The Viper is dead

[Tave]

What are you talking about?

These nubs:



I've noticed the design trend on a lot of new models. I think it must have something to do with airflow, but I don't like how it looks. It has perverted front-end design.

[Soup DeVille]

Soup DeVille:  Sadly, SoupDude, you have revealed another sign of the times--strangling red tape everywhere you turn...

The Nethead here lost track of the Avanti while I was in the Service--I became a motorcycle dude and didn't own car or truck for going on four years...It's possible that I might have gone many more years without a car or truck except for the job I took when I got out of the Army--working on a crew building the steel towers that carry high-tension cables through the countryside--ten hours/day, four days/week, and eight hours on Fridays.  Carrying galvanized steel is hard work--I was ripping up clothes and wearing out boots & gloves so fast that I just couldn't carry enough work clothing on the bike to make it a week.  Traveling from site to site often put 500 miles/week on the bike, so I broke down and got a truck to carry more necessities in the cab and the bike in the back.  When I finally could afford a new '73 Datsun truck, I got a vehicle as fitting to my lifestyle as any vehicle ever could be--I only traded it for a Dodge B150 van when the WifeDude was seven months along on our second child (two child seats won't fit noway/nohow between two adults in the bench seat of a '73 Datsun truck).  Somewhere during this disjointed life, the Avanti quietly slipped into the dusty annals of automotive history and I wasn't even aware of it--sadness deep in your stomach like when you find out one of your old hang-outs has been razed and a time-share high-rise has taken its place...

Actually, dudeDude: we're both wrong.

They're still in business

[Soup DeVille]

These nubs:



I've noticed the design trend on a lot of new models. I think it must have something to do with airflow, but I don't like how it looks. It has perverted front-end design.

They're called canards.

[Tave]

They're called canards.

Are they? I like them better than this stuff:



I'm thinking they must serve a similar purpose.

[Soup DeVille]

Are they? I like them better than this stuff:



Well, I'd call that an air dam that's trying to look like a splitter.

I'm thinking they must serve a similar purpose.

[Tave]

Same with this?



(Those don't bother me as much)

[Nethead]

Actually, dudeDude: we're both wrong.

They're still in business

Soup DeVille:  SoupDude, sometimes it's GREAT to be wrong!

[Vinsanity]

Same with this?



(Those don't bother me as much)

That's funny. The ones on the Caddy aren't nearly as noticeable to me as the ones on the Corolla.

[Tave]

That's funny. The ones on the Caddy aren't nearly as noticeable to me as the ones on the Corolla.

[r0tor]

These nubs:



I've noticed the design trend on a lot of new models. I think it must have something to do with airflow, but I don't like how it looks. It has perverted front-end design.

on this car they actually are functional and provide tons of downforce along with the front splitter.  The car can reportedly pull 1.5 cornering g's at high speeds.

[J86]

Canards?  We have those in sailing...

[Tave]

on this car they actually are functional and provide tons of downforce along with the front splitter.  The car can reportedly pull 1.5 cornering g's at high speeds.

That makes sense. As I said, I don't even mind the looks of it, but some of the other models have been pissing me off.

[FordSVT]

Canards?  We have those in sailing...

I think the term also applies here as it does in the aerospace industry. I'm sure I've heard them refer to "front spoilers" in F1 and CART as canards but I might be incorrect about that.

[r0tor]

the canards are the two things half way up the bumper, while the lower part is all one piece and would be considered a splitter... and i believe the splitter is removeable because its too low for street use but too important to not have for track use

[Nethead]

Actually, dudeDude: we're both wrong.

They're still in business

SoupDude! I checked out your link, and realized that many of the pics in their "Gallery" section are just too familiar to mistake--the interiors of the doors, the rear seats, possibly the side mirrors, the round ventilation ducts, the shift lever, the parking brake handle, the windshield, and especially the steering wheel are current Mustang items!  See below, direct from the Avanti website:

"The Avanti started life in 1962 as the Raymond Loewy designed flagship sports car of Studebaker automobile company. Despite the demise of Studebaker itself the intrinsic strengths of the Avanti have allowed it to remain at the forefront of American sports cars for more than a generation. The original Avantis were produced in the Studebaker factory in South Bend, Indiana. After periods in Canada; Youngstown, Ohio; and Villa Rica, Georgia; the manufacturing operation was transferred to Cancun, Mexico in 2006.The Avanti continued to use the original, Studebaker designed, frame until the 1987 model year when a General Motors platform was adopted. Not only did this provide a significant technical advance it also facilitated the introduction of the first Avanti convertible. In the late 1990?s Tom Kellogg, who had been a member of Loewy?s original design team that worked on the Avanti, was commissioned to design the next generation Avanti to be known as the AVX. Kellogg?s re-style brought a modern context to Loewy?s original design and subsequent changes have been both subtle and sympathetic, ensuring the cars remain unmistakably Avantis. The Avanti continued to use General Motors platforms and engines until 2004, when they were replaced by Ford units. For the 2006 model year the Company took the opportunity to use a new Ford platform and its longer wheelbase liberated extra interior space whilst at the same time offering improvements handling and ride comfort. For 2007 the changes were largely under the skin targetting comfort, convenience and overall customer satisfaction making to current cars to best Avantis to date."

It was the shot of the inside of the passenger door that startled me, and then the steering wheel convinced me!  Further, I found the above quote in the Avanti "History" section, and my jaw dropped!  Damn! 

[SVT666]

SoupDude! I checked out your link, and realized that many of the pics in their "Gallery" section are just too familiar to mistake--the interiors of the doors, the rear seats, possibly the side mirrors, the round ventilation ducts, the shift lever, the parking brake handle, the windshield, and especially the steering wheel are current Mustang items!  See below, direct from the Avanti website:

"The Avanti started life in 1962 as the Raymond Loewy designed flagship sports car of Studebaker automobile company. Despite the demise of Studebaker itself the intrinsic strengths of the Avanti have allowed it to remain at the forefront of American sports cars for more than a generation. The original Avantis were produced in the Studebaker factory in South Bend, Indiana. After periods in Canada; Youngstown, Ohio; and Villa Rica, Georgia; the manufacturing operation was transferred to Cancun, Mexico in 2006.The Avanti continued to use the original, Studebaker designed, frame until the 1987 model year when a General Motors platform was adopted. Not only did this provide a significant technical advance it also facilitated the introduction of the first Avanti convertible. In the late 1990?s Tom Kellogg, who had been a member of Loewy?s original design team that worked on the Avanti, was commissioned to design the next generation Avanti to be known as the AVX. Kellogg?s re-style brought a modern context to Loewy?s original design and subsequent changes have been both subtle and sympathetic, ensuring the cars remain unmistakably Avantis. The Avanti continued to use General Motors platforms and engines until 2004, when they were replaced by Ford units. For the 2006 model year the Company took the opportunity to use a new Ford platform and its longer wheelbase liberated extra interior space whilst at the same time offering improvements handling and ride comfort. For 2007 the changes were largely under the skin targetting comfort, convenience and overall customer satisfaction making to current cars to best Avantis to date."

It was the shot of the inside of the passenger door that startled me, and then the steering wheel convinced me!  Further, I found the above quote in the Avanti "History" section, and my jaw dropped!  Damn! 

That's the ugliest Mustang I've ever seen.

[J86]

I think the term also applies here as it does in the aerospace industry. I'm sure I've heard them refer to "front spoilers" in F1 and CART as canards but I might be incorrect about that.

That would make sense- if there is a blade in front of the keel, we call that a canard.

[LonghornTX]

The front wings you see in that picture are also considered canards.

[SVT666]

This is also a canard.