We asked yacht designers what cars they drive to work
“Emotion. Artistic Expression. These basic elements of design bridge the gap between yacht design and automobile design, and indeed many other genres. Yet one element also relates – and limits – the two: constraint.” says Chris Bangle, a former BMW chief of design, now designing yachts.
It’s very clear to most people familiar with the superyacht world that, by proxy, yacht-lovers are bound to be massive petrol-heads. But what about the yacht designers who we see frequently in the press, and at boat shows almost every year releasing new and exciting concepts? What motoring passions might they harbour, and how do these creep into their work? This post began with a passing office discussion about what cars various yacht designers might drive but has evolved into something a bit more serious thanks to some of the fascinating answers we received from the design community during our research. The blurring of the lines between the two disciplines, yacht design and automotive design, has given us a fresh new perspective on some of our favourite designs of late. Needless to say, I’ll never look at my Fiat Panda the same way again…
ALBERTO MANCINI – Designer of the MANGUSTA OCEANO 42
Tell us what car you drive.
I drive the Aston Martin Vantage, and for long distance trips, I have a Porsche Macan S “Diesel”.
What was your dream car growing up, and have you ever had the chance to drive it?
When I began studying car design in Turin, I was mostly sketching futuristic concepts of Aston Martins- and I always dreamed of owning an Aston! It’s my favourite car and still today I am inspired by the design of that beautiful and timeless design.
Do you think automotive design influences yacht design, and how does it influence your own work?
Automotive Design is my primary inspiration when I start sketching the exterior of a new yacht. It doesn’t matter if it’s a sports boat, a mega yacht or an explorer vessel- I think that car design language is still a priority to keep in mind when you shape any surface related to transportation design.
A lot of my inspiration comes from the past and from the heritage of cars, but I love the vintage world of cars just as much as I love new automotive trends. As a younger-generation yacht designer, I like to push any shipyard I work with to create more and more complex exterior surfaces. It doesn’t matter if it’s aluminium, steel or fibreglass – everything is possible.
At the end of the day, there is still a bit of “romanticism” at this stage of a yacht project, and I like to see the job of an exterior designer as a sculptor ready to shape his sculpture. Also, this “romantic” stage of working on a yacht project reminds a bit of the “sixties” era of design; when supercars were shaped in Turin and Milan by ” famous “battilastra” (sheet metal workers), who were more artists than just “workers”, such as Pininfarina, Bertone, Vignale, Zagato and many others…
Visit: www.amyachtdesign.com
ROB DOYLE – Rob Doyle Design
Tell us what car you drive.
A Nissan X-trail SVE 7 seater to ferry the kids and boats around is needed currently in my life, my wife and I do feel like a taxi service at the moment with three young boys and all the sports they are in to. For getting around solo in a very popular tourist town like Kinsale I jump on my Vespa, with my open front Momo EVO helmet and bugs in my teeth, there is no better way to duck and dive about town and parking it anywhere is a dream. As a Yacht Designer / Naval Architect I do have more of a connection/ passion with watercraft than cars, I have a 6.5m waterjet Rib (currently in bits in a shed waiting for me to rebuild- this comes backs to lack of time!) and for the need for speed quest I have an all carbon fibre A-Class racing catamaran which is just pure magic to sail!
What was your dream car growing up, and have you ever had the chance to drive it?
Growing up it would have been the Porsche 356 Speedster as it is a design icon and with simple engineering package that just works, plus it just never gets old to look at. As an adult it would be the McLaren F1 as it was a major milestone in automotive design mindset, giving a fantastic looking carbon fibre crafted form with cutting edge engineering, allowing it to be amazingly easy to drive that you can drive to the shops every day. Realising the dream of owning one? I’m afraid that has been taken over by point A!
Do you think automotive design influences yacht design, and how does it influence your own work?
There are times when I see a selection of curves in a car that I just love, for the relationship and balance they have. The car might not be that good looking but sometimes a certain area does hold a bit of magic that gets me sketching to see how that combination of curves could work in a yacht design setting.
The automotive industry has been amazing to study design failures and it highlights fashion trends that had a very small window of being contemporary but soon becomes ridicules- and we also see this in the Marine Industry but it happens less often. This is something we need to keep reminding ourselves about when coming up with ‘Real Concepts’. The fantasy/science fiction concepts, that some designers pop out, are just not possible to build or will look silly in a few years as the fashion party moves on. Sometimes in the Superyacht industry, there is a perception that every concept can be built, but maybe 75% of concepts perhaps have never even taken into account basic Naval Architecture principals, Class & Flag regulations or basic yacht/ship operations. The Automotive industry at least knows that a concept is just that, a concept!
Visit: robdoyledesign.com
TERENCE DISDALE – Terence Disdale Design
Tell us what car you drive.
My everyday cars are a Range Rover Supercharged Sport, a Mini Cooper S and a long wheelbase Jaguar (for chauffeur occasions).
What was your dream car growing up, and have you ever had the chance to drive it?
I had a Jaguar XK120 as a dinky toy when I was about 10 years old, it was my favourite. I have always loved classic cars and currently own three that have been totally restored and modified/upgraded to my specific requirements for more improved handling, comfort and performance.
1. 1951 XK120 open top sports, finished black with antique tan leather interior. Fitted with a 4.7 litre engine giving 340 BHP, five-speed gearbox and uprated handling/suspension etc.
2. 1978 V12 ‘E’ Type coupe, finished metallic blue with biscuit leather interior. Fitted with a fuel injected 6 litre engine giving 400 BHP, five-speed gearbox, re-designed interior, uprated handling/suspension, electric sun roof and air conditioning.
3. 1954 Aston Martin DB5, finished silver with tan leather interior. Fitted with 4.7 litre engine giving 345 BHP and uprated suspension etc.
(Terence has kindly shared this amazing photo below of his enviable collection with us- what a garage!)
Do you think automotive design influences yacht design, and how does it influence your own work?
Automotive design does not influence my work on superstructure design. The scale and proportion are radically different. I am often amused when I see superstructures that take their design inspiration from the elegant Peugeot RCZ. It’s easy to see that yacht design can be inspired by automobile design, particularly as many yacht designers actually studied automobile design in the first place! I believe, however, that this decade has witnessed some of the ugliest, over ‘blinged’ cars ever designed, consequently my inspiration comes from elsewhere.
Visit: terencedisdale.co.uk
DICKIE BANNENBERG – Exterior Designer of award-winning Feadship JOY
Tell us what car you drive.
My new BMW i3 arrives in a couple of months! I usually walk to work but for all those times when I don’t, it doesn’t make much sense to add to the city’s poor air quality. No big environmental sermon from me, but I think there will be a time ( not that far off ) when the idea that we filled our cars with inflammable liquids which caused small explosions in a combustion engine will be the subject of a sketch – a bit like the famous Bob Newhart one about Walter Raleigh and tobacco:
What was your dream car growing up, and have you ever had the chance to drive it?
The Batmobile, circa 1966. No.
Do you think automotive design influences yacht design, and how does it influence your own work?
Without a doubt it does. Surface shaping and geometry informs our exterior designs hugely. Three of our current team hail from the famous automotive design course at Coventry.
Visit: www.bannenbergandrowell.com
ROB ARMSTRONG & ALISTAIR FLETCHER- ThirtyC Design
Tell us what car you drive.
The studio could currently be mistaken for an Audi dealership – SQ5 / TT, among other models…!
What was your dream car growing up, and have you ever had the chance to drive it?
Rob: If it’s going to be one car it has to be a DB5, though currently my eyes are firmly fixed on the AMG GT.
Alastair: I agree with Rob here, the DB5 is so iconic and elegant – maybe one day, but in the interim, I’d happily settle for the Vantage.
Do you think automotive design influences yacht design, and how does it influence your own work?
Yes, as one element of many for us. We actively look at and keep an eye on what all car manufacturers produce and their latest styling/concepts. Geneva car show each year is a great source of inspiration. A crease line, shadow detail or simple shape can spark a translation or provide a new angle to look at a design. We would not only limit this to cars, as designers we naturally/subconsciously take in all aspects of design around us – it’s in our nature.
More generally within yacht design, I would safely say it plays a part. A good majority of fellow designers have all arrived in yacht design via studying automotive design, say no more.
Visit: www.thirtyc.com
ANDREW LANGTON – Reymond Langton Design
Tell us what car you drive
Land Rover Defender
What was your dream car growing up, and have you ever had the chance to drive it?
I had many dream cars growing up, Porsche 911, Lotus Esprit, Lamborghini Countach and Ford GT40. I achieved a couple of those. Current dream cars are mostly classics such as the Aston Martin DB5 Zagatto.
Do you think automotive design influences yacht design, and how does it influence your own work?
Absolutely, in a big way. For exterior styling, it is my strongest influence.
Visit: reymondlangtondesign.com
MALCOLM MCKEON – Malcolm Mckeon Yacht Design
Tell us what car you drive.
My everyday car is a 6.3litre AMG Mercedes CL Class, great for trips up and down to London and my weekend car is a Bristol engined AC Ace, photo attached from a track day at Goodwood.
What was your dream car growing up, and have you ever had the chance to drive it?
My dream car has always been a Series 1 E Type coupe after my Dad raced me through the streets of Hong Kong at a young age. I will always remember the long bonnet, raising and lowering as my dad went through the gears; a really exhilarating experience. I am currently restoring the same model of car and it will be painted in the same original gunmetal grey.
Do you think automotive design influences yacht design, and how does it influence your own work?
Car design has always been a great influence on my yacht design work, I only have car magazines and car design journals at home, where I have a chance to relax and read them. Yachting magazines are all left in the design studio!
Visit: www.mmyd.uk
ALEX McDIARMID – McDiarmid Design
The Water Dragon – a symbol of power & superior control. Iwana is a symbol of prosperity for #Superyacht #Megayacht #YachtDesign visionaries pic.twitter.com/oS7Eg8rWLi
— Alexander McDiarmid (@McDiarmidDesign) June 24, 2017
Tell us what car you drive.
During the week a sporty little VW as Aix-en-Provence/South of France traffic is horrendous. Many old towns have very narrow roads originally designed for horse and carts. Along with an overloaded motorway, infrastructure makes for a lot of traffic jams. At the weekend an SUV for family life.
What was your dream car growing up, and have you ever had the chance to drive it?
The 1963 Buick Riviera Silver Arrow and the Aston Martin DB5. Have a scale 1:18 model on my desk, does that count? Current favourite car; I would like an EV, the Porsche Mission E looks very interesting.
Do you think automotive design influences yacht design, and how does it influence your own work?
A subject close to my heart as someone who received his training in automotive design before moving into yacht design. Yachts are not cars so get that out of your mind; not even the big so-called US ‘Land Yachts’ of the 60’s and 70’s.
Yachts are simple, with long surfaces; cars are an amalgamation of a number of surfaces, often tight and complex, converging on various points. Controlling and resolving those surface changes on a car’s relatively small body area in comparison demands a great understanding of form.
It is a lot harder to design a car and the numerous poorly executed car manufacturer yacht designs demonstrate this. I don’t think it influences my yacht design work in terms of surface, form or styling treatment, although it certainly helps with 3D CAD modelling.
Definitely with the details of various yacht projects having once been inspired by the “flying buttresses” of the Jaguar XJS coupé for the coachroof of a sailing cruiser sloop yacht. The cars buttresses served as an aerodynamic aid adding stability at high speeds while I managed to incorporate a multi-purpose use for the yacht’s design. We are currently working on some automotive EV projects and they require a whole new design language so maybe some yacht design influence there…
Visit: www.mcdiarmid-design.com