CREWE, England — Dirk van Braeckel, director of design at Bentley Motors, has earned a major European design prize for his work on the sleek Bentley Continental GT. Van Braeckel was awarded the coveted European Automotive Design Award by Designers (Europe) on Wednesday. Previous winners of the award include Giorgetto Giugiaro in 2004 and Sergio Pininfarina in 2006. Belgium-born van Braeckel is a former trainee designer at Ford who subsequently worked with Audi's exterior design team before moving to Skoda in 1993. He directed the design of the Skoda Octavia and Fabia. The designer says he is inspired by cubist architecture, Gucci, Ralph Lauren and classic cars of the '60s and '70s. "My vision for Bentley was to create the ultimate in desirability: a classic of the future," he said. "This award is an endorsement of that vision." What this means to you: The father of the Continental GT officially joins the pantheon of Europe's most notable automotive designers. — Anita Lienert, Correspondent http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do/News/articleId=124380#2
I won't say a word about this to Marcus if you don't ........he is going to NAIAS today, so we don't want to ruin his day for him.
Unfortunately, I have to dispute Van Braekels claim to the styling of the Bentley Continental GT. In 1997 I entered a competition on the BBC's 'Top Gear' programme entitled "Design a Rolls Royce". This was a time when Rolls Royce and Bentley were effectively one and the same company. 4 Years later and the Bentley GT appears! This is pretty much the exact development period required for such a vehicle. I am now a full time designer in the specialist vehicle and motorsport industries and have been advised to seek legal guidance in the matter, something I have chosen not to do. However, it really galls me whenever I see a Continental GT on the road, and learn of various praises others have received on the back of my styling concept. The images are of my preliminary sketches back in 1997, and a photograph of the Continental GT for comparison.
