Britain is a country of inventors — creative geniuses who have designed popular products that have captured the public imagination.
Trouble is, there’s plenty of evidence to suggest that not enough of this creativity is being applied to the car industry. We can use economics to prop up car sales on a temporary basis and keep production flowing, but not forever. What we need is an army of lateral-thinking engineers and designers pushing the barriers of what’s possible. We need a fresh perspective. Nothing is sacred.
Dyson electric car to be built from 2020
We all know about the work of engineers such as Sir James Dyson in revolutionising the design of household appliances, but what would they do if they were given the opportunity to rework a modern car? Autocar went to meet three well-known inventors who do not work in the mainstream automotive industry to ask them for ideas on improving the cars of today. And just to make sure that they were starting from a suitably high level, we took a new, Car of the Year-winning Vauxhall Insignia and Toyota Avensis Tourer with us.
Sir James Dyson
Dyson is famous for his revolutionary bagless vacuum cleaners, but he actually studied furniture and interior design before turning to engineering. Before vacuum cleaners, Dyson invented a wheelbarrow with a ball-shaped wheel, and it was while looking at the filter in the factory’s paint shop that he had the idea for the cyclone-effect cleaner.
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Dyson sits in a glass-walled room that gives him a view of the vast open-plan office in his company’s R&D centre in Malmesbury. It’s a minimalist and very tidy space, apart from a small glass table containing a pile of bearings, bolts and other bits of workings. And a selection of model cars. No surprise that there are several Citroën DSs among them. Neither am I surprised to see a few JCBs. Like me, Dyson is a fan of JCB's design, and especially of its controls.
In Dyson’s car park, we have a new Toyota Avensis Tourer. So, Sir James, what do you think of this typical family car and how can things be done better?
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So will turbos et-all be stuck on the side of the car on little indents and clipped into place by the driver when required. Hope they don’t fall off like their vacuums. I think Dyson-like performance is this the last thing we need with cars. Noisy, unreliable, clumsy and poorly built. Spares business is going to be big, mind.
I applaud Dyson's efforts
I applaud Dyson and others in trying to take a fresh look at the automobile but it does involve huge amounts of regulation globally which often does not apply to household appliances. The appliances dont have to prevent injury to someone at 30 mph.
I always look at the car as a collection of products not just one
You have an audio system, a heater , steering system, seats that have to adjust and also contain airbags, Interior lighting etc....
I am all for a fresh look and wish I could be involved as many things I would like to be done are often canned by unimaginative Engineering paper pushers who stifle creative endeavours at the early stage of a project due to some accountant already deciding how much should be carry over from old models
So bring it on the revolution, but be under no doubt there are real car designers trying sometimes succesfully but often unsuccesfully to change things for the better.
Lol, the bagless vacuum was
Lol, the bagless vacuum was not "revolutionary". Way too much hyperbole around this guy and his products, reminds me of Apple, ie not that good and way too expensive, its all down to marketing.