Mercedes Vision GLK FREESIDE & TOWNSIDE Concepts @ 2008 NAIAS

[SDNR]

Re: Mercedes-Benz Vision GLK FREESIDE Concept @ 2008 NAIAS

The boxy-ness of the GLK is actually a strong indication of substance. Look at the upright windscreen, by moving the A-pillars closer to the driver you actually impart far better forward visibility - especially when negotiating rougher terrain. A boxier bodyshell actually makes for more useful packing space too. Shoulder and headroom looks good too. All in all, a practical looking affair. Tell me, isn't practicality a cornerstone of a vehicle's substance?

Very good Martin ...a good point.

But lets be real here, this vehicle's boxy, upright design is much more the dictate of current market tastes than any real practical concerns.

Mercedes went to great lengths to design an SUV primarily for the US market (the M class) ...then made it bigger (the GL) -- so imagine their surprise when all of a sudden the 25 year old G class was the SUV of America's dreams. The boutique looks of the ML were suddenly too soft, too middle class, too God damned anonymous -- lost in the suburban banality of crowded shopping mall car parks and shady boulevards of the better parts of town.

The market wanted something that stood out from the crowd -- not quite as aggressive or ridiculous as a Hummer -- but something which isn't as polite and refined-looking as a Range-Rover either. One might call it 'Utility chic' -- the art of looking practical and adventurous without ever having to actually be practical or adventurous -- it's all an illusion. Car design has simply become an extension of the fashion industry. All they need now is for Dolce & Gabanna to design some matching accessories in military-style camouflage, and the look is complete.

 

[coolraoul]

Re: Mercedes-Benz Vision GLK FREESIDE Concept @ 2008 NAIAS

^^ I agree with that.

Concerning MB's philosophy... I would say it is Sacco himself who lost the point, with W220-W203 and after them.

And to my eyes, the W204 C-Class is focussed again, it has a real design theme and a real depth in it. Like the C221 CL-Class. They look Mercedes, German and rigid again. And they seem to be build like Benzes too...

However, this GLK sure isn't the better designed Benz ever. It looks good, but is not as well-thought and deep as a W204 for instance.

It is a marketing, fashion product. Which is logical, as SUVs always are marketing and fashion products. Whereas the C-Class is a core-Benz and has to wear and show Benze's values! The GLK does not need that, he only has to find clients, it is not a "real" MB, an image-carrier as the C, E or S-Class to my eyes. When SUVs will come out of fashion the GLK, ML and GL will disappear. They are here because it is trendy. A real Benz like C, E, S, CL are real Benzes, wearing Benze's values and purchased by real Benz lovers. Not by people who buy a X3, then a GLK because it is newer, then a Q5...

(it is just something I thought at the moment, I will have to think further to that: are there "real" Benzes and casual, trendy Benzes? Or does it sound stupid?)

 

[martinbo]

Re: Mercedes-Benz Vision GLK FREESIDE Concept @ 2008 NAIAS

Very good Martin ...a good point.

But lets be real here, this vehicle's boxy, upright design is much more the dictate of current market tastes than any real practical concerns.

Quite possibly - there is a shift in certain camps toward boxier SUVs. If so then, well done Merc!

The boutique looks of the ML were suddenly too soft, too middle class, too God damned anonymous -- lost in the suburban banality of crowded shopping mall car parks and shady boulevards of the better parts of town.

Aw man - that's priceless. What to say? Nuthin I guess - can't argue with that.

:The market wanted something that stood out from the crowd -- not quite as aggressive or ridiculous as a Hummer -- but something which isn't as polite and refined-looking as a Range-Rover either. One might call it 'Utility chic' -- the art of looking practical and adventurous without ever having to actually be practical or adventurous -- it's all an illusion. Car design has simply become an extension of the fashion industry. All they need now is for Dolce & Gabanna to design some matching accessories in military-style camouflage, and the look is complete.

Believe it or not, I agree with you. That said, if it's fashion that dictates an over-emphasis on styling then why fart against thunder?

The fashionability of car styling is nothing new though, it's just cyclic that's all. That gorgeous W124 E-Class is a classic example of form following function back in those days as the car buying public became obsessed with the aero-look and drag co-efficient of cars at the time.

At the present we're in a cycle that sees fashion and design dictating the styling of a vehicle - not fit-for-purposeness. Same thing happened back in the late Fifties and Sixties with those whack-job looking American monsters. Then the Seventies happened and we got the next gen Ford Cortina and Grenada... three box styling anyone?

Who knows, with the fossil fuel crisis and greenhouse gas mass-paranoia maybe we'll see another shift in car design where rooves are made of solar panels and every superfluous apendage and facet is smoothed over in a quest for maximum energy efficiency.

But for now we're at a zenith in automotive creativity and excess - guess we'd better enjoy it while we can. I can't say that I'm looking forward to the Nokia-BMW SolarWind 7000 Multidrive.

 

[SDNR]

Re: Mercedes-Benz Vision GLK FREESIDE Concept @ 2008 NAIAS

^^ LOL -- great post Martin.

You are correct about car design being cyclical, even Mercedes has had its moments of style over substance -- indeed, my favourite one of all, the W100, is very excessive -- Sacco himself once called it vulgar ....and he was partly responsible for its design.

I don't mean to sound like a kill joy -- I love the excesses of marques like Rolls-Royce, Lamborghini, and Pagani ...but I guess I always admire restraint and discipline -- virtues I sometimes lack myself.

Under Sacco, Mercedes design reached a level of refinement that no other manufacturer could match. Sacco was one of the greatest car designers of all time -- I have to admit, I didn't like all his work, but it was always carried out with the greatest integrity and an obsessive attention to detail.

 

[coolraoul]

Re: Mercedes-Benz Vision GLK FREESIDE Concept @ 2008 NAIAS

^^Agree every word.

I love Sacco's touch too, but not at the end with the W220 and 203.
W100, W140, 126, 124, 201 are really brilliant pieces of design, and you know that the C126 is one of my favourite cars ever... The GLK is clearly not a fabulous design, but it is quite appealing, original, and attractive. Not really my cup of tea, but for a SUV it is a good design. Not brilliant, but good. That can't be said for all its competitors...

What I like especially in the W204, is that there is a touch of Sacco in it I find. There are familiar proportions, a well-known shape, a spirit of 80's. To my eyes.

Concerning the GLK being a little G... I can't agree. A little GL, yes. Not a little G. The G is under-designed, what makes all its brilliantness. A container with some edgy windows and that's it...but the proportions are fabulous, and it has a brutal charm because of it. The GLK is completely different.

 

[siko]

Re: Mercedes-Benz Vision GLK FREESIDE Concept @ 2008 NAIAS

Mercedes Vision GLK Freeside Concept Promo Video

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[PanterroR]

Re: Mercedes-Benz Vision GLK FREESIDE Concept @ 2008 NAIAS

 

[SDNR]

Re: Mercedes-Benz Vision GLK FREESIDE Concept @ 2008 NAIAS

^ There is some clever geometry going on in those plastic moldings.

 

[PanterroR]

Re: Mercedes-Benz Vision GLK FREESIDE Concept @ 2008 NAIAS

I think this is production version...

 

[bmer]

Re: Mercedes-Benz Vision GLK FREESIDE Concept @ 2008 NAIAS

I think this is production version...

It's close but there are still many differences between it and the vehicle in the Sex and the City pictures.

 

[PanterroR]

Re: Mercedes-Benz Vision GLK FREESIDE Concept @ 2008 NAIAS



Completely forgot about that white one...

 

[SDNR]

Re: Mercedes-Benz Vision GLK FREESIDE Concept @ 2008 NAIAS

^that silver one looks 100% better than the white one imo

 

[PanterroR]

Re: Mercedes-Benz Vision GLK FREESIDE Concept @ 2008 NAIAS

Agreed.

 

[Merc1]

Re: Mercedes-Benz Vision GLK FREESIDE Concept @ 2008 NAIAS

Uh oh...Rob is coming around.....this is real progress for Mercedes-Benz's GLK design team...!

I'll go on the record now in predicting that the GLK will be a big hit in the U.S. like the S-Class or GL.

M

 

[SDNR]

Re: Mercedes-Benz Vision GLK FREESIDE Concept @ 2008 NAIAS

I'll go on the record now in predicting that the GLK will be a big hit in the U.S. like the S-Class or GL.

M

Well duh!

Of course it will be a big hit in the U.S. -- it has been tailor-made for that market.

....am I coming around?

 

[Merc1]

Re: Mercedes-Benz Vision GLK FREESIDE Concept @ 2008 NAIAS

....am I coming around?

I think so...after you see it more and more.

M

 

[SDNR]

Re: Mercedes-Benz Vision GLK FREESIDE Concept @ 2008 NAIAS

^ it will be a hit in all its markets.

 

[justanthony]

Re: Mercedes-Benz Vision GLK FREESIDE Concept @ 2008 NAIAS

Uhm,............. This lil, poorly designed piece of sh.t is actually............
NOT BAD u know! Liked it from the 'sex and the city vids' and then on but it seems saying so will get you death threats round here.
I think we needs to chill a bit more smtimes on this forum.
Er, did i forget to say i luv u all, guys?

 

[SDNR]

Re: Mercedes-Benz Vision GLK FREESIDE Concept @ 2008 NAIAS

^ death threats? ...not from me ....I am peace loving.

-- See, I have my very own new age dolphin religion.

 

[PHYBENZ]

Re: Mercedes-Benz Vision GLK FREESIDE Concept @ 2008 NAIAS

I think the interior is a mess. I don't know. There are so many weird angles and shapes, and it really doesn't seem to flow. It's a mix between a C class, and there is definitely some R inspiration also on the dash. But overall I just don't see it flowing, and the centr stack looks a little cheap. There should be the aluminum trim around the air con like the C, though I checked the spy photos and it looks like there will be. It just seems like they took parts from different MBs and put them together. The outer aircon vents looks akwardely crooked and kind ocheap in their design. Too much plastic around the center ones too.