At 2:08 PM -0700 7/3/01, Faure, Marin wrote:
>For my money,
>the only real design innovator today (outside of the exotics few of
>us can afford)
>is Audi. The TT design is brilliant. Even if you don't like it,
>you have to credit someone
Well it may be a brilliant design, though that is clearly a
subjective assessment. However, I don't think that it can
legitimately be considered unaffected by the retro trend.
The first time I saw one, my immediate reaction was that it was a
cool reflection of the pre-war Audi Grand Prix monsters. I'm
referring to those huge rear-engined V-16 racing trucks that the
Reich used, along with the Mercedes W163s and kin, to dominate racing
and convince the world of German superiority. The more TTs I see the
more they seem to reflect those lines; particularly the coupe. In
fact, among the German makers, including the Porsche Boxster, only MB
seemed to be willing to eschew the retro thing until they announced
their new '30s type super luxury sedan the Maybach, named for another
pre-war marque.
Land Rovers ain't retro; they're the real thing.
('cept for those owned by latté drinkers :-D )
Gerry Mugele
*** "It's not on any map - true places never are." -- Mark Twain
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b30 : Tue Jul 03 2001 - 20:31:57 EDT