Car designers re-discover the coupe

By Thomas Geiger Feb 1, 2012, 3:06 GMT

Detroit - Car designers are re-discovering the classic design of the coupe after years of concentrating their efforts on creating station wagons, crossovers and sedan-shaped Sports Utility Vehicles (SUVs).

At the recent Detroit Motor Show there was not a single new Crossover model to be seen while several new coupes made their appearance. The US carmaker Chevrolet announced that it would launch in the next few years a sports car costing less than 20,000 dollars. But because nobody really has an idea what this car will look like Chevrolet presented two different design studies.

The design under the Code 130R reminds one a little of the Chevrolet Camaro while the Tru 140S is a more futuristic design that could be mistaken for a future Opel Astra GTC. 'We are now testing the reaction and then we will know in which direction to go for the production version,' a GM spokesman said at the show.

Meanwhile Honda's CEO Takanobu Ito lifted the wraps from a new sports car that is aimed at competing against the likes of the Nissan GTR and the Lexus LFA. 'We will produce the car in the next three years,' Ito announced. The new model takes the cue from the legendary Honda NSX from the 1990s. But the technology is very much future-orientated. It is a hybrid model fitted with a V6 petrol engine and three electric engines.

Also fitted with hybrid technology is the Lexus concept LF-LC. It is still a long way from production, 'but some of the most important styling elements of this coupe will be found in the first serial models in the next two years,' press spokeswoman Sandra Tibor said.

Coupes have a long tradition and they have the advantage that they can be converted to open-air models. Some of the new models on show in Detroit such as the Mini Roadster and Porsche 911 Cabrio would not be possible without a coupe design.

While customers of the Mini and Porsche have to decide on buying either the coupe or roadster version, Volkswagen is working on a concept uniting both designs. The electric-powered E-Bugster shown in Detroit and based on the New Beetle is three centimetres wider and nine centimetres flatter than the production model.