Paris Motor Show 2002 Highlights

Ford C-Max
by Nick Hull

Ford surprised visitors to the Paris Motor Show with the unexpected showing of the C-MAX, a concept MPV study based on the Focus platform.

“This car is designed around the space, flexibility and dependability needs of customers in this segment but moves to a whole new plane in styling” says Chris Bird, Ford of Europe Design Director.

Taking the theme of “Active Luxury”, the design team were inspired by the functional design of sports and luxury goods ranging from the precision of exclusive watches to the functionality of ski bindings.

The styling direction is described as elegant and precise, with a confident, ’planted’ stance, emphasized by a key character line running from the front bumper corner, past the headlamp, over the roof and down to the rear bumper. This facetted line “contains” the side view and has become one of a series of increasingly used Ford design cues. Others include the pronounced wheel arches, distinctive rear quarter window, vertical-stacked taillamps, and ‘wide-stance’ front bumper graphic.

It’s interesting to note that this facet adjacent to the headlamp can be traced right back to the 1976 Taunus/Cortina Mk4 or ’77 Granada as a Ford design cue and has been re-introduced on the new Mondeo, Fusion, and Transit Connect models.

C-MAX showcases some elegant detailing such as the neon-look front and rear lamps and the illuminated frosted acrylic door handles which extend when required.

The interior is laid out as four individual seats with a long dividing centre console incorporating front and rear armrests, electronic park brake, rear tables and stowage. The IP seems close to a production item and is notable for the high-mounted gearshift and seven-inch touchscreen satellite navigation system. The interior is trimmed in high contrast navy blue and cream leather.

A second aircraft roof console contains the usual storage and lamp facilities plus a small “integrated Remote Imaging System” (iRIS). This is a webcam-style camera that beams images of the rear seat area from the vehicle to a PDA so that even when momentarily away from the car, parents can keep an eye on the kids. No more fighting on the back seat from now on...