July 8: From idea to reality

 Here is that wicked looking design sketch that your bright young designer came  up with. Approved by management, this looks like it could be a winner. Could be a car that lights a fire in your wealthy clientele (and the competition's) and pulls them into the dealers, wanting the latest and the greatest new BMW. This happen to be Bimmer, but the same process is used by every manufacturer. But how do they go from idea to reality. Without going into hyper detail, let's walk thru the process.


Design studios are the life blood of any car manufacturer. Sure, the engineers think they are the key people, and of course, they are, but with out a good looking suit of metal, all that engineering will just be nailed to the showroom floor (there are always some exceptions like the BMW X6). Design excites the customers. Even my dear wife notices a hot looking ride and will try to describe it to me. So design is key.

In these older studio pics, one can see the original drawings, scale models, works in progress and a complete mock up (haven't seen this many ties, since the last bankers' convention)..........

Don't know how that plain Jane full size model is inspiring the dude in the foreground to draw a hot coupe, maybe it's out of desperation?

The drawing process may have changed over the years, with the use of computers, but free hand work is still key in coming up with what you'll eventually see on the street.........

And thank goodness for today's complex computer programs, which allow the individual designers to work directly onto a screen, which, of course, is much easier to adjust and revise before or after their work is brought to a group discussion..........

......where they are told that, the ashtray being built into the rear bumper (or some other design feature), is probably not a great idea.

Drawings and computer programs are good, but nothing beats a scale model, or a full size three dimensional version, to see how everything comes together. These scale, or full size clays, have been used for years, even as the most sophisticated computer programs are being put into use. As, I said, nothing beats the real thing, either in scale or full size......

Another thing the full size allows the designers to do, is to make two cars with one clay. If the second car is a revised version, it can be done with one large model. In the case below from the '60's, a Buick Riviera is on one side, while its companion, the Olds Toronado has been made on the other. Saved time and effort. Again, with the ties in the older shots.

But as we all know, cars are not sold in clay, so from these models, the "real" car has to emerge. How? Easy, assuming that you are a craftsman (please don't get hung up on the "man" in this term). Sheets of coloured material are painstakingly applied to replicate the final car. Chrome is very thin foil, like I use on my much smaller scale models. When finished, the model is exactly like the finished car, without an interior, of course.

Now the "finished" model can be shown to the decision makers, maybe even with a dummied up interior, like this pic, again from the '60's, showing a German Opel, that eventually made it into production.

Once approved, the process that started with  a sketch..........

.........will turn into a beautiful full size, fully functional sales success (they hope).........

It's interesting to me that, over the years this process of going from idea to reality has remained much the same, while also changing dramatically. You've heard the old saying, the more things change, the more they remain the same, or something like that. And in the case of the gorgeous Gran Coupe, traditional BMW design cues have been rendered into a stunning modern day interpretation. From idea to reality.

Until next time.......