Time Out

The BRUTRUCK is meant to be a brute of a truck. Though its design elements are taken from my concept for a small sports car, the Brubeck itself is one tough-looking two-seater...

SKETCH

Once again, I started with MS Paint and moved on to Serif Photo Plus. Using these programs to create new images becomes easier with practice, and the results gradually come closer to the images in one's mind's eye. When it comes to angular designs, an image created on the computer can actually be superior in some ways to a freehand sketch.

The angular nature of the Brubeck and BRUTRUCK concepts makes them difficult to draw with a pencil and paper, but then there are subtle proportions that can get lost in the process of laying down straight lines. The image above, to me, seems awkward -- the wheelbase is a little too long and the front bumper (yes, it does fully surround the grille), along with the farside front wheel, are not in proper perspective with the rest of the truck. Then again, it could be the greenhouse (top of the cab) that isn't quite right...

In any case, I'm pleased to have been able to adapt the elements of the Brubeck -- which I haven't been able to get out of my mind for two years straight -- to a different type of vehicle. Now I have a second concept begging to be built (the flat panels make body construction a relative breeze), with a third in this theme forming in my head.

The next one will be a Brubeck sedan -- not to be called 'the Brubeck Sedan', but, I think, Time Further Out, as an homage to one of my favourite Dave Brubeck albums (the name also hints to transcending the 4th dimension).

But you ask, "What's with this angular, flat-panel design theme? Why do you persist with it?" All right then, since you asked...

Angularity was toyed with most successfully by Chrysler (plus Plymouth and Dodge) designers in the mid-Sixties -- I will point specifically to the Plymouth Fury, model year '64, but there are many others. One can also look to the original Willys Jeep Wagoneer and other purposeful vehicles of that nature, such as the Pinzgauer, even to a particular Voisin design from the late Twenties. Making a vehicle look good when all or even most of its panels are flat is not an easy thing to do -- it represents a design challenge. I like challenges.

Beyond that, while the trend is slowly reversing, there are so many vehicles out there these days with bloblike, amorphous forms that it's getting hard to tell them apart -- even for a lifelong automotive enthusiast like me. To be specific, BMWs, Mercedes, and even the formerly 'Boxy But Good' Volvos have gained sickeningly melted forms -- and don't even get me started on the dementia of the current crop from Chrysler...

To be truly different in these times, to really stand out among the crowd, a vehicle has to be as angular as it can be -- but then, as I mentioned, it isn't easy to make it look good with all flat panels. One has to take a geometric approach, playing the angles against one another, moving the lines by degrees, doing one's best to give a good appearance from any direction. This is quite different from working with curved lines and surfaces...

And yes, flat-panelled bodies are much, much easier to build, which brings the dream of seeing one (or more) of my designs realized as a drivable vehicle that much closer.

How does this tie in with the Unified Settlement? That will be covered in another entry, perhaps the next..

Now, if you will excuse me, this concept has kept me up most of the night (post times are Greenwich Mean, though I live in the Eastern time zone) and I need to get some sleep. I may lie awake thinking of various things for a while, but that is often part of the process. Give me 30-hour days, and I may be able to keep a regular schedule...