Elegant Racecars

Do you like your racing cars to be aesthetically pleasing? Most people do, me included. So how do we finish up with so many ugly cars? Probably a variety of reasons, starting with the fact that not all stylists have the requisite eye for line, that the regulations have forced designers down the “ugly” route, or that some folks just don’t care as long as the car is practical, and hopefully, fast. Of course, there is the well-established view that a winning car always looks beautiful. Not totally true, but certainly a winning way can help to transform the ugly duckling or pigs ear into something more pleasing. As with human relationships, not all people have the same view of beauty and so not every wife is Miss Universe, nor every husband Mr. Universe. Apparently, there is someone for everyone out there and so it is with cars.

My thoughts on the subject have been prompted recently by Ross Brawn’s working group showing off renderings of proposed new Formula One cars, which I find very much more attractive than the current machines, particularly their noses with a myriad of “gadget and widgets” hanging all over. Even more strange are the WEC cars, with the domed top and all the other appendages. These are perfect examples of how manufacturers are swept into a funnel by the wording of the regulations and finish up with ugly vehicles. Even some of the so-called Supercars are getting a bit freaky now, and even worse some of the every day cars are also starting to sprout odd appendages.