Audi has a new leader in design. It’s Italian, Massimo Frascella, most recently employed by Jaguar-Land Rover. And while I never put too much stock in nationality dictating ethos, in Audi’s very cool new Concept C, Frascella’s roots do show something Audi’s been lacking of late: sex appeal and passion.
In the Concept C, you can see both the playfulness and, yes, “cuteness” of the original TT, a car that pulled all the way back to Audi’s Auto Union days in the 1930s, as well as the serious “futurism” both of that era and that Audi has stood for since the early 2000s.
Since Frascella’s work took him from Italian design house Bertone to Ford and Kia and then to JLR, he’s run the gamut of design possibilities and brands in various states of reinvention. With the Concept C, he’s showing serious command of dueling problems: A brand that’s mature but also kind of “stuck,” but that has amazing DNA that needs to be rediscovered with fresh eyes, both internally and externally. The Concept C embodies that to a T.
Perfectly Defined “Audiness”
If you’re a car nerd of a certain age, the name “Audi” likely pulls up a few telltales. One car should definitely be the original Quattro racer, and then small-batch production Quattros. And then, later, the TT. If you’re an ultra-nerd, you’ll recall Audi 80s and Audi GT Coupes, and what they all have in common, as does the later TT, is a very simple silhouette and great proportions.
The Concept C borrows whole cloth from the earlier Quattro and the TT. It’s a two-seat sports car (with a hidden folding top, a la a Porsche 911 Targa) that has the curvaceousness at the rear that you can see on the TT, melded with the brutish, squared-off schnoz of the Quattro.
More Muscles = More Modern
Scan up to that image of the two TTs, both older and newer, and you see a clear progression. Audi’s release on the Concept C mentions the notion of “radical simplicity,” and you can see that manifested in sharper lines vs. the soft-shouldered drape of the TTs. Audi also talks about the architectural nature of the Concept C, which is clearly visible at the nose, where the car looks, if anything, too static and restrained. But at long last, Frascella seems to have talked Audi into reproportioning the brand’s grille size to be more balanced visually. What’s here will easily scale down to sports cars and up to SUVs without becoming a giant maw.
Four Lights, Front And Back
You never know what will survive from concept to production, but Audi has strayed from a signature lighting element lately to something too anonymous. Frascella’s reductionist methodology now makes the lights stand out, and repeating a four-lamp pattern in conjunction with the brand’s four rings leans into Audi’s tech-forward approach.
Fewer Screens!
Audi has been a design leader for quite a while, and was first using technology like advanced chipsets and Google mapping. So the fact that they’re now saying enough with screen overkill warms my heart to no end. Again, this is a concept. Deciding what this “means” is overreaching. Still, Audi is showing off at least some physical controls—which Audi says will feature signature, tactile feedback—and the ability to hide the one, central, tablet-like display.
Softer Interior
Stare at this cabin and it evokes, what? It should be furniture and a homelike setting. It’s no wonder, too. Since Frascella came from Land Rover, which went this direction quite some time ago. And, likewise, note the indirect, rather than over-the-top LEDs adopted by too many brands in the rush to use the latest (dirt cheap, FYI) illumination to indicate a futuristic feel.
Here, instead, Audi’s going in the correct direction. Gone are the somber blacks that German carmakers switched to in the 1980s, and instead, this looks like a cabin made for humans, not robots. That enables the physical controls and crafted features to stand apart and be the proper eye-candy bling you want in a car.
A Folding Roof In A Two-Seat EV
Audi said nothing about the powertrain, other than that the Concept C is an EV and that the battery is mounted behind the cabin in a central battery layout. What you don’t see? A vehicle that, like too many BEVs, looks too tall relatively to its length, because to date, floor-mounted batteries force that height. Here, Audi’s managed gas-car proportions in an electric powertrain. If they can do that for future EVs, we’re back to the kind of refinement we expect in an industry with 120 years of progress.
Also: Yes, this is a sports car. And we definitely want to see EVs in all shapes and sizes, not just as crossovers.
TopSpeed’s Take
Audi needed this. And the blend of sharp angularity with softer forms and a clear technological edginess is totally in keeping with the brand. If the face is a bit much, give it a beat. The Concept C is exactly that. Audi says it signals a new brand direction, and it’s 8/10ths positive, which is about the best you’re going to get. Whiplash? Sure, there’s a bit. This is a strong departure. But then again, if it wasn’t, what exactly would be the point?
Read the full article here