Photo: Antoine Crobe via Behance
Back in the mid-90s, Ford was in the middle of a styling reshuffle. The company called it the "New Edge" in what was probably a play on words between the New Wave current in music and the fact the new design direction had lots of surfaces and edges.
This philosophy led to a series of pretty iconic models, though, to be fair, some of them haven't particularly aged well. The tiny Ford Ka is a prime example for the European market, as is the redesigned 1999 Ford Mustang for the North American one.
However, there probably isn't a model that encapsulates what New Edge was about better than the GT90 concept car. The idea behind the new design language was to create "surface tension" by breaking the aerodynamic shape with the odd crease here and there. Looking at the GT90, you'd be hard-pressed to come up with a better description than that.
It was a completely unexpected direction for Ford, a brand that was largely considered conservative, which is why some people might mistake it for complete design freedom. If you compare the GT90 to any other model in Ford's lineup at the time, you too will understand how that might happen.
Since then, Ford's made plenty of great cars, but it hasn't really broken the mold with anything. This rendering from Antoine Crobe imagines what would happen if Ford decided to put its creative pants back on and produce something truly revolutionary again.
The result is the Ford Dystopia, a low-slung sports car of the future with a vacuum-cleaner-like front end, a glass canopy over the two seats, and a rear diffuser so aggressive it would make a Lamborghini crawl under the sink and cry.
Antoine has given the project a lot of attention, something that's immediately obvious regardless of whether you look at the model or the renderings themselves. There's a ton of detail, from the side cameras that act as mirrors to the ambient lighting and the puddles on the ground that build toward the Blade Runner atmosphere.
Things like the powertrain or performance levels of the Ford Dystopia are completely ignored as this project is all about the design. However, given the car can't be taller than knee-high and seems to generate the kind of downforce that would suck it toward the ground as if it truly was the vacuum cleaner it resembles, it's safe to assume speed and handling wouldn't be an issue.
Yet, whatever you do, you always come back to the car's appearance because it is just so, so striking. From this point of view, it sure lifts itself to the same level as those two models it quotes as inspiration - the GT90 and the Indigo - and that's pretty high praise.
However, there probably isn't a model that encapsulates what New Edge was about better than the GT90 concept car. The idea behind the new design language was to create "surface tension" by breaking the aerodynamic shape with the odd crease here and there. Looking at the GT90, you'd be hard-pressed to come up with a better description than that.
It was a completely unexpected direction for Ford, a brand that was largely considered conservative, which is why some people might mistake it for complete design freedom. If you compare the GT90 to any other model in Ford's lineup at the time, you too will understand how that might happen.
Since then, Ford's made plenty of great cars, but it hasn't really broken the mold with anything. This rendering from Antoine Crobe imagines what would happen if Ford decided to put its creative pants back on and produce something truly revolutionary again.
The result is the Ford Dystopia, a low-slung sports car of the future with a vacuum-cleaner-like front end, a glass canopy over the two seats, and a rear diffuser so aggressive it would make a Lamborghini crawl under the sink and cry.
Antoine has given the project a lot of attention, something that's immediately obvious regardless of whether you look at the model or the renderings themselves. There's a ton of detail, from the side cameras that act as mirrors to the ambient lighting and the puddles on the ground that build toward the Blade Runner atmosphere.
Things like the powertrain or performance levels of the Ford Dystopia are completely ignored as this project is all about the design. However, given the car can't be taller than knee-high and seems to generate the kind of downforce that would suck it toward the ground as if it truly was the vacuum cleaner it resembles, it's safe to assume speed and handling wouldn't be an issue.
Yet, whatever you do, you always come back to the car's appearance because it is just so, so striking. From this point of view, it sure lifts itself to the same level as those two models it quotes as inspiration - the GT90 and the Indigo - and that's pretty high praise.
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