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Topic starter
04/07/2024 10:23 am
Check 'em out!
1966 Ford Ranger II
In 1966, the Ranger II concept car under the Ford label entered the show stage, a previously pick-up version. From today’s point of view, the sensation about the design at that time is no longer relatable, but at that time in the USA a pick-up was nothing more than a simple utility vehicle intended for the quick transport of any goods, without comfort and without any refinement. The Ranger II, however, was designed completely differently – namely as a comfortable pick-up, equipped with all the technically feasible gimmicks, very futuristically designed, and, above all, a downright noble pick-up!
The fact that the open loading area – so distinctive for this type of vehicle – was laid out with fine walnut wood instead of the usual wooden or steel planks should have caused a lot of astonishment among those who examined the concept car at the exhibition.
What Ford ultimately wanted to achieve with the concept car is not known, and there were hardly any borrowings from it in later series production. The only one who created a nimbus for himself with the Ranger II was the then only 33-year-old designer Syd Mead, who actually did not specialize in cars at all, but appeared as an optical designer for industrial products and worked in the film industry. As a somewhat daring thesis, it can be said that Syd Mead was several decades ahead of its time in 1966, because in the current era, pick-ups have firmly established themselves in the luxury sector.
1936 BMW 326 Stromlinie Wendler
In the 1920s, company boss Adolf Wendler earned a first-class reputation for his company ‘Karosseriebau Wendler’ through high-quality work. Nearly 60 chassis with an extra sheet metal cladding left the Reutlingen factory during this decade, and in the year from 1930 onwards the number even rose to 270 units. Innovations and first-class craftsmanship led to numerous well-heeled personalities turning to the company and ordering a special car body. The 100 employees took care of almost every substructure and so newly clad cars were created, for example on the basis of a BMW Type 326, which led to a very successful car.
In 1937, the company not only provided for a one-off production with a new body, but also carried the car as a permanent offer in its range because they even printed a sales brochure for it. In it, the Reutlingen plant advertised its BMW 326 with the pithy words “50 hp … Streamline 3-4 seated …” and apparently relied above all on the fact that the body transmitted its effect to the viewer through photos. It was striking that the new, very streamlined metal cladding no longer showed association with the original Munich series car. It is not known how many of these racy BMW streamliners left the factory.
And from their Avenue43 line... Anybody know the year?
1960s Chevrolet Corvair Coupe Pininfarina
This topic was modified 2 years ago by Randy Rusk
04/07/2024 10:28 am
Very unique and interesting. The Corvair has design cues from the VW 411; although they would be 6 or so years apart in development I suppose.
04/07/2024 11:51 am
What Ford ultimately wanted to achieve with the concept car is not known,
I'll drink to that!
My only guess is that someone mandated an exercise of as many styling themes possible but on no more than one proposal. "You get one shot, go for it!"
04/07/2024 1:03 pm
Autocult always does its best to empty my wallet.....
Topic starter
04/07/2024 1:27 pm
I should mention that in the release notes, Autocult clarified that since they’re issuing a model in two different colors, the total number of models will remain the same - 333. They’ll just do 166 in blue and 166 in silver, making them even more limited runs.
This post was modified 2 years ago by Randy Rusk
04/07/2024 1:48 pm
Those look remarkable. Very nice and uncommonly seen releases !
Jack Dodds and Randy Rusk reacted
04/07/2024 9:37 pm
Syd Mead was brilliant visual futurist and industrial designer that did concept design work for many different industries, including quite a bit for the auto industry. More about him here: https://sydmead.com/
Dave Gilbert
Nashville, Tennessee
Steve Jacobs and Tony Perrone reacted
05/07/2024 1:16 pm
What Ford ultimately wanted to achieve with the concept car is not known,
I'll drink to that!
My only guess is that someone mandated an exercise of as many styling themes possible but on no more than one proposal. "You get one shot, go for it!"
That is standard operating procedure, whether it is automobiles, jet skis, or toaster ovens. It is not uncommon for designer to generate hundreds of wildly different concepts mainly to get the creative juices flowing. A designer may have a vision in his head that seems brilliant, but once it gets on paper, it could turn into an "eww...no". Likewise, a mediocre design could have a brilliant detail which could be the seed for a whole new design! One of the last big projects I worked on before leaving the design world to take TOYCARGEEK full time was to design a 60ft diameter ceiling dome for a concert hall. When it came time to design the center medallion, I churned out 106 options. Some were just slight variations of others, some were radically different. From there, the architect selected 6 to show to the client, who ended up picking my absolute least favorite of the bunch! Oh well. that's what happens sometimes. The concepts that make it to production are not necessarily the designer's favorite.
Dave Gilbert
Nashville, Tennessee
05/07/2024 1:56 pm
Looks like the Corvair might be a 1963(?)
Here's a better pic of the front end (real car). Very tempting.
This post was modified 2 years ago by Mark Sweeney
Topic starter
05/07/2024 5:31 pm
@jkuvakas Here’s what Thomas Roschmann, founder of Autocult, said with this latest round of releases:
“In the category streamliner the BMW 326 Wendler (D, 1936) will be released. Furthermore the Ford Ranger II (USA, 1966) from the category delivery vehicle will also be released (blue metallic #08022-1 and champagne #08022-2). This will be the first time we are presenting one project in 2 colour versions in a total amount of 333pcs. Limited – that means each color/version is produced 166 pcs only. Because of many requests, why we did not use the other color or in the category motor sport why we did not use a start number or ‘no start number’ we have decided to make 2 version only when the possibility is there. This will happen in a small part of our new projects in future.”
In my experience, Autocult holds true to their limited status and has not reissued models in other colors unless there are substantive changes to the casting.
Topic starter
05/07/2024 5:32 pm
@whodeytink I was Googling to try to find the year but couldn’t find anything definitive. But it seems very early 1960s for sure.
Mark Sweeney reacted
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