This year's LA Design Challenge provided a glimpse into the future of motorsport, motoring design and much more, writes Shane O'Donoghue
ENTERING ONLY its fifth year, the LA Design Challenge is growing in prominence as a showcase, not only of the LA Auto Show and accompanying Design Los Angeles conference, but also of the region's influence over global car design.
The fact that there are only nine contestants is of little concern, as the creation of the designs employed over 40 individuals directly and many more colleagues indirectly; yet even that is just a tiny sample of the design talent on hand in the California region.
More than 500 designers descended on Design Los Angeles to hear the keynote speaker, Daniel Simon, discuss the future of motorsports - with regards to the environment and technology.
Even though motorsport rarely puts form ahead of function, it heavily influences the design of road cars, so this year's theme of the Design Challenge was "Motor Sports 2025". Designers were encouraged to think about how racing might evolve, along with the cars taking part. The target date is only 17 years away, yet most participants envisaged new technology that wouldn't be out of place on the set of Star Trek.
Although several of the designs utilised bio-diesel, it seems that refuelling is to become a thing of the past in future motorsport events, as some race series move to limiting the amount of energy that can be used in a race, while other designs suggest that alternative energy sources can be used to extend the car's range during the race.
Solar power and brake energy regeneration are realistic technologies, while others foresee a future where power can be distributed wirelessly or through specially constructed road surfaces - a little like slot car racing.
The winner of this year's competition was the Mazda Research and Development team of North America. Its entry is the Kaan, which is designed to compete in a new electric-only "E1" formula of 2025.
Along with fanciful recharging technology that is the stuff of science fiction, the Kaan project envisages a race series involving teams of about 30 cars that group together - in much the same way a peleton does in competitive cycling - at speeds of up to 400km/h. Mazda's LA design studio won the competition thanks to the high level of innovation in its idea along with unique styling.
It's true that the single-seat, three-wheeled Kaan design is unlikely to influence a road car of the near future, but that's not to say that the competition is irrelevant to the average car buyer. The design process is the same, regardless of what the final product is.
Jacques Flynn, one of Mazda's US designers responsible for the Kaan, said: "This process is a lot like the process we use when creating any type of vehicle; be it a production car, concept car, or beyond.
"Any good successful design relies on the story that initially got it going. If the story is strong and holds together, then successful design will almost always follow."
Concept cars do offer designers more freedom to express themselves and explore new design themes, though most show cars these days have a not-so hidden agenda, in that they closely resemble a forthcoming production model and act as the car maker's final gauge of public opinion before starting production. "Concept cars allow designers as well as engineers and even product planners to look at the future and see potential problems or issues and offer up solutions. Regardless of concept or production, we want to solve problems with our design," says Flynn.
"I think that all designers will agree that concept cars allow us to really stretch our thinking and creativity and with that come many ideas that may successfully translate into a production programme," he says.
When styling a showroom model, there are huge restraints for designers. They must co-operate with a team of engineers, marketers and accountants on every adjustment to a car's looks.
For instance, the position and size of lighting is strictly governed by safety legislation, while the shape of the front of a car directly determines its protection of a pedestrian in a collision.
Likewise, virtually every concept car created features massive alloy wheels, yet they're expensive, detrimental to a car's dynamics and difficult to package, no matter how good they look. With the LA Design Challenge, there are no such restrictions.
Some marketing messages may seep into the design studios' creations, but safe in the knowledge that the designs will never have to be put before management and passed through legislation, the designers' creativity is let loose.
Carlos Salaff, Senior Designer at Mazda America offers his views of the competition. "The LA Design challenge is particularly distinct even from our concept vehicles, in that it allows us to experiment with new architectural configurations, new technologies not currently in our line-up, and even hypothetical infrastructures. I would consider the LA Challenge a blue sky concept car."
The final word goes to Salaff, when asked to define the biggest challenges facing car designers for the future.
"The biggest challenge for me personally is the depressingly slow rate at which new technology is available at a mass-production scale. I'm sure every designer wants to design a spaceship, but the technology is just not affordable yet at the volumes we build cars in," he says.
"The good part is that as designers we have the ability to envision projects like the Mazda Kaan, which are not possible now, but can inspire the viewer to rally behind the idea."
Like all designers that take part, Mazda's team relishes the annual opportunity to go beyond the restrictive borders of production car design. As consumers, we should applaud and encourage such innovation.