On Sun, 2006-03-26 at 06:17, Wolfgang Mederle wrote:
Chris Bangle's first car was an AMC (A Hornet? I'm not completely sure about the model.). He is the chief stylist of BMW and, IMHO, the most influencial designer these days.
Cool! I wonder what model?
Q8/9 - The current Director of design at an acclaimed European automaker has a little AMC in his personal past. Can you name him, his "Kenosha connection" and his favorite car among his -own- styling work?
A8/9 - Mr. Chris Bangle, based in Munich, is chief designer of BMW AG. He previously directed Fiat Centro Stile in Turin and began in auto design at the interior studio of Adam Opel AG. Despite such a decidecly European career, he is American by birth and passport; his first car was American too: a Javelin by AMC. (I haven't found out which one, but suspect the "lookit me" '71-'74 second gen...)
His favorite self-designed vehicle is a (not-totally-un-Pacer/Gremlin-ish) BMW Z3 M coupe; yes, the very steel and glass-topped version ("breadwagon" it's been said) of roadster Z. Lest you wonder if he's some confused old coot, at 4 years my junior (age 43), his arty glasses, spiked hair, beard and colorful threads say hip wth a capital "H." His 12-year old son might disagree, but how many kids can ride a BMW skateboard (the "Streetcarver") designed by their Dad?
(Thus proving that early exposure to AMC may encourage creative thinking and automotive success later in life.)
-- Glen Hoag '75 Pacer 258 (x3) hoag@xxxxxx '76 Pacer 258 (for parts) Limestone County, Alabama '77 Pacer 258 (for kids) '80 Pacer 258 DL wagon '81 Concord DL 258 AMO #7895 AMCPC #471 '82 Spirit 151