McLaren P1 Design: Love It, Hate It, or Somewhere In Between?

McLaren P1 Design: Love It, Hate It, or Somewhere In Between?

Sure the new Volkswagen Golf Mk7 and its kin, the Audi A3 and Seat Leon, along with the likes of the Renault Clio, Dacia Logan and Ford Mondeo, just to mention a few of the mainstream debuts at the Paris Motor Show, are the ones that matter in real-life terms, but it's cars like the McLaren P1 that keep us dreaming and…alive. Although billed as a concept, in reality, the P1 is a pre-production teaser of the road car that will hit McLaren's glitzy showroom floors just before the end of 2013.
Deemed by many as the spiritual successor to the great F1 of the 1990s, McLaren says the P1 was designed with one simple goal: "to be the best driver’s car in the world on road and track".
We will have to wait for the production model to find out whether the McLaren P1 can live up to its promise, but in the meantime, we can ask your opinion about the hypercar's design and if it hits the right notes.
The styling of the P1 is the result of the collaborative efforts of Chief Design Engineer Dan Parry-Williams and Design Director Frank Stephenson (his previous work includes the modern day Mini, Fiat 500 and the Ferrari F430), and their respective teams.
"The collaboration was one of the great things about the project and that allowed us to reach such a complete package," Parry-Williams said.
Stephenson agrees with him: :"We have ended up with a car that looks as futuristic as a concept car – except that it will go into production – and with similar aerodynamic properties to a sports racing car. I believe it is a terrific achievement."
According to Parry-Williams, the McLaren P1's styling prioritizes function over pure style, while Stephenson adds that he wanted a car that was "striking but also functional, a real statement of intent. I wanted a genuinely beautiful and dramatically honest “supersports” car, in keeping with McLaren’s heritage but also at the forefront of automotive design". 

Via: carscoop

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New Fiat Panda 4x4 and 'Giusy' Miss Italia 2012 Hit the Paris Auto Show Catwalk [Video]

 New Fiat Panda 4x4 and 'Giusy' Miss Italia 2012 Hit the Paris Auto Show Catwalk

The big news for Fiat at the 2012 Mondial de l'Automobile was the world premiere of three new additions to the Panda range, namely the 4x4, Trekking and Natural Power models.
And they weren't along as the cars were joinedat the presentation by Miss Italia 2012, 19-year old Giusy Buscemi fromSicily. In case you wondering why, Fiat happens to be one of theofficial sponsors of the Miss Italia pageant with the latest generationof the Panda being the official car of the event.

The charming Giusy Buscemi made her entrance to the Parisian catwalk set up at the center of the Fiat stand aboard the new Panda 4×4, which the Italian company says is "the only four-wheel drive model in the A-segment".

The differences over the regular Pandainclude the adoption of a permanent all-wheel drive system with twodifferentials and electronically controlled coupling along with theaddition of a standard ESC (Electronic Stability Control) system withELD (Electronic Locking Differential).

Fiat's engineers also modified thesuspension with the AWD variant sporting a higher travel ride alongwith an independent MacPherson arrangement up front and aninterconnected wheel with torsion beam layout at the rear, specificallydeveloped for this model.

A modest styling package that includesprotective plates under the bumpers, plastic surrounds and new wheelson the outside, and a green frame around the dashboard and uniqueupholstery on the inside complete the visual updates.

Engine choices for the all-wheel drivePanda include an 84hp (85PS) 0.9-liter TwinAir Turbo petrol and a 74hp(75PS) 1.3-liter MultiJet II diesel.

The other two new additions to the Panda rangethat debuted in Paris are the Trekking, which borrows the looks andtaller ride height of the 4x4 but keeps the regular model's FWD layout,and the Natural Power fitted with a dual fuel (methane and petrol) 79hp(80PS) 0.9-liter two-cylinder TwinAir Turbo engine.

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