Monday, June 13, 2011

2018 Mazda 3 Concept

2018 Mazda 3 Concept

What if you could design your own car from scratch and then have a major carmaker bring it to life? It's a wannabe designer's dream—and one the folks at the Zoom-Zoom factory have made possible this year with the Mazda Design Challenge. In partnership with the online social networking giant Facebook, Mazda gave contestants the chance to submit their vision of the 2018 Mazda 3 by way of a 150-word description and optional illustration.

After much deliberation by Mazda engineers and Facebook members alike, it was Mallory McMorrow of South Bend, Indiana, who emerged as the winner. Soon after the victory, Mallory was paired with top Mazda designer Jacques Flynn, who helped make her ideas a reality in the sketch you see here. Bearing much resemblance to the Mazda Ryuga concept that debuted in Detroit earlier this year, McMorrow's 2018 Mazda 3 combines current Mazda styling cues with elements from concepts that have bowed this year on the auto show circuit. McMorrow describes her vision as a combination of sports-car qualities and everyday practicality, something Mazda is definitely familiar with. "I was thrilled when I opened up the images of the final renderings. I'm proud to say that the end design was still definitely my car, and I can't wait to see it come to fruition on the show floor," McMorrow said.

That's right, she said the show floor. Mazda has taken this competition a step further, authorizing a full-size prototype of the concept to be carved from a lump of clay live at November's L.A. auto show. Over the course of 10 days, McMorrow will be paired with Franz von Holzhausen, director of design for Mazda North America, and his team to bring the design to life. So for all you auto show junkies, bring some popcorn and a lawn chair and watch them chisel away from noon to 8 p.m. daily until the final sculpture is unveiled at 3 p.m. on Nov. 24. We'll let you know if and when the 2018 Mazda 3 is headed for sheetmetal.

No comments:

Post a Comment