News in brief from the design world
Design round-up: Vanquish 25th anniversary edition; the Princess Royal opens Bentley’s paint shop; people news
Car Design News looks at news that may have gone under the radar, including the latest updates from Bentley, Aston Martin, Omoda and people news
The Princess Royal opens Bentley Motors’ new paint shop
Bentley’s new paint facility in Crewe has been officially opened by the The Princess Royal. During the visit Her Royal Highness toured Bentley’s design studio and the new paint shop. This opening of the paint shop marks significant progress in Bentley’s ongoing development of its Crewe headquarters.
The paint shop will play a key role in Bentley’s portfolio, with the Bentley Torcal being painted in the facility, alongside the Continental GT, Continental GTC and Flying Spur.
Full release here.
Aston Martin Vanquish 25th anniversary edition
The Vanquish is celebrating 25 years, and Aston Martin is marking the occasion by releasing the limited edition Vanquish 25.
This special edition is designed by the in-house design team at Q by Aston Martin. The 25 takes inspiration from the original Vanquish detailing and launch specs of 2001 but also adds new handcrafting techniques and treatments to inject some modernity into the design.
The exterior is coated in Q Skye Silver paintwork with metal foil detailing on the side sills and shield vanes. Aston Martin script foil detailing and a special exhaust finisher alongside stainless steel side strakes add to the design.
Inside, the seatbacks have the ‘Vanquish 25’ logo etched into them alongside laser-etched Aston Martin trim inlays, a bright red start/stop button in the centre console surrounded by rotary geometry and black Alcantara headlining.
Full release here.
Omoda updates the flagship Omoda 9
The Omoda 9 is now available in a Black Noble grade. This includes Jasper Black paint, black alloy wheels, matte black exterior and black suede interior touches.
The brand also states there’s an ‘MY26’ upgrade, which translates into a new suede cloth headliner, front massage seats and expanded electric seat adjustment to eight different settings for the driver and six for the passenger.
Full release here.
A trio of Aston Martin X Breitling watch releases
Albeit a car design adjacent story, these watches are worth the coverage.
Three limited edition watches have been produced as a tribute to the Aston Martin DB5. Materials and form are the primary design tribute tools that have been implemented into this watch series – with wood-inlayed details and hand-coloured gradient leather straps.
The cushion-shaped case, with its grooved corners and mushroom pushers, recall the profile of the 1960s chronograph and the ‘squircle’ sub dials emulate the look of classic car dashboard gauges.
The three editions consist of a stainless-steel piece with a silver dial, a steel and platinum with a black lacquered dial and an 18k red gold watch with onyx dial.
Full release here.
People news
A healthy mix of promotions, new hires and retirees…
Sophie Ellis has been promoted to head of strategic design at General Motors advanced design Europe. Ellis previously held the role of brand strategy specialist.
Jonathan Findlay has been promoted to head of 3D creation and visualisation at General Motors. His previous role was specialist digital sculptor.
Bob Boniface has retired after 35 years in automotive design. His most recent position was director of Cadillac exterior design.
Benjamin Louis has been promoted to North America design studio manager from senior principal designer at Forvia.
Mehul Chaudhari has joined Maruti Suzuki India as 3D visualisation designer after completing a six-month internship at the brand.
