Thanks Rob and JT!
I hear ya re: the red bit at the back...I tried black, but it just vanished into a visual void, even though it seemed to make sense to continue the theme. I think the issue lays in the fact that the shape of the red bit just doesn't look quite right. Carbon fibre would be awesome, it's no less expensive than paint, plastic or gold in my CAD package!
The car has red painted wheel hubs and Brembo calibres, my renders are too dark.
JT, as you know I would be asking for opinions from Isuzu owners specifically
because of their equisite taste in automobile design!
"The grille and overlapping panels look like an attempt to enclose a scramjet engine into a car body"
EXACTLY! I have been struggling to describe what I was trying to achieve, you've put it perfectly. Yes, the grille at the front is massive, too big, but late in the contest I didn't have time to change it (or add the rear wing, or mirrors or front ducting). Yes, the engine is in the rear, the radiator is in the front, rear ducts are for an oil cooler (left) and for show (right). There should be two exit ducts in front of the windscreen, again, too late to add them before the contest ended. The small ducts either side of the grille are for brake cooling.
Agree with you re: side profile, from dead front 3/4 view it also looks too messy, so there a bit of work to do on the 'strake' (I guess is what you call it, hipline or h-point is probably the industry term). I would like to finish it properly, but just releived to have completed it to this stage so far. Of course, the idea is always to create something unique, but not unique and crap, so this is all valuable input guys, thanks a lot!!!
I'm far too old and not as enveloped in current automotive trends to head back to uni, study and become a car designer these days, but I would like to get my talents up to scratch enough to become somewhat of a 'guerilla automotive designer', working on limited production cars with firms or individuals that would not have an in-house designer, nor contract a design firm. The 20-something guru's that come out of Transportation Masters courses these days are phenomenally talented in conceptualization, sketching and presentation, but they haven't had 20 years exposure to manufacturing like me, nor are they likely to get it any time soon (this side of a Renault internship), as the nuts and bolts are invariably done in China these days.
Duane
