2005: Germany.
Illustrations on Display at Michelin Challenge Design™
Biography:
Ricardo Dillon was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina in 1951. He received the finest Argentine high-school education and studied at the University of Buenos Aires, focusing on industrial designing. He has obtained more than 20 years of designing experience working for top companies in various designing areas where he developed a strong expertise in various designing related materials such as metals, wood, plastics, fabrics and diverse production processes such as casting, stamping and die forming. He also acquired a vast experience on manufacturing of PRFV pieces and other plastics.
Since 1985, his activities in the furniture design and upholstery areas have encompassed all the stages from the original concept in blueprint to the making of prototypes and the starting up of the production line, pioneering in Argentina the idea of interactivity with the customer in the design process. His furniture designs have obtained great recognition and are merchandized in Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay markets and some of them are actually in exhibition in the Modern Art Museum of Buenos Aires in his Permanent Designer Collection.
Designing of automobiles started for him as a hobby and gradually it became a matter of increasing interest, involvement and fondness. Countless hours of readings, layouts, and contest participations, gave him a unique formation for this aspect of his career as designer. He has received much recognition for designs of sedans, pick-ups and public transportation vehicles as well as for the innovative inclusion of alternative energy sources for powering.
A three-time Michelin Challenge Design selected participant, his concept vehicle named Luthor was selected to be in exhibition in the 2003 Michelin Challenge Design Exhibit and his concept vehicle named Chabon was selected for display at the 2004 Michelin Challenge Design.
Description:
Gothan is a proposal that intended to redefine the concept of the four-door sedan as an art form, with a stronger statement of elegance, romantic, image leading great classic German luxury cars. Gothan has been conceived regarding the concepts of a roomy interior and being very flexible in its adaptation to external conditions. It also is easy to access due to the sliding doors and the versatile variable opening for the trunk and the sliding tray for the spare wheel allows accessing without opening the trunk.
This design presents an unusual arc-like roof shape in a three-volume vehicle offering an elegant solution in perfect harmony with the advanced features included in the design. The human factor accommodation includes excellent vision and controlled environment with features like sides of cabin almost entirely glazed and most of the sunroof is transparent as well, offering its occupants direct contact with the outside world.
For navigation purposes the vehicle has a high interface screen that conveys information to the occupants about their local area and that could display maps of different scales and even show images taken from a helicopter of the route they are taking that illustrates in great depth their immediate environment.
Fundamentally the car has been designed to be a means to discover something new and not just a humble means of transport. Concepts adopted chassis and body panels made of thermoplastic materials, so they were environmentally friendly, and the color scheme also represents functionality.
The mechanical architecture combines a longitudinal front engine with rear wheel drive, meanwhile the bodywork combines the classic styling with a blend of optimization of proportions and stance combined with an jewel-like details with broken lines that confers a decisive appearance and create some interesting juxtaposition of surfaces, with are used in the fenders balances lines, radiator grille, hood and top that are all in accord, each worked out in respect to its relation with the other, including the proportion of glass opening that is determined in its relation to the length of the body.