2015 Ford Futura Hardtop Coupe

I really believe Ford's lineup is ready for several more coupes. The cleverly designed RWD Mustang shouldn't be the only one. This Futura pillarless hardtop coupe would be the halo car for the next Fusion lineup. I've used a modified Fusion front clip and added it to a very svelte coupe body modified from a Renault concept of a few years ago. Smoothing it all out, I'd like to see Ford's current Kinetic Design begin to morph into the look here. I like their strong front ends but I think many of the angles and creases can become more sophisticated with more tightly controlled surfaces. The right stance is everything and I'd widen all of them. The grille I've designed places the enlarged Ford Blue Oval in the center of a simplified grille insert, with the specific model badging in a nicely sculpted 3D effect nested on the top grille bar. This front end 1-2-punch of model name and marque ID could be spread throughout the line. It also lowers the visual center of gravity from the top of the hood to the grille, which combined with the wider track and more fully filled wheelhouses, really gives this platform and body a ground hugging stance.

I was born in 1957 and turn 57 today. Special day spent with a sciatica flare up and intestinal distress. Getting old is hell, lol.

2015 Jaguar XJ Coupe

It has been a while since I had time to do a brand new chop, but I carved out some time the other night. I've done a new XJ coupe in the past, but it was a long-wheelbase model with a pillarless greenhouse. It was a halo car of sorts, meant to take on the big CL Mercedes coupe (now the S Class coupe). This red XJ coupe is a different type of vehicle. I shortened the wheelbase about 6 inches from the sedan, all behind the front seats for a tighter almost 2+2 interior, although this is still a big car so the +2 in the back is still fairly roomy. I kept the rigid B-pillar for the structure and I estimate the weight savings of this aluminum platform over its larger sedan siblings at about 400 lbs. The overall size of my XJ coupe is just about halfway between the XJ and the XF midsize sedan. This time around I kept the sedan's avant garde black B-pillar trim. I've come to appreciate that odd styling touch.

My earlier XJ coupe, a long wheelbase pillarless top-of-the-line model.

An even earlier attempt to bring back an XJ coupe was this version done before the massively modernized XJ saloon was introduced. I wanted to bring back the elegance of the '70s and '80s big Jag coupe complete with vinyl roof!