 1950. Approximately. That is, at that time, there was mainly one type of design in fashion. Yes, and many technical solutions were similar.
Second phase - " Progressive". It began in 1950 and ended around 1985-90.
The third stage - " Modern". As they sometimes say: "a good modern car." Well, modern design started around 1985 and continues to this day.
Perhaps in a couple of years, the fourth stage in automotive design will come, which can be conditionally called “Promising” or “Future Design”.
Let us consider in more detail the representatives from each of the above-described times of automotive fashion.
The "classic" stage of automotive design well demonstrates the tastes and values of the people of the early 20th century. The cars were large, with a large wheelbase (the distance between the wheels on one side of the body), had rounded shapes, smooth lines. The main feature of most cars of that time are round headlights and a massive vertical grille.
Of the interesting, it should also be mentioned that many cars were then without a roof, or with a soft folding top. This type of bodywork is now called a "convertible" and such cars are usually quite expensive and rare. But before convertibles were almost more popular than cars with a hard top. This fact can be explained by the fact that at the beginning of the 20th century the car was, first of all, a means of luxury, and not transportation. And it was driven in good weather, often in warm countries. So, it is known that he took cars with him to the Crimea and actively drove them there. The cars were placed in a special train car. Actually, trains as a means of transportation by that time were much more popular, although by and large the railway and the prototype car appeared at about the same time.
They were equipped with ridiculous by modern standards engines with a capacity of 20-40 horsepower. This is despite the fact that the weight of the machines reached quite decent 2-2.5 tons. But, oddly enough, even such weak motors could accelerate the car of those times to 60 km / h! And this is almost twice as much as the speed that a horse with a rider is capable of.
By the way, in response to high demand in aristocratic circles, car engines were rapidly improved. And before. First World War there were instances of cars with engines with a capacity of about 60 horsepower. Such power allowed cars to accelerate up to 100 km / h, which is very decent for the 1910s!
If we return to the design, then, again, the forms were rounded. Even so, something between square and round. These cars did not need aerodynamics, so the front was flat and high. Smooth contours of the wings, hood. Tall, long and narrow cars.
The second stage of design development began after. Second World War. He called it "progressive" because, compared with the previous types of cars, the new type had a number of changes.
The most striking example of cars of the second design stage are Cadillac cars of the 50s of the 20th century. Such huge spaceships on wheels with wings on the back. A distinctive feature of the cars of this stage was a huge hood with a large overhang in front and the same huge trunk, also with a huge overhang in the back. Compared to the "classic" cars, "progressive cars" were much wider, lower, but at least not inferior to the previous class.
Smooth contours seem to have intensified. There were peculiar "wings" at the back - the fashion of the 50s. In general, the machines of this stage became, as it were, more solid. If the first had a pronounced hood, pronounced wings on the sides, that is, the car clearly consisted of separate parts, then the Cadillacs of the 50s began to resemble a single box, where the wings merge with the hood into a whole. And in general, the forms have become more rectangular. And the further, the less “round” remained and the more “square” became.
At this time, the engines increased in power (from 40 to 100 hp), which allowed the cars to keep 80 km / h as normal speed and accelerate up to 150 km / h. Another feature of the cars of this time is a very soft suspension. So "Cadillacs" literally floated over the road and therefore they were compared with yachts.
Also prominent representatives of this design class are Soviet cars: the VAZ "classic", "Volga" and representative "Zila".
The third "modern" stage began sometime in the mid-80s. From this point on, cars become predominantly front-wheel drive
Due to the fact that the car by the end of the 20th century became a thing of general consumption and ceased to be a luxury item, cars are drastically reduced in size. Car classes began to be clearly traced: from subcompact, (class A) to executive class (E class from Mercedes).
Compared to the "progressive" design, modern car design has become more concise. All parts of the body smoothly flowed into one another. Some sharp lines are in the past. The hood of cars of the most popular classes (middle and business class) remained quite large, but the trunk has drastically decreased in size. Massive bumpers also appeared, which, again, merged with the overall appearance of the car into one.
Motors at this stage reached values unprecedented for previous times: 70-90 horsepower became the norm, but at the same time, engines developing 200 or more “horses” appeared. Accordingly, the dynamic performance of the machines has sharply improved. They began to accelerate sharply and the speed of 120 km / h turned from maximum into cruising. "Maximum speed" on other models has grown right up to 200 km / h. For this reason, modern cars began to pay attention to aerodynamics. The body began to have a smooth shape without a pronounced "flat" front end. Of course, there were classes where the flat front remained in service - for example, but the general trend is obvious.
What can be said about the design of future cars? It is worth noting this trend, the appearance of the most prestigious cars eventually appears in more accessible classes. So the huge rounded limousines of the 30s turned into the super popular Volkswagen Beetle and others like it. Massive cars, such as the Fiat 124 (VAZ 2101) and others, gradually began to look like huge Cadillacs. And so on.
What cars are the most prestigious these days? Sports! Those same "Ferrari" and "Lamborghini". It is very likely that this is the look of the cars of the future. A similar look: perfect aerodynamics, an almost imperceptible hood, a powerful rear end, large wheels ... Probably 300 horsepower engines will also become the norm.
While distinguishing three classes of development in automotive design, you should not consider them fixed. These are just common features. Within each class, changes occurred over time. So in the first class, the cars gradually rounded off, decreased, and modern outlines appeared. So comparing the cars of 1910 with the cars of the 1940s, you will understand the difference. But this is generally one stage. Round and large. Next, the "space" age. Cars wide and largely round are gradually becoming more and more square (compare VAZ 2101 and VAZ 2107). Well, the modern stage: from concise bodies with a minimum of bends, with simple lines, we moved on to sophisticated lines in various parts of the car (VAZ 21099 and Lada Vesta). The general principles remained the same: a relatively long hood, a relatively short trunk (for sedans) and front-wheel drive.
