Great topic Mike! First off I agree and disagree with a lot of what has been said so far regarding the Rally Fighter. It is my understanding that the the whole concept behind ‘Local Motors’ is a community of designers, engineers, and builders creating futuristic concepts for purchase. That’s good and all but I can see some issues with that.
As a designer at Ford I worked on many different programs from interiors to exteriors and let me tell you when it comes to delivering a design to market there are a lot of mock-ups created to make sure everything is spot on for surface delivery. During the development process we create countless models in clay (full size) to make sure that all the surfaces and proportions are correct. Also the use of dynock on the clay and reviewing that buck in the courtyard lets us evaluate the design in an natural environment. This process allows us (designers) to see what’s working and what’s not working either from an DNA standpoint to a visual pleasing object.
Sangho Kim has a great talent but that talent has to be refined and honed in. As we developed our designs we had numerous chiefs and directors showing us our errors and showing us what works and what doesn’t. I’ve had J Mays pull me aside and explain to me that what I was trying to create wasn’t going to work. His guidance then help me become the designer I am today. Anyone can come up with a great sketch but translating that idea or vision to 3D is not always the easiest thing. I don’t see Local Motors following this process because it is expensive and time consuming.
In the end I think it’s a great concept but I believe if they had to to it all over again and develop it with the appropriate eyes that they final design would be a lot more refined.
That’s my 2 cents…