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Marc Newson's 021C Ford Concept Car has Aged Extremely Well
Designed almost a quarter-century ago!
If you look at most concept cars designed a quarter-century ago, they look dated, a product of their times. One exception is the Ford 021C, designed in 1999 by Marc Newson. Auto reseller L'art de L'automobile spotted it on display at this year's Pebble Beach 17 Mile event:
It looks as if it could've been unveiled at this year's Tokyo Motor Show. By concentrating purely on form and simplicity, Newson has created something pretty darn timeless.
As for what he was going for, here's how Newson described the design in '99:
"Ask children to draw a car, and they'll draw something like this, so in many ways the 021C is a familiar and comfortable object…. It doesn't use many typical automotive design cues, and while it does incorporate some interesting technology, it's not technology used simply for the sake of it."
The 021C name, by the way, was meant to stand for "21st Century."
I think if Ford rolled this out as a low-cost EV today, they'd sell like crazy, particularly in Europe and Japan.
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Comments
It'd be interesting to read an expert's notes on what changes to this concept vehicle would be required to make it road legal. The lack of head rests on the seats jumps out at me as an example of the 'poetic licence' granted to concept cars.
Loved it when it was new, love it now! If this was an EV in production now it would be in my garage!
I can't help but wonder at the structural integrity of the roof, lacking a center pillar
My understanding is the name ‘021C’ was the Pantone colour of the otherwise identical design in orange https://marc-newson.com/ford-021c-concept-car/
Fun and quirky in looks, but there is no way that would be a comfortable ride for more than 15 minutes. Would make a good urban taxi or Go Car.
I've driven from New England to the Southwest on one trip in a F-150 with a bench seat, this doesn't look any worse than that.