AutoCritical

This concept car by Honda opens an opportunity to test the reaction of the public towards a car idea and design. This retro inspired design will no doubt turn heads on the road, if it ever makes it. To me, the first thing I notice is its size – it is obvious that this is for the inner city. Within one of the door panels is an inbuilt Honda motorized unicycle. This feature enforces the EV-N as a complete transportation solution, and the image I have in my head is that of a revolutionized lifestyle in the way of getting around.

Exterior theme

There is a cheeky (and rather obvious) theme of oval shapes that feature on the exterior of the car, from the wheels, to the light design. More subtly, the gentle radius similarly echo this cheek from the outside and in. Just like the exterior, the key interactive areas of the car, such as the binnacle/panels and door clasps adopt ovals as their primary design influence. I think that even if it is obvious, it makes sense to keep the cheeky exterior ‘feeling’ on the inside of the car so the driver can feel like how they look!

Interior theme

One of the more interesting proposals in this concept, besides the solar panels, and clean simple design are the light weight mesh-like seats. I am curious to see how they would turn out in a production version from their comfort, material type and safety.

This could be a mother car for the future…

Exterior Features

Fernando Alonso
Felipe Massa has ‘grown’ up at Ferrari in some ways, similar to how Lewis Hamilton has at McLaren. Massa, just like Hamilton, finished second in the World Championship standings the year before Alonso joined their teams. Will Alonso have similar issues at Ferrari that were encountered at McLaren?

*Will Alonso be expected to be treated like someone who can bring 0.2 seconds more speed and millions of sponsorship to a team?

Apparently some engineers will be following Alonso to Ferrari, might this trigger a cheating related scandal?

Kimi Raikkonen
The rumor is that Kimi Raikkonen will go back to McLaren. Now that Ron Dennis has now left the Formula 1 side of McLaren, will the apparent ‘restrictive’ nature of McLaren still be lingering to hinder Kimi Raikkonen’s style?

Raikkonen is a great driver, why would any team let him go for an equally great driver? (Unless he wanted to)

Although from the perceived attitude Raikkonen has towards his fellow teammate, it will be unlikely. Will Kimi experience similar issues as Fernando had at McLaren?

++ Well, there he goes. With the rumors that he would be earning more money in 2010 for not racing in F1, and the unavailability of a race winning car (at the right price), it’s sad seeing him go.

*added 2nd October 2009

++ added 18th November 2009