Bad Ass

 I have finally got to sketching after all that "talk". It has been a more daunting task than I had first imagined and maybe it is the lack of inspiration in the past week that is to blame for what is to follow. I decided to approach the redesign angle by angle and to start with the rear end which I expected to be the most challenging. If I were to go by any of my expectations in this project then there are two more angles waiting to surprise me. I should warn you that these are very rough sketches which are merely meant to get my thoughts in motion. There is no sophistication whatsoever to these sketches. I am no designer in any respect. I am simply interested in cars and I have been drawing them since I could hold a pencil. I remember drawing a lion once. I was six. The sheet of paper was so big that I could not place it on our dining table and had to lay it on the ground. I started drawing from the tail end. I guess some things never change. But I digress.  Now that I have built in sufficient caveats, let me guide you through these sketches and my thought process.




A

Sketch A: the starting point here was to make the rear door a lot wider than it is now, following the discussions that ensued the "Keepers" post. In none of the following designs have I explored the split tail gate option. These are all sideways opening doors. However with less prominence given to the three windows at the rear and a wide door, this looks more like a Pajero or Disco 2. It is not recognizable as a Defender and for that reason this is a fail (I am sure you could come up with more reasons...). I do not like the light cluster. However the tapered rear cross member is starting to take shape. I had to put the mud flaps in, but even they could not save this one.

B

Sketch B: Now this undoubtedly a Defender....and that is exactly the problem. It is nothing more than what could have been a facelift to the current design and that is not our goal here. We need to move it farther than just that. I do like the way the taper on the rear 'cross-member' is taking shape. No longer a true cross-member, but more an integrated bumper (which should take care of at least one safety issue...). The upper light clusters have been reshaped and a lower cluster added. This idea will continue and be defined in the following designs as well. Inspite of the silhoutte of the lamp unit not being round, there is room for a round accent in the unit. At this point I was concetrating more on the window split than anything else. The proportions of the three windows seems OK here but that is probably simply the comfort of recognition. The rear spare wheel continued to be an obstacle I did not know what to do with. All in all, fail #2.

C

Sketch C: Again clearly very Defender. The biggest difference in comparison with sketch B being the rear windows. The idea here was to have one flush screen that hints at a the traditional three piece window by way of the upwards curvature of the door. Also note the side panelling which is more upright like the current Defender and less angled toward the roof as in sketch B. Nothing much else to say here, other than failure # 3. By now I was getting frustrated with myself. Then I decided to let go of the traditional silhouette.... sketch D:



D

Sketch D: As you will notice, this one is the most 'different' so far. I started out by defining the countours to make it edgier instead of continuing to use the soft lines I had stuck to until now. Still recognizable as a Defender, yet more than just a facelift. The door is much wider than with B or C but still retains the recognizable trinity of windows. However there is too much window that makes it look less robust. While the rear spare mounting is interesting, it does remind me of the DC 100. Number plate still to the side, but I don't know what happens to it when you open the door. It could possibly be mounted on to the same piece of plastic bracket that is holding the tire if it were to continue all the way to the left edge mirroring the right side. The spare mounting bracket could act as a swing-away tire carrier. The rear door could be a right hinged or split-gate job. I think that this design leaves some potential for further exploration.

Skecth E: Apologies, this one is really messy. I was starting to toy with the idea of the spare wheel nestled in a pouch integrated into the rear door.This one still shows a bracket across the width of the door holding the spare. The spare is bear at the top and covered by the pouch. Kind of like putting an oversized card into an envelop. I have also accentuated the high waist line to continue through to the back under the fixed windows and along the sides of the door. Also changed the side panelling silhoutte. Note number plate in the center. Still have to get used to that. But overall still recognizable as Defender.

Sketch F: This one continues the edgy design started at sketch D, but with a few more soft touches to it. It looks more robust than D, but retains a relatively wide door opening. The main change here is the introduction of a fully integrated wheel mount. No tire to be seen. Still reasonably Defender, I think. However, I would like to put the number plate off center.

I am interested to see whether any of you would think that any of this is worth commenting on. For now the ass is just bad. I will take more frequent residence at the proverbial drawing board and post a few more soon. Hope fully those will be bad-ass.