Photo: Daniel Simon
In some ways, the constraints of safety regulations and all that are a blessing for a designer, because it's always easier when you know what your limitations are. It's not as fun as working with a completely blank canvas, though.
With Daniel Simon, the man behind the design of the vehicles in Tron: Legacy, it's always like that. But even though his creations don't have to play by the rules, they always stay with one foot deeply rooted in reality, and that's what makes them so compelling. They're both futuristic and retro at the same time, and that's a combination you can never go wrong with.
This isn't more obvious in any of his designs than the Tron Light Runner, a four-wheeled vehicle that looks like a cross between a Formula One car, a hot rod and an off-roader. And the Light Runner could, indeed, morph from a grid runner into an all-terrain vehicle when needed, thanks largely to the hubless wheels and the long suspension arms.
But Daniel Simon's skills haven't been restricted solely to the imaginary world. He was employed by Volkswagen at the start of the last decade where he worked under Walter de Silva on designs for SEAT and Lamborghini. A few years later he was involved with the rebirth of the Bugatti brand, but he retired in 2005.
However, he maintained his ties with the automotive giant and continued to be employed as a consultant over the following couple of years. He took a long leave of absence during which he published a book (Cosmic Motors, available on Amazon for those with deep pockets) and worked on the remake of the legendary Tron movie.
More recently, he's been rumored to design the vehicles that will take part in Roborace, the new racing series for autonomous vehicles. This will probably be the first time Daniel Simon will be able to show us the whole amplitude of his talent in a real vehicle, since the absence of the driver allows him a lot more freedom than regular cars would. And if they look anything like this Tron Light Runner, then we can die happy.
This isn't more obvious in any of his designs than the Tron Light Runner, a four-wheeled vehicle that looks like a cross between a Formula One car, a hot rod and an off-roader. And the Light Runner could, indeed, morph from a grid runner into an all-terrain vehicle when needed, thanks largely to the hubless wheels and the long suspension arms.
But Daniel Simon's skills haven't been restricted solely to the imaginary world. He was employed by Volkswagen at the start of the last decade where he worked under Walter de Silva on designs for SEAT and Lamborghini. A few years later he was involved with the rebirth of the Bugatti brand, but he retired in 2005.
However, he maintained his ties with the automotive giant and continued to be employed as a consultant over the following couple of years. He took a long leave of absence during which he published a book (Cosmic Motors, available on Amazon for those with deep pockets) and worked on the remake of the legendary Tron movie.
More recently, he's been rumored to design the vehicles that will take part in Roborace, the new racing series for autonomous vehicles. This will probably be the first time Daniel Simon will be able to show us the whole amplitude of his talent in a real vehicle, since the absence of the driver allows him a lot more freedom than regular cars would. And if they look anything like this Tron Light Runner, then we can die happy.
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