Fully understanding that design sketches are by their nature impressionistic and intended to give more of a sense of what a designer is thinking than a precise prediction of the production car, I still sometimes find myself deeply disappointed by the vehicle that actually ends up being made. I appreciate that the process of making a car is so long-lasting and complicated that it’s a miracle any get made, but sometimes I can’t help but feel betrayed.
One of the most common sins in the world of automotive sketching is wild proportions we all know could never come to pass. Among the most prevalent are the massive wheels that this sketch of the Audi Q3 Sportback. Sure, it’s a coupey crossover, and, sure, some of the design lines made it to the car, but the proportions are so exaggerated that you could have easily been misled.
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Although sketches like these sin, they still mostly look like the vehicles that came to pass and can, therefore, be forgiven. This sketch of the Honda FCEV concept, though, is much worse. This vehicle looks pretty cool. Excessive, sure, but neat. That sketch, though, slowly morphed into the awkward and slapdash Honda Clarity, which is …disappointing to say the least.
But even with that, you can kind of see how the design became the Clarity. In my opinion, the sketch that most oversold the vehicle it foretold, and the drawing that inspired this piece, is the Ford Mustang II. You need hardly be reminded that the Mustang II is one of the most reviled and looked-down-upon vehicles in history, but you could be forgiven for not predicting that when this sketch first came out.
If we were being extremely charitable, we might almost be able to find a similarity or two between the sketch and the product, but I’m not sure I possess the generosity of spirit. I appreciate that the design process is like trying to play the telephone game in a hurricane, but if I was this car’s designer I might have quit when I saw the finished product.
What do you think, though? What design sketch most raised your hopes only for the production car to let you down?
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