automotivebriefs
Topic

Urban planning

Deciding how strangers will share a place.

1
in automotive
10:12
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10 min
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10:12

Renault Twingo

Patrick Le Quément · 1992

The Renault Twingo (1992) is a two-door, front-engine city car designed under Patrick Le Quément’s leadership to reverse Renault’s declining sales through bold, autonomous design. Its defining feature—the smile-shaped front end—was a deliberate assertion of styling priority over mechanical packaging. It delivered visibility, compactness, and instant recognition, but sacrificed rear access, cargo space, and dynamic refinement. It marked the moment Renault’s design department gained executive authority—and proved that a city car could be defined first by how it looked, not how it was engineered.

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9:15

Aston Martin Bulldog

William Towns · 1979

A one-off 1979 concept built to show off Newport Pagnell—and chase a title it never claimed.

10:10

Chrysler Turbine Car

Elwood Engel · 1950

The Chrysler Turbine Car was an experimental two-door hardtop coupe designed by Elwood Engel and built by Chrysler with bodywork by Carrozzeria Ghia. It used the A-831 turbine engine, was produced in 55 units between 1963 and 1964, and featured power brakes, power steering, and a TorqueFlite transmission. All were finished in 'turbine bronze' paint.

9:37

Ford RS200

Ghia · 1984

The Ford RS200 is a purpose-built homologation special: mid-engined, all-wheel drive, plastic-fiberglass body by Ghia, built by Reliant in Shenstone to meet FIA Group B’s 200-unit rule. It exists only to enable a rally car—not as a design statement, luxury product, or road-going evolution.

8:59

General Motors Firebird

Harley Earl · 1953

The Firebird I is a 1953 GM concept car designed by Harley Earl. It was the first gas turbine-powered car tested in the United States. It features a single-seat cockpit under a bubble canopy, a bullet-shaped fiberglass fuselage, short wings, and a vertical tail fin. It was built for the 1953 Motorama show. GM never intended it for production.