Tag Archives: Jaguar

We might not have flying cars yet, but this company is turning vintage automobiles into electric motorboats

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While every sci-fi movie and book has seduced humanity with the promise of flying cars, the guys at Floating Motors are building out a different kind of future – sailing cars.

The brainchild of Pierpaolo Lazzarini, Floating Motors takes vintage cars and turns them into electric motorboats that are a delightful combination of confusing and cool. Dubbed as “resto-floating”, the technique involves restoring a vintage car, but not with car parts. Instead, the car’s mounted either on a twin-hull, a catamaran, or a hydrofoil base, and is outfitted with electric motors for propulsion. Here’s an interesting philosophical question though… is it still a car? Considering it was a car, and still looks like a car, but clearly functions as a boat… what IS it?? Why not drop us a mail and tell us what you think.

Floating Motors’ current offerings are a star-studded lineup of restored classics, including the VW Microbus, Fiat 500, Mini Cooper, Porsche 550 Spyder, and Jaguar E-Type. Depending on the model, the carboats come outfitted with anywhere from a 40 horsepower to a 135 horsepower electric motor, with speeds going up to 55 knots. The restoration is carried out by Lazzarini’s design studio along with Jet Capsule S.r.L., an Italian watercraft builder. While clearly the idea behind owning a classic vintage car that drives on water sounds like a bit of a vanity/enthusiast thing, Floating Motors says you can use the crafts for various purposes, including as a taxi; which adds yet another layer of philosophical conundrums to the mix. If it’s a car that drives on water, is it a taxi?? Or a ferry?? This has the potential of being the internet’s latest “is the dress white and gold or is it black and blue” debate.

Designer: Floating Motors

Iconic Eames Lounge Chair gets a timely upgrade by automotive designer Ian Callum

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Legendary Furniture Design meets cutting edge Automotive CMF.

2021 marks 65 years since the Eames Lounge Chair was first debuted by prolific design duo, Ray and Charles Eames. The chair and ottoman, with their bent plywood paneling and plush leather cushioning, look futuristic even by today’s standards and are every bit a design hallmark… however it hasn’t stopped British automotive designer Ian Callum from propelling it further into the future. The Callum Lounge Chair builds on the template of the Eames Lounge Chair, albeit with fresh, automotive-inspired design sensibilities and a carbon-fiber construction!

The chair comes from the studio Callum Designs, which was founded in 2019 after Ian Callum retired from his position as the Director of Design for Jaguar Land Rover. Callum’s 4-decade career also includes work for Ford, TWR, and Aston Martin. Embarking on a new creative journey with his own studio, the iconic British Designer debuted the Callum Lounge Chair – a piece of furniture that has a distinct automotive touch. Callum’s reinterpretation of the timeless mid-century design classic showcases sportscar contouring along with automotive-inspired electric blue cushions. The cushions sit against a wood and carbon fiber frame, giving the car its slick, sporty appeal. The vibrant Pantone palette was a conscious design choice too, straying from the Eames Lounge Chair’s black and brown aesthetic. The chairs are finished by hand in Callum Design’s in-house trim shop in their Warwickshire HQ.

Furniture is an exciting new domain for Ian, who’s spent over 40 years in the automotive world. In an interview with Wallpaper, Callum addressed how his previous experiences with chairs has always come with strings attached, given most of them fit inside cars. He mentions that with the Callum Lounge Chair, “[it] doesn’t have to pass any kind of crash test, which is refreshing”. The Callum Lounge Chair will remain a one-off prototype for now, unless it drums up enough customer interest… although one can expect them to cost a fortune!

Designer: Ian Callum (Callum Designs)

This F1-inspired Jaguar racer is a demon raring to come alive…

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Jaguar has been the epitome of beauty, performance, and innovation in the automotive industry – bringing to light what sublime four-wheelers can be like embedded with the essence of excellence personified. The XJ 13 has been the brand’s most iconic car, and this concept design by Jaeheon Lee takes inspiration from the prototype racing car developed by Jaguar that took to the challenging Le Mans track in the mid-1960s. Jaeheon calls it the Jaguar VL, and it takes a different design approach for the car technician and the driver.

On the front, the car has a very Formula-1 like character with a dual seating arrangement. Here the driver and the technician have different UI screens, and the driver has an F1-styled steering wheel inspired by the Jaguar’s racing heritage. On the exterior, the car bears a very speedy character, a boxy overall feel inherent to the racing cars, and the segmented two halves of the front and rear make it feel more like a modern gadget t there were no wheels. The curvacious look on the Jaguar VL is so reminiscent of the XJ 13.

Jaeheon has managed to put together an automotive concept design that stands out from the rest while being subtle in its own way. Being so radically different means it has to be a self-driving car powered by an electric drivetrain. But it has to be said, the designer fused the Jaguar heritage with the Formula-1 personality so well. This concept could easily make it past the blueprint stage and onto the prototype stage for a sci-fi movie perhaps – it’s that cool!

Designer: Jaeheon Lee

Jaguar Unity-One Vision racing concept uses a rowing-inspired steering mechanism

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Jaguar started off as a sidecar company and reincarnating that spirit is the Unity-One Vision racing concept by Hyunsik Moon, a budding industrial design student at Kookmin University. Even though this is his second effort at penning an automotive design, the thought and ideation put into the concept is worth appreciating. Besides drawing motivation from the Jaguar’s own DNA, the Unity-One concept also takes inspiration from a multi-dimensional array of fields. The design language follows a very fluidic, geometrically artistic approach that looks up to the marvels by acclaimed British architect Zaha Hadid that are more or less hyperbolic paraboloid.

The extreme speed of the electric drivetrain-powered vision racing concept can be attributed to the tilting cabin that moves in the direction for maximum stability and traction. The presence of an aerodynamically sough-ought design honed by the lightweight yet structurally strong body has traces of the Formula-E or even Formula-1 DNA which keeps the racer pinned to the surface at high speeds thanks to the downforce generated by this design language. Each of the wheels has independent power delivery which ultimately helps in traction control and break-neck speeds even at sharp turns. This makes it ideal for the future of motorsports that’s going to be dominated by electric racers, and the paradigm shift is already taking place.

Once the driver jumps into the cockpit of the Jaguar Unity One Vision racing concept, there is no steering inside. Yes, it is not an autonomous concept –rather has a peculiar rowing steering mechanism. There are two levers on either side that one pulls to turn in the desired direction. The harder the pull is the sharper the car turns. Sure it can be tiring if you have to complete 50 odd laps of a Grand Prix circuit and also the gear shifting that’s mostly paddle-shifters on modern cars is going to be something that needs to be sought out. Other than that, the mechanism seems intriguing more or less inspired by the one on children’s toys. Who knows, maybe, in a decade or so, Hyunsik’s proposal for the steering mechanism will be feasible as the automatic gear system in racing cars becomes more accurate.

Designer: Hyunsik Moon

Jaguar Consul is an autonomous coupe way ahead of its time

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Jaguar is a brand synonym with style, masculinity and class that is definitive in the automotive realms. The luxury and performance combo of the Jaguar sports cars, the new F-Type in particular is exemplary. Taking design cues from 2020 F-Type, to shape the future of Jaguar sports cars that’ll be eco-conscious, the Jaguar Consul is a glimpse of things to come. Seasoned automotive designers Gregoire Mory and Hanchang Liu have pondered over the design of a Jaguar coupe thirty years down the line, and this is what it looks like.

Consul has the aerodynamic flowing lines, ever sharper than the current generation of Jaguar cars. In particular, the rear which flows from the front and seems to be stretched right up to the taillights. The rear end is so sharp you can virtually cut a slice with it! There is some semblance of the E-Type in the exterior design as well, and why not, it is one of the most iconic sets of wheels that Jaguar has envisioned. The autonomous coupe looks bold and intimidating up-front with sharply designed squinting LED headlights. From the sides, the car bears a very toned character with the wheel arches giving it a definitive road presence. Consul is made to go at high speeds with the encapsulated windshield design that gives the riders the sensation of whizzing through on the highway. To match the sporty look overall, there are gull-winged doors that open up to the back.

The interior of the Consul has an equally distinct setup with a four-person sitting configuration. Two at either side of one seating position which extends further back. The extreme left position is equipped with a steering wheel, just in case you feel the urge to drive the car. The fourth position is right where the dashboard would be, facing the other three passengers. All the sitting configurations have a laid-back setup for the ultimate comfort. The car design is quite practical and with a bit of more inputs could see daylight in the coming years.

Designers: Gregoire Mory and Hanchang Liu

Jaguar will supply I-Pace EVs for Norway’s new wirelessly-charged taxi service

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The world’s first high-powered wireless taxis will roll out in the Norwegian capital of Oslo later this year, with the support of Jaguar Land Rover. The project, named ElectriCity, also involves Nordic taxi firm Cabonline, Norway’s largest charge poi...

Jaguar just released a 4-part masterclass on their car design process!

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Hosted by Jaguar’s designers, the 4-part series gives an insight into Jaguar’s design process, while the last video is a fun, DIY-home edition of an automotive clay modeling session using tools and implements you’d find around your house.

The first three episodes of the Masterclass guide us through how an idea is translated into a final product, with the first step being sketch ideation. Led by Chief Creative Designer Dominic Najafi, the episodes show the gradual progression of the Jaguar I-Pace on sketch, before being taken to the Photoshop rendering level by Matthew Beaven, Chief Exterior Designer.

The third film follows Chris Scholes, Senior Alias Modeller, as he then proceeds to take those 2D renders and develop them into immaculate 3D surfacing using Autodesk Alias. While we still await the fourth part of the series, which looks at transforming the 3D model into believable renders, courtesy CG Artist Elliot Brett from the Design Visualization team, Jaguar released a fun video of its designers working with automotive clay at home, using everything from rolling pins to potato peelers to build clay-models of Jaguar’s automobiles!

Watch the videos below!