Summer Interlude - Drawing on the Past....Once Again.

Continuation of the previous message regards the importance of old fashioned Drawing and Sketching in our modern world.

With provision of very basic sketch and contextual explanation.

Today, everyday experiences are overtly digital, with 'augmented reality' and 'virtual reality' not so far away given immensely available computing power. But it is the tactility and inter-connectedness between self and the creative medium that allows the human spirit to thrive.

And whilst CAD software such as CATIA has developed to such a degree that highly complex products - from cars to aeroplanes - can be created with an astounding degree of sophistication (delineating different systems, packaging efficiency etc) is essential to industry, the software that that is Microsoft 'Paint' to the drawing tools of an iPad, whilst fun, are in comparison to traditional methods, still artificial in feel, more cumbersome and so less rewarding results.

More than ever people need to draw, to feel more connected the world, and not just subsumed into cyberspace. So as to observe and think in a far more considered way.  Thereby raising consciousness and molding more thoughtful behaviour that could be utilised elsewhere in their lives; from basic social interaction to creation of something that is their very own in 2D or eventually 3D.

The importance of drawing in automotive history very well exemplified by the very setting and exhibits at the recent Goodwood Festival of Speed.

The vast majority of those vehicles were first imagined upon paper as formative sketches, then high quality (client or boardroom) renderings, and then at the beginning of engineering development as General Arrangement layouts in 1st or 3rd Projection, as sectional cut-aways and areas of specific detail.

Goodwood provided a cornucopia of automotive wonderment across virtually every vehicle segment, from a current Kamaz Dakar Race truck persistently 'drifting', to a stationary Voisin C30 Scooter-mobile sat as a yesteryear oddity amongst the 'Style et Lux' showcase.

In that rarefied realm of tactile design and use, though the Abarth 205 coupe won the event amongst the parade of Bugattis, Bentleys, Abarths etc, for its sheer aesthetic beauty, it was the breadth and uniqueness of Gabriele Voisin's efforts continue to inspire to this day.

Idiosyncratic vision that sought to infuse his vehicles with alternative zeitgeist influences from other arenas, specifically from Modernist architecture and the Art Deco interiors and details of his era. A juxtapostion of the stark and raw against the sumptuous and vibrant. From piano hinges to simply constructed radiator ornament, so as to deliberately contrast against the conventional sculpt and cast method. His work was Futurism made manifest for people to admire, and the avante-garde set to purchase.

But what of the future?...

As regards the disguised Land Rover Defender shown at Goodwood, it vaguely appears that Head of Design Gerry McGovern has chosen to infuse the new vehicle with much of his mid 1990s efforts for Freelander 1.

Using that vehicle as the apparent new baseline/benchmark for the new aesthetic of what is intended as a new icon.

Round headlights sunken into black or transparent rectangular bezels were the mid 1990s 'go to' cue for L-R Design, seeking to morph old style sealed-beam units with modern halogen and now LED clusters. Similarly, the softening of previously heavily rectilinear body forms, providing more rounded shoulders and edges that could create a visual unity through similar and proportionate radii, And at the rear, the same treatment as front: with previously separate round tail lamps still present but absorbed into unified surround..

McGovern's Freelander did much to align L-R with mainstream vehicle aesthetics, so as to open the brand to the then burgeoning middle-classes, their 'lifestyle' being far closer to Safari Parks and Salsa Classes, rather than rural utility or leisure off-roading. But it together with consumer credit is what allowed L-R to substantially grow its volumes and profitability.

And Freelander 1 is now over two decades old, and may now itself be internally viewed - and by younger focus groups - as representing an 'original' L-R look in the modern era.

All will be seen when finally revealed, but seemingly a major departure from old Defender so as to catch-up with the plethora of modern leisure-utility vehicles, from Hi-Lux's to L200s to  Rangers to Navarras to Amaroks and now the X-class.

[NB there's always been heavy VM reliance on JVs in this sector, as seen with GM-Isuzu in the 1970s, Mazda-Ford in the 1980s, Toyota-VW in the 2010s and now Nissan-Mercedes on verge of 2020s.].

If, as seems likely, Defender becomes uni-body construction; the historic body-on-frame methods will be left to the likes of TATA Motors (JLR's parent), Mahindra, Bajaj and the crop of other EM manufacturers across Asia, South America etc who've adopted and adappted or created their own utiliarian workhorses.

And of course - top of the league - Toyota's 70 (ie 79) series and '200' LandCruiser, the globally dominant heavy-duty utility 4x4 for nearly 4 decades

Replacing Defender was always going to be problematic given its expansive personality stretching from a basic Hi-Lux  to accessory laden G-Wagen, with recognition that Defender did not have the low cost-base of Hi-Lux (or Thailand built Ranger) nor engineering integrity of 'Troopie' LandCruiser or G-Wagen.

So what could Land-Rover do? Either:
A. Follow the popular crowd with a brand-enhanced 'me-too' offering to capture a slice of the large global volume from the Japanese and others?
B. Perhaps re-position between mid (ie Ranger) and full-size (ie F-150) to stand-alone, stay unique?
C. Provide 'me-too' softened styling? (a la Freelander)
D. Or again, stand-alone as the individualistic icon and retain it hard edged visual character?

E. Or perhaps even consideration of an IP exercise for the nameplate, by which Land Rover designs and develops Defender 2, who's production rights are then sold to a multitude of mid-level EM countries seeking their own economic development path forward. With the advantage of technical inter-changability across borders so as to foster trade relations, and simultaneously build bridges with Britain.

Without the raft of research required, natural instinct would suggest B-D-E, to restrengthen its lost attributes and taking an intelligent differentiated approach (not Mass per Toyota, not Niche per G-Wagen) that could be latterly built upon, with the diverse customer base.

Let us hope that Land Rover's Business and Product Strategists put as much critical thinking into Defender 2 as was feasibly possible.

[NB in my time there, my boss's 16 year old daughter came for work-experience. On the walls of her cubicle she pinned the written lyrics of various songs of the time: "Design for Life" by The Manic Street Preachers was very apt for the overall design ideology for Defender 2, and since it was classless -  from the Queen to the NGO worker, and could operate as a unifying emblem to overcome the divisive social stirrings of the period].


Beyond Goodwood, we see how vintage meets digital....

The recent showcasing of Bentley's EXP 100GT concept for 2035. Depicted within its own light-show staged behind a slate grey exterior facade, to provide a deliberately hyper-real impression of the marque in the today.

That's what concept cars are all about...building brand imagery.

The AI based vehicle (itself depicting  Autonomous or Driven modes) invariably succeeds in conveying the essence of Bentley in Grande Tourer guise. Expanded with digital overlay that rhetorically can create an alternative universe for the occupants using polarized glass to screen-off the outside world when required and create a seperate existence internally.

Hence, as with other manufacturers, the technological macro-trends have been infused into physically expanded Bentley design cues representing a Retro-Futurism where bespoke 1930s coach-built proportions and belt-lines meets a 2030s interpretation of the Digital.


An Echo of Another Time....

The event's slate grey exterior prompted a memory about an old sketch with similar philosophical overtones back in 1996 for what was expected to be a re-emerging  Rover Cars, striking its own new future-forward path.

And that sketch still exists because it was not digital, could not be accidentally over-written or deliberately erased by a nefarious other.

That hard-copy proves its existence, unlike our present age in which true fact can be lost when over-written with new 'manufactured facts' created simply by digital reproduction.

The 'cyberisation' of mankind through mass digital reproduction, aligned group think and sensationalist trending news stories that create social feed-back loops, has made individuals ostensibly passive yet emotionally reactive, psychologically attuned and thus far more passive-aggressive; with obvious subtexts to what used to be normal everyday conversations.

Drawing / sketching is the very opposite...it is the personal and 'secular' that rewards ones soul and possibly that of others. It is proactive and merges the logical with the emotional, as becomes seen by the very content of the drawn piece, and the manner in which the lines have been applied to the surface.

David Hockney did wonders to have some older folk become new artists through simplistic use of their iPads and its drawing software - outlines, fill-ins etc - but nothing compares to the tactile use of real materials.

And whilst adult 'colouring-in' books became a fad, and a sad one at that having adults mimic children, that did at least engage people, some of whom will have taken a step further towards becoming true artists.

The following describes that 1996 automotive sketch example set in context...the industrial context.

This from an originally small 5-minute 'thumbnail sketch' , regards what then appeared a much brighter future for Rover Cars under BMW stewardship.    

Itself prompted by various confluences of the time.

That small doodle, enlarged on a photocopier, and initially considered as a background template for overlay efforts when considering possible detail changes; if it ever became necessary - which ultimately it did not.

The influences behind that scribble being:

1. The Design Studio work done by Richard Woolley (and others) on the then new R75

2. The need for a new automotive recipe given zeitgeist counter-trend against the then socially distained set of 'flash and crass' BMW drivers. That brilliantly depicted by Audi UK in its 1995 television advert

3. The similar social commentary by Blur in their record 'Charmless Man'

Hence, the possibility of satiating that emergent 'anti-trend' - that was feeding Audi sales - with larger R95 or R105 models for the 21st century, to provide an alternative flip-side British-values character that may be needed by BMW Group, to off-set potentially lost sales if the counter-trend took hold.


The Design Studio -

Geoff Upex had taken over the Studio with David Arbuckle as his left hand man, George Thompson heading Land-Rover, and Richard Woolley heading Rover Cars working on updates of the small Rover cars and the portions of the new 75 (then codenamed R40), and the initial work on new 'R55' model to replace the Rover 45.

By late 1996 a beautiful two-tone dynoc'd 'clay' of the Rover 75 sat in the Studio, light metallic green upper set over Old English White lower, that nod to yesteryear cosmetics emphasised by the full length chrome strip.

That model set amongst a tailor's dummy wearing Harris Tweed jacket and other similar  'mood board' material. It promised  new era beginnings for a brand that had lost its way to foreign competition, shifted social expectations and consumer values]

Richard's efforts were nigh on perfect, as seen by numerous awards.

The body eminating a curvaceous gracefulness (set against Chris Bangle's angular flame surfacing at BMW) that had presence and subtle grandeur. Whilst the front had a slightly menacing look, the top of the quad lights cut to produce a slight frown and the lower indicator / auxillary lamps, parallel to the lower air intake, with downward curvature that replicated the edges of a predatory 'mouth'.

Whilst being indisputably Rover, the overall 'grace' and the perceived 'pace' (if not the 'space' in saloon guise) also had Jaguar-esque overtones, which actually outshone the contemporary Jaguars designed in period.

[NB Both S and X Types terribly formulaic re-interpretations. Partly because of the hard-point limitations of shared Ford and Lincoln platforms, but mostly because of parent Ford's Senior Managements - through J Mays and New Beetle (now ending production) - had overtly focus on legendary brands becoming 'Retro-ised'. Commercially right for BMW's Mini, but poor aesthetic direction for the crop of potential new owners Jaguar sought given relevant competition and their own psychographics.

Things later put right under Ian Callum, himself now 'ending production' at JLR, and starting afresh for himself].

Had BMW's talks about financial incentives with the British government been successful, likely a different ultimate outcome for Rover Cars with support and so future potential.Something Jon Moulton at Alchemy Partners could also well see, when he made his bid, no doubt to sell Rover Cars on to another (likely foreign) Volume Manufacturer

That BMW-UK Gov discussion was about assistance so as to combat the high strength of the Pound that was affecting EU sales for Rover Group. The sought for help was to help bolster export production into Europe and have the flexibility to set the right pricing levels for what was effectively a perceived upscale niche brand there.

But with the opportunity for hindsight, whilst a struggling underfunded commercial entity in itself, because the company then consisted of Land Rover, Mini, Rover and MG, it was a very rare and stimulating place to be.

After the effects of 1970s British Leyland conglomeration, the Honda JV and BAe ownership, that remaining stable of 4 very different marques allowed designers and engineers to effectively play in their very own sand-box.

The Board - itself arguably initially short-sighted, and later hamstrung by the BMW Board - having the onerous task of allocating limited funding for far too many potential opportunities.


Elsewhere in the Studio....

......Gerry McGovern had completed a very good effort on new Freelander, with a curvaceousness that would go down well with all new brand buyers and specifically the subtle cue of the belt-line echoed in the alloy wheels. An element obvious to a designer's eye, but subliminal to a lay-person who would instead subconsciously view it a unified vehicle aesthetic.

......Dave Woodhouse played up his (playful) 'enfant terrible' characater, with radical renditions of various high and low concept stuff, from a radical Defender to the idea of an MGF Speedster. That part of a trophy-cup race series and limited homologation run of high margin MGF's, all with with aero-screens, aero- bodywork, hard-tonneau cover, stripped-out interior and old-style 1960s sidelights....as depicted in the Pop Art comic book style of Roy Lichtenstein.

.....Oliver Le Grice had created the utterly lovely Spirtual and Spirtual Too concepts as 'design-values' driven re-interpretation of a modern Mini, which used a monobox egg-style body and flat-mounted 3-pot engine under the rear seats. In effect a more expansive and prosaic amalgamation of the then marketed Renault Twingo and soon available Daimler Smart; with an iconography of its own.

.....and much else besides with - if properly remembered - the likes of Marek and Tony variously on various concept and current projects.

The female designers, with specific backgrounds, dealt with Interior Design and Social Trend Plotting - disciplines of their own preference and choosing - so hardly a man's world even 25 years ago.

[NB It was their work on the interiors of R100 and R25 that helped Rover enormously in its new European competitive edge...as later described]


The 1995 Audi UK Advert -

Since the mid 1960s the ex ivy League "East-Coasters" - in their own bid to be socially seperate to the rest of the USA and eulogise their European roots - had been driving various Euro marques, from Alfa Romeo to BMW. But it had been German engineering that won out over Italian, and so increasingly 1600s, 2002s had given way to 3 and 5 series. Those cars seen by others in New York and on Wall Street who aspired to be like their social superiors, likewise bought BMW as the badge of their success.

After the City's 'Big Bang' here in London in 1986, the same trends came across the Atlantic, in an effort to replicate the Wall Street vibe, and so BMW and Porsche became the icons of aspiration....which would soon be followed by the rest of the UK with an increasingly bouyant national 1990s economy.

However, those who lead trends and are socially sensitive to whats happening in society at large, and to their once beloved brand (herein BMW) did not want to be seen as part of the new mainstream. And so they sought Audi as the close substitute, as good technically and in the real world even better in Quattro-drivetrain guise, even if a front-forward transverse five-pot was not as agile as a longitudinal low set straight-six or four.

They had had their Porsche and BMW affairs and were growing-up with a family, a dog and the mandatory house in the country, or driving-in from the Stock-broker belt..so a 4WD estate was the perfect solution that was also more understated and so less gauche.

The initial trend-setters had moved on elsewhere, leaving the wannabee red-braces brigade who believed themselves to be Gordon Gheko, to BMWs and Porches.

Although recognised here in London by 1990 or so, by 1995 that rejection of the obvious and increasingly berated codified vehicles had become slowly recognised by others around the UK.

And so Audi UK sought to make the most of this.

But instead of creating an obvious advert, that subtly stated such things, its Advertising Agency brilliantly used reverse psychology and last second re-affirmation for  the current and  potential Audi buyer.

It opens with a breed of 'City Boy' (then colloqually known as a 'Barrow-Boy' to the old guard) extolling his overtly aspirant personality and lifestyle...yet oddly driving an Audi A4 20-valve (four valves per cylinder).

That's the first cognitive trick played by the Ad Agency, now known as cognitive dissonance.

Audi's target audience, that of the socially informed viewer, knows that the man and the car are not 'sympatico', and so the knowing viewer becomes shocked that Audi has become drawn into such a world, and now seems the new symbol of the wannabee.

After intersected images of the City-Boy in the car and amongst his lifestyle friends, the cognitive dissonance grows yet further.

Toward the end, we see he is on a test-drive and returns to the showroom. Greeted by the Audi salesman - taller, classically better looking, far more demure, the salesman asks how the drive went?
"Nah...not my style...you know what I mean!"

The knowing viewer and audience breath a deep sigh of relief, Audi has not (yet)  been tainted with the money of the crass aspirant; Audi's brand persona left in tact. And so able to draw in those who considered themselves simply well to do, decent, nice and old middle-class... the very opposite o so called 'flash trash'.

It was the best advert of the 1990s; and it succeeded in drawing more and more people away from BMWs and into Audis.

[NB Thankyou to Inchcape Audi for uploading the video on youtube....a slice of socio-economic history].


Blur's 'Charmless Man' -

In April 1996 the song 'Charmless Man' was released by Blur as part of a pperiod that was simultaneously known (and so culturally manufactured) 'Brit-Pop' (revival).

(Blur, Oasis, Pulp, Suede, The Verve etc the musical creators of Brit-Pop, whilst in the Art World, the "YBA's" (Young British Artists consisted of people such as: Damien Hirst, Tracey Emin, Banksy, Bridget Riley et al. Both artforms deployed a mix of  intellectualised social observation with prime ingredients of either urban 'grunge' or juxtapositions, with an amuse-bouche of both grafitti art and psychedelic graphics that inevitably became de rigeur for the corporate lobby).  

"The story of a Charmless Man" expanded the same social observations made by Audi's Ad Agency; as had become apparent to anyone in London and beyond with any sense of social observation.

[NB Here itself recognised that good literal 'commercial art' was philosophically on par if not infact ahead of  the Art World itself; the City-Boy himself depicted attending new artist Gallery evenings].

The song and video centre on an unpleasant, wealthy and socially ambitious character who epitomised a certain type of go-getting yet wholly toxic 20/30-something City-Boy.

One of a large crowd who see life simply as an extension of the private education matra of 'play the game...play the game'. Himself essentially an English version of the 1980s Patrick Bateman character (violent but presumably without the homocidal tendencies). And his vehicle of choice? The then 'must have' "Whale-Tail" Porsche 911 Targa....of course.

Ultimately his character flaw is that of immense ego predicated upon the need for others' attention. As the lyrics state...."You put it altogether its the model of a charmless man"

The end of the video has reflections of the end of the film 400 Blows by Truffaut as he himself 'breaks-down', runs away from his Porsche (given its manifestation of his Ego which masks his true inner-angst), and opens a door to the band itself and Damien staring straight at him as if staring into his soul.

[NB And also at you the viewer, as if to say 'check yourself' in modern parlance].

The reference to the 400 Blows done to deliberately cross-referance a contemporary band called 'The 400 Blows'; just as Blur's songs cross-referanced other elements of Brit-Pop culture like nemesis Oasis.

Hence, with Blur effectively castigating the worst aspects of ultimately hollow money-worship and social climbing,  this song and video - as with 'Country House' - effectively helped to soften Britain, and create a middle-ground between the still very prevelent Yuppie mentality, by then countrywide (as often typically portrayed by the infamous Estate Agent), and the remnants of the Hippy culture which had previously morphed into Acid House and the early days of the Ibiza scene and aspects of a Drop-Out culture.

'Charmless Man' was much needed commentary that could help an increasingly aspirant nd selfish Britain rediscover its yesteryear values. So as to help tame the zeitgeist, seen with  the awfully predictable dinner party chatter of 20/30-somethings, who were inevitably looking to either test-drive the latest BMW 3-series or seeking one as part of their company renumeration package.

Britain's new middle-class had become the very antithesis of the old middle-class, with  its the liberal-conservative social values, led by typically older upper middle class  people who did not shout about what they did, they just took on the mantle of responsibilities and did it.

And since the demise of Rover (their parents' car of choice) effectively by the late 1970s, they had shifted typically into Volvos, Saabs and Audis.

Hence, after R75, the potential for R95 / R105 was to satiate and grow the still evident and hopefully growing 'Humanist' counter-trend

It had obviously long been recognised that consumer's desire for Premium had become effectively mainstream, as seen with the success of the quality German marques and their then new moves into the lower segments, Audi A2, Merc A-Class, planned BMW 1-series  But it was also recognised that they sold on status badges imbued with not only good quality but much 'technical marketing'....BMW's "Drivers Car", Audi's "Vorsprung durch Technik" etc.

But with the tainting of BMW and argueably likewise Mercedes, there would always be an aspirant  customer base that did not the Germanic, and wanted to escape the mainstream Fords, Vauxhall-Opels, Peugeots.

[NB Renault had actually self-created its own major UK popularity based on the marketing french flair so appealing to the growing female market, but even with great concept cars such as Vel Satis and production cars such as Avantime could not create French Luxury outside of France, since trapped by being too oddball].

And that ultimately meant there was space somewhere between Volkswagen in high-end mainstream and the German premium brands; both in Britain and especially so in Europe as effectively a new alternative entrant, building on success of Rover's small city cars in France, Germany and Italy, themselves seen as upscale given good (female designed) interiors.

Saab and Volvo were enduring a tough time, Saab resorting to a re-engineered but believed simply badge-engineered 9000 from JV platform sharing with FIAT-Lancia, and Volvo extending its aged large car platform with periodic reskins before being absorbed into Ford's PAG division.

So they were increasingly looking tenuous as 'Near Premium' players, which left potential untapped demand and so capacity for any new convincing entrant.

But critically, BMW had been widely successful, growing enormously since the early 1970s, and besides the purchase of Rover Group for its diverse brand portfolio - especially Mini - and access to mainstream B and C segments without diluting its own brand, it was belived that Munich sought to create a strategic fall-back, using an upwardly expanded Rover Cars in case 3,5,7 and new X5 sales flattened-off or even declined in specific markets.

Rover Cars seniors believed that it could access the Audi territory with an increasing portion of the British middle classes seeking an alternative to teutonic German cars with something far 'warmer', distinctly British yet still capable. For people who rejected the stereotypical crassness that BMWs had in the people started to embody.

The creation of a more tasteful 'affordable luxury' option of seperate character eventually in larger car sizes and slowly remove the name Rover from A and B segments, unless they too could be suitably re-invented.

Hence whilst Richard Woolley et al were putting the finishing touches to R75, the (literally) very sketchy R95 and R105 product strategy considerations for a decade plus down the road were being very generally considered in a skunk-works manner.

This outside of the Rover Cars marketing team, who themselves would become eventually involved only years later, after any success  that R75 might enjoy.


The (Very Sketchy) Sketch -

This was one of a few very basically considered body forms created to add far greater gravitas into the brand; drawing on the once illustrious Rover badge ornament.

'Longboat' Body - per Rover's Viking Ship emblem (as then still current)
'Helmet Face' - per previous 'Eric the Viking' bonnet ornament (ceased by the 1940s)

Prow, cabin and stern visually encased within an outer shell; so as to purvey the romantic 1930s long tapered bonnet (with longitudinal BMW IL6 or Rover V8). The 'V' aesthetic to enhance visual dynamic and provide boat-like overtones (akin to classic Launches such as Riva et al).

This reduced frontal area and provided for improved management of overall airflow, to reduce fuel consumption and critically assist NVH (both per wind-noise and tyre noise - itself contained in the wheel envelopes. Ducted and channeled aero to provide that vital element of quietened luxury.

Automated side vents (as vanes and literal coolant veins) enable hot air exit from engine-bay as necessary and provide interesting visual dynamic, bring the car to life and act as just one of the technical story talking-points.

The encompassing 'Shell' with corner Castleations/Turrets - as adopted from orginal Range- Rover for corner visibility (when off-road) but herein when parking and fast apex cornering. So as to create notion of modern-day (1950s) 'Road-Rover', and to convey the cues and perceived strength of the British castle.; accompanied by - if possible - with cabin 'Buttresses' echoing Gothic Cathedrals and Bridges.


The Engineering Strategy -

The basic platform to be theoretically used was an adapted frame and standard component sets from the then P38A Range-Rover. To reduced costs in engineering design, development complexity and make god use of previously cost-ammortised supplier tooling. The reduced weight of the vehicle thus allowing for greater durability of those component sets, obviously especially regards 'chassis' items (steering, suspension, braking etc)

Given the large footprint of the '105' badged model, an extension of the frame in X and Y coordinates for wheelbase and track, and with lower overall loading, the possibility of reduced guage (thickness) of the steel of the ladder chassis onto which the body would placed.

[NB the '105' does not relate to wheelbase length in inches, as the naming system on Land Rover did. Simply repeat of the old Rover model heirachy].

Compared to the P38A, obvious lowering of occupant H-Points (hip points), with extensive use of Rover disguised 5 or 7 series interior hardware, HVAC and electrical systems. Critically use of carry-over air-bag suspension for general ride comfort and the ability to raise and lower ride height for 'town' vs 'highway' driving. (Although 'on air' and not hydraulics, the intention was to mimic  the "magic-carpet" virtues of previous era Citroens (DS/CX/XM) without such complexity and cost.

[NB The softer ride also dampening shock effects on new construction methods and materials].

The repackaged powertrain required that a new single ratio transfer case be set forward compared to Range Rover to avoid cabin intrusion and enable low ground clearance.

As per aesthetic, besides an obvious encased Longboat appearance, the most radical possibility - though highly improbable - was the idea of a' buttress' A pillar which if feasible allowed for the front screen and side windows to become an uninterrupted 180 degree surround entity.

(NB The sketch showing that unlikely possibility to the off-side only, as would be seen on a centre-split 1:5 scale clay model).

The concept was that both narrow and widening 'Prow Front' would provide far better  front impact protection by deflecting the other vehicle away from the cabin, and the forward A-Pillar 'Butress' would operate likewise as deflector elements to also protect the cabin.

The vehicle produced using a mix of traditional and alternative methods. Besides the invisible carry-over elements from Range Rover, the body panels were potentially produced as set of mixed materials. Steel chassis with in-house built steel 'Superleggera/Bird-cage' body frame, upon which steel, aluminium and composite inner-panels and skin panels could be affixed.

The front wings and quarter panels (them-selves impact absorbing and sacrificial in a crash) created from low-cost vacuum-forming  and/or rotational molding methods used by suppliers to the refuse collection industry.

So the best practices taken from other industrial sectors, from the exacting precision of IT hardware outer-cases, to the voluminous, hollow character of rubbish bins and water butts). And with such processes the freedom to create subtle A-surface details, both raised and/or indented for textures, logotype etc.

[NB ironically although basically knowledgeable about refuse vessel production being cheap for the huge quantities made, it was the band Garbage that had prompted that thought earlier in that year].


The Production Strategy -

Given the avoidance of major capital spending on conventional plant tooling etc, and deliberately more labour-intensive practices on interior and exterior (under strict labour agreements) the approach was obviously the merged idiologies of the best of mass-scale manufacture (cost, quality, standardisation) and best of niche manufacture (technical idiosyncracy and hand-built).

A Two Centre Production scheme envisaged to maximise current plant capacity at Solihull and reduce new CapEx needs at Longbridge. The rolling chassis assembled at Solihull along the P38A line, then transported overnight in lower-cost long road-trains to Longbridge.

[NB Herein again the idea prompted by the name Shirley, both the name of a suburb close to Solihull and the motorway, and the name of the lead singer of Garbage].

There a new Rover Cars 'Prestige-Build' Centre (effectively an SVO) itself built by Longbridge employees (under Architect and Civil Engineering oversight) would help fill the excess capacity at Longbridge. So assisting what had been historically fractious Management and Staff industrial relations, and illustrating self-investment into the site.

The production staff (then called 'Associates' per the previous Honda JV influence) would be re-attired in likewise more self-respectful clothing: shirts, ties protected by brown and white technicians coats that were standard issue in the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s. Just as white-collar Britain was 'dressing down' so the Rover
Prestige division would have blue-collar men and women 'dress-up' to reflect a mentality of utmost professionalism.

To avoid typically expensive production-line' costs (involving cradles to support whole cars including engine 'stuff-up'),the new Longbridge line to consist of cantelevered arms supporting under-slung units which held the side 'cant-rails' (or roof rails) of the vehicle frame. Itself built-up until near complete when married-up to the pre-built chassis.

Hence akin to the first mass production schema by Ford and utilised by Austin at Longbridge in the 1920s.


The General Philosophy -

Effectively the re-birth of a luxury saloon with very different avante garde "marine meets archetectural" aesthetics and 'soft-roader' character that was very different from the Teutonic, Germanic competitor set; whilst utilsing the principles of the previously prototyped 1950s Road-Rover, which itself sought product extension of original Land Rover. Itself part of the Marketing Story.

And critically the availability of 2 or AWD capabilities to make the car safe in all conditions (per "Rover Safety bicycle") match Audi's quattro system, and qualify the 'safety' aspect relative to Volvo, by improving front crash dynamics through deflection as much as managing the crumple zone.

And using the best of volume-scale and 'time and motion' streamlined coachbuilding systems. The Prestige Centre itself a showcase from which new customers would personally collect their new cars; so saving on dealer-transfer transportation costs.

Estimated at only 15,000 per year over 5 years (625 cars per day on a 5 day week for 48 weeks of the year); with what ordinarily would be low numbers indicating high unit costs, off-set through reduced with intelligent use of cost-conscious technology transfers from other sectors and creative design, product engineering and manufacturing engineering.

Ultimately the simple scribble was pure theorising and conjecture seeking to create the automotive antidote for the very atttuned buyers who sought to distinguish themselves as seperate to the increasing mainstream premium, which had started to reflect an increasingly egotistical and materialistic society, enraptured with brand-centricism instead of specifically descernable qualities.

And to create a business model that would breath new life into the brand with strong per unit profitability.

With the continuation of BMW engineering excellence as the technical underpinnings the R95/R105 it was to be 'a cut above'. With the then possible opportinity for such brand revision that Rover could move upscale into new 'white space', even moving into Jaguar's effectively defunct Daimler-Sovereign territory.


The Reality of Business -

However, although notionally before its time, and dependent on strong revenues and re-investment from R75, BMW for very good strategic business reasons ultimately went on to divest the Rover Group portfolio to Ford and via a quick but questionable Pheonix Consortium management buyout, so as to cut losses and concentrate on Mini.

Rover Cars and MG would have ideally gone to Alchemy Partners to ensure its mid-term contunuation.

But behind the scenes, the British government was obviously keen to ultimately evolve improved relationships with China, and so via Pheonix Consortium as effectively a stop-gap owner with the temporay creation of MG-Rover.

[NB Itself really only ever a Boys Club for MG Motorsports via X-Power and the commercially irrational decision to revamp the Italian Qvale as an MG X-Power halo car; only adding to cash-burn woes, and so demise].

And so the historic name of Rover - from Victorian Safety bicycle origins and from 1904 with Cars and its 1950s and 1960s domestic, colonial and technical heydays - eventually transmuted to become China's Roewe.

To recite the title of a song by The Verve, that would arrive in 1997, soon after that optomistic sketch in 1996....a 'Bitter Sweet Symphony' of what could have been.
As is so much of Auto industry history; especially when seeking to negotiate the hazards and pitfalls of what was effectively continuation of a brand revival, amongst a plethora of micro-level and macro-level issues and tensions.

Rover was sold to China, and that act, though seen as blasphemous at the time by those in The Midlands, helped UK-China relations at a critical point in global trade history.

It would have been better however to have seen a substantive and well funded Anglo-Sino company formed to rise properly from the ashes as a true Pheonix - so much more than politically useful name.

Alchemy Partners, together with another European VM as partner, could have succeeded in doing just that, with what could have been a British-European-Chinese that bolstered respective businesses across the globe.

Something that would have allowed the UK's Design, Engineering and now AI Services sector to become more heavily entrenched into the Chinese auto-sector, its diverse domestic market and latterday global export market opportunities.

That happened to a degree with Ricardo plc's '2000' plan assisting the set-up of the Rover-Roewe plant in China for SAIC and Nanjing, and qualifying the first batch of vehicles off the line.

But little happened for UK export enterprise between that 'lift and shift' operation and latterday exercises such as Ricardo's recent services to Geely etc.

Perhaps Brexit, if achieved, will provide for that, business leaders both there and here seeking greater integration now that China's own large VMs have made leaps in their own product quality; but still have further to go to become globally competitive on quality.

Ultimately it has been a Slow (Viking) Boat to China, but the possibilities of mixing each country's core engineering competances should allow Britain's Engineering Services sector to once again apply its creative and diverse engineering talents.

And to restate yet again....

.....Behind all of that is the critical ability to draw, so as to communicate to one-self when thinking, and to others when explaining, whether technically, diagramatically or as simple visual aid.

Learn to draw....it will, for many reasons, invariably improve the quality of your life.