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The first Lamborghini born after the departure to Seat by former chief designer Luc Donckerwolke, the Reventon is named after a famous fighting bull from the 1940s... Only 20 cars will be produced at a price of one million euros each, the same as the Bugatti Veyron and over four times the price of the Murcielago LP640 on which it is based.
The exterior makes explicit reference to the F-117 Stealth Fighter (that first flew in 1977) with its faceted surfacing whilst following the underlying Murcielago structure. This totally unique form language transforms the appearance of the vehicle, adding to the visual differentiation with new lamp graphics front and rear with LED lighting sitting within the lamp cans - almost like multiple gun barrels! The rear deck extends further aft than the Murcielago, which alters the proportions of the car, and at the rear the three horizontal glass panels over the engine leave open gaps between them.
The carbon fiber exterior has a matte-metallic finish to the dark green-grey color and features a matte aluminum fuel filler cap and carbon fiber blades on each of the alloy wheel spokes.
Inside, the car has bespoke seats and materials, a single billet aluminum binnacle clad in carbon fiber and instruments that feature a G-force meter and reconfigurable digital display.
It was hard to get near the Reventon for much of the show as so many people pressed for a closer view. Few could describe it as beautiful, but its 'evil' allure was compelling.
Following the Fluence concept from June 2004, Renault has unveiled another upper medium sized four-seat coupe concept, signaling their intention to create a production Laguna coupe to compete with the Peugeot 407 coupe.
Unlike the production Laguna that also debuted at the show, the Coupe concept was universally well-regarded by the designers we spoke to. The calm exterior finished in pearlescent white belied an innovative and refined design that featured an interior packed full of impressive design details.
The exterior form is defined by the flowing side feature crease that raises up from the base of the front, sweeps up, down, and up along the side before flipping back up the C-pillar. A low set grille, satin and polished finish chocolate colored alloy wheels, near full-width exhaust pipe and rear lights that float inside a recess were other highlights of this handsome and well-resolved exterior.
But it was the interior of the Laguna Coupe that really shone. Within the four bucket seat cockpit was a theme of floating wraparound surfaces: the seats, door inners, gear shift surround, and the "i-drive" surround. The steering column stalks literally punctured the metal collar that cradled the back of the instrument binnacle, and the steering wheel echoed this collar with a metal section of its rim that twisted in to become the two spokes. And then you see the really clever details, such as the curved bit of transparent plastic - protruding from the rear parcel shelf - that directs red light from beneath using a fiber optic principal, forming the third rear brake light, and the interior rear view mirror that has plastic backing only on the right side (as this is the only place that the driver's right hand would hold the mirror).
Design Review coming soon...
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Design Review: Renault Fluence
Just as the Reventon is the first post Luc Donckerwolke design from Lamborghini, the Tribu is the first design from Seat after his appointment as design director. The car is significant in its own right for two core reasons: first, it indicates the likelihood of Seat entering the compact SUV sector with a production car based on the Volkswagen Tiguan platform, and second because it introduces a new Seat facial identity.
The new Seat face has a strong graphic that places a center grille between two side grilles that uniquely incorporate the front lamp graphic. In this application, the effect is quite aggressive, but the core theme clearly has a broad reaching potential.
Seen front the front, surface creases run down the A-pillar into the hood and down to index with the new DRG. This is echoed in the established Seat design signature line that runs below the hood feature line, through the fender, and back along the flank.
The door handles are non-handed lozenge shapes which are at odds with the generally flowing form language. Given the production Leon has rear door handles recessed into its side glazing, this seems an obvious missed opportunity.
At the rear of the car is a large single piece glazed clamshell tailgate that incorporates the rear lights and is designed to unusually cantilever upwards.
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