A Wealth of Materials That Say 'Material Wealth'

[BMWDave]

article

Pictures are at the link.

THE gleaming metallic surfaces inside the Scion t2B, a design study introduced at the New York auto show last March, defied easy identification.

Was it steel? Fabric? The eye debated.

"That's irony," William Chergosky, a designer for Toyota, Scion's corporate parent, said with a smile.

The blue-gray material complemented the campy shag carpet and an over-the-top lighting display on the dashboard of the boxy minitruck. "We found it in the garment district," Mr. Chergosky said, giving a Manhattan connection to a product of Calty, Toyota's design center in Newport Beach, Calif.

These days, all kinds of materials inside automobiles look like other materials, but few do so in such a playful way. To be sure, the exotic materials used in concept cars like the t2B rarely end up in production models, though replicas may be created.

Many materials, however, are pretending to be something else entirely. Carbon fiber, an aerospace composite sometimes used to dress up dashboards, is now counterfeited as often as burl walnut, brushed aluminum as frequently as bird's-eye maple.

New colors and new choices of leather have brought a new approach to interior d?cor, especially to American vehicles.

The Buick V?lite concept car of 2004 struck a new standard for interiors done by General Motors. Although production of the V?lite, intended to spur a revitalization of Buick, is in doubt after G.M. cut back development programs, its example lives on.

"It has served its purpose," said Ed Welburn, vice president for global design at G.M. The V?lite partly inspired Saturn's Aura and Sky, cars headed for showrooms in the next year. The richer colors of the Aura sedan, and the luster of "piano black" and chrome details in the Sky roadster, show a similar sense of style and philosophy of materials. They have been widely praised by auto critics as the best G.M. interiors in years.

Designers are looking outside the automotive world. Even as component suppliers providing automakers entire dashboards or whole interiors become more the rule, designers look enviously at the broader world of consumer products. Marek Reichman, director of interior design strategy at Ford Motor, said he sends people to the fashion runways and to the annual furniture fair in Milan.

"We look at nonautomotive areas," he said. "We think there will be more synergies with how you live at home. Seats should be more like pieces of furniture."

G.M. is looking at unusual materials. "We go to Italian leather shows," Mr. Welburn said. "We go to sporting goods conventions. We check out the linings of cabinet drawers at high-end kitchen stores."

But interiors can still end up a dull, simple gray. Gary S. Vasilash, editor of Automotive Design & Production, a trade magazine, believes that part of the reason lies in the process of preparing new models. "During vehicle development, when engineering changes start driving costs up, it is easier to cut costs from interiors than from the exterior sheet metal," he said.

Designers are conscious of having to fight such cuts. "Part of my role is to emphasize that you cannot remove money from where the customer touches, sees and smells and lives in the environment of the car," Mr. Reichman said. "That has to be sacred."

What is not sacred is material fidelity.

The current popularity of brushed aluminum finishes does not necessarily mean there is more metal in the car, any more than the return of chrome to auto exteriors did. New techniques for exactly matching colors and patterns make it possible to produce plastic interior trim pieces that look like aluminum or other substances. Industrial surfaces - like the raised pattern of diamond-plate steel or the polished swirls of vintage instrument panels - are frequently, and convincingly, imitated.

New finishes are applied by new methods. "Manufacturers are taking advantages of advances in both film and graphics," said Mr. Vasilash. "What we're talking about is basically printing an image onto a piece of polymer."

Lincoln is choosing materials it hopes will reach a new type of customer - a younger, wealthier group than, say, Ford buyers. Aluminum and lighter shades of wood on the 2006 Zephyr, for instance, are thought to appeal to those who also like designs from Apple, Swatch, Banana Republic and Kenneth Cole. "We are aiming for a crispness and look of technology in materials," Mr. Reichman said.

Only recently have drivers encountered details like the tortoise shell effect on the steering wheel of Chrysler's 300. The material evokes eyeglasses as well as 1930's cigarette cases, lighters and pipes.

Not every driver will catch such references. Even the appeal of leather is not universal. Mercedes-Benz responded to the concerns of animal rights advocates by announcing it would offer leather-free versions of its cars.

Mr. Chergosky, the Scion designer, pointed out that leather and wood have traditionally been used to distinguish luxury models from midprice cars, but techniques that have made it possible to replicate wood or metal at lower cost have removed the distinction. "The luxury buyer sets the material trends in the automotive world," he said.

"Wood will always play a part," Mr. Chergosky said. "But we are moving from traditional burl to modern grained wood, figured maples and ebonies. The new woods let you feel the grain and the high gloss - the woods are more like in Scandinavian furniture or the rosewood in an Eames chair."

Now the market is ripe for someone to introduce a new luxury material. "Ten years ago it was metal," Mr. Chergosky said. "Next is what? Recycled something? Cork? Copper?"

"The next big idea is out there. It will be an honest application of a familiar material in an unconventional way."

[Speed_Racer]

Nice article. I too wonder what the next big thing will be.

[MX793]

Bring back Velour!!!

[Rupert]

Bring back vinyl seats!


Oh, wait...

[Car Zeus]

Shag  carpet!


:D