These Videos Celebrate the Art of Car Design

Cars have the potential to entice people like almost no other man-made object can, and we have decades of car stylists to thank for that. Names like Pinin Farina, Gandini, Tjaarda, Bangle, and others have been responsible for clothing machines that we still approach with awe.

Is car design art or engineering? These videos are a look back at the evolution of car design.

How will your car look? Well, this charming clip from British Pathé shows a saloon car being modelled by designer Henry Foxley.

Here, camera crews go behind the scenes at the MG factory as workers build a special streamliner for Bonneville. To the right, footage from Bonneville of the completed cars are featured in this mini-documentary of the marque’s attempts.

Say what you want about Chris Bangle, here he shares an emotional story about the tug of war that often occurs in car design studios around the world, as designers and engineers battle to create vehicles they can be proud of. It’s one of our favourite talks, and for good reason.

In the U.S., General Motors led the styling world for decades. This is a wonderful period documentary that gives a somewhat…er…interesting view of the company’s design studios. On the right, a look at how styling and engineering influenced the then-new Chevrolet Camaro.

In 2013, Red Bull did a short video of how a Formula 1 car is designed and built—not sharing secrets, of course, but a good walkthrough of how everything fits together into a championship-winning race car.

Next to it, a period British Pathé video contrasts modern Formula 1 technology with the pioneers of aircraft design—in 1947, creating the ideal shape was much different! 

Here, British show Fifth Gear takes a look at the Pininfarina design studios—and how they’re hoping to influence the future of car design.