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Words by Tim Wong

Car Classic is an annual event that celebrates design of vehicles such as cars, bikes and others through the Art Center show on campus. This year’s theme is Inspired by Nature which follows the concept of inspired designs in form and function moving through water and air. As opposed to the average car show which features builds of vehicles that boost in engineering performance and aesthetic appeal, this event focuses on the design elements of vehicles through time.

I am no stranger to Art Center as I’ve been here many times before and the school is famous for this design programs especially automotive design. The campus was open for tours and viewing along side the show exhibit.

Concept vehicles are not surprisingly to see since student works usually involving concept designs for future vehicles. This is the 2013 Mazda Deep Orange 3 concept car from a partnership between Clemson University and Art Center students to create this one-off vehicle. The car is supposed to have a hybrid powertrain with the ability to switch between FWD, RWD, and AWD. The front wheels are powered by a petrol engine while the rear wheels are powered by a electric motor and battery pack. The idea behind this is something that I find to be pretty unique yet relatively realistic in the age we live in.

A scale model of the Mazda Deep Orange 3.

2009 Infiniti Essense is another concept car present at the show. This has been around for a while longer, but still has a futuristic look with the chrome body and flowing lines.

The Essense is directed toward the high end of the market as a luxury sport coupe with its own custom set of Louis Vuitton luggage set.

One of the big up and coming auto manufacturers these days is Tesla after the big success with the Model S. The luxury electric sedan has been appearing rather frequently on the streets of Southern California. Tesla brought out their latest creation the Tesla Model X, a SUV, with some of the fanciest features I’ve seen in a while for a family car.

The “falcon wing” doors for the rear doors are pretty stunning while having three rows of seats.

The engineering isn’t something to overlook either with “Dual Motor All-Wheel Drive” that still performs 0-60 in under 5 seconds.

The majority of the show is mostly classic vehicles and definitely some of the rarest cars to be seen even in the rich car culture of Southern California. This 1969 De Tomaso Mangusta is a prime of example of this as most people know or seen the Pantera, but haven’t even heard of this vehicle.

The car is powered by a Ford 302 V8 engine putting out 221 horsepower. The Mangusta is not a car to be easily forgotten with its gullwing doors.

Of course there would be a Jaguar E-Type since beside being one of the most beautiful cars, it was a feat of engineering with a top speed of 150mph back in the 60s.

The one of the icons of the supercar was a 1976 Lamborghini Countach LP400.

The aggressive face of the 1971 Iso Grifo coupe

1956 Ferrari 250 GTZ Berlinetta Zagato

1984 Ferrari 512 BBi Berlinetta Boxer

1983 DeLorean DMC-12. The unforgettable DeLorean will never be forgotten after its appearance in the classic film franchise, Back to the Future.

The vehicle itself has an unforgettable design with the straight-lined stainless steel body panels and gullwing doors.

1929 Bentley 4.5-liter Tourer by Vanden Plas

Dunkel Brothers brought a classic car carrier filled with several classic cars.

1957 Buick Caballero Estate Wagon

1948 Ford F6

1932 Ford Roadster had one of my favorite interiors with the beautiful leather seats.

With the amount of cars at this event, I’m going to split the coverage into two posts. Part two will consists of even more of these amazing vehicles with some of the most beautiful designs elements on any car.