Examples of enduring good design?

[Alan Whicker]

The Piaggio Vespa motorscooter. Reliable, simple, easy to ride and beautiful. Corradino D'ascanio's original concept was more or less unchanged (engine improvements and cosmetics apart) until the demise of the geared versions a couple of years ago. The vehicle that got Italy back on its er, feet after WW2. I've got two - a 1973 Sprint Veloce and a 1981 P125X.

 

[Crankarm]

There are plenty of old SA hubs still in everyday use and still running reliably after decades of use. What more do you want?

Why shouldn't I recommend a car? They need to be designed like everything else and some are better designed than others. Rather than highlight some exotic sports car that few people can afford, I picked a car for the people that I believe set the standards for many years after it was introduced.

What about the humble Sturmey Archer hub gear? Still around and in production after over 100 years.

Or the original VW Golf. It was so right in every way and set the standard for small family cars in it's time and all VW have done in their efforts to replace it is to make it bigger, uglier and heavier and not as enjoyable to drive.

The design wasn't anything new. A car is a car is a car. If it was a folding car then it might have been distinctively novel .

As much as I' m not keen on cars, the only one that I feel fits your description, is Henry Ford's model T which was the first mass produced car to bring independent travel to the masses at a price they could afford.

 

[threebikesmcginty]

 

[alecstilleyedye]

on a more topical note, the brooks b17 saddle…

 

[Globalti]

I can't think of many car designs that have endured almost unchanged; the original VW Beetle and the Golf, the original square Land Rover, also the rear-engined Porsche, the Morgan... yes.... er, any more? Even these classics have been heavily modified as technology moved on, under relatively unchanged bodywork.

 

[tyred]

The design wasn't anything new. A car is a car is a car. If it was a folding car then it might have been distinctively novel .

The design was nothing new as such but it was a classic piece of Giugiaro design, combined in a great package with plenty of space for four or five people and their luggage, a standard of ride and handling that was alien to most comparable cars (Morris Marina anyone!!!). It was also mechanically very simple and easy to work on, built to a very high standard so it actually worked reliably for several hundred thousand miles, unlike the junk the British motor industry were churning out at the time and it was less rust prone than what the Japanese and Italians were offering at the time (although it took a few years to really sort the rustproofing properly). It was much simpler and less fragile than what the French were building at the time. It had the quality of a Mercedes for the price of a Ford. When they fitted a bigger engine and fuel injection, they created one of the world's greatest driver's cars and created a whole new genre of copycat cars but only the 205 GTI came close to the MK1 Golf GTI. It also was the first commercially successful diesel car, so there is a Golf to suit all tastes, from the frugal minded to the keen driver.

So all in all, a design classic. And unlike the Model T Ford, it can still be driven in modern traffic. And I believe it is still in prodcution in South Africa.

 

[Globalti]

 

[tyred]

I can't think of many car designs that have endured almost unchanged; the original VW Beetle and the Golf, the original square Land Rover, also the rear-engined Porsche, the Morgan... yes.... er, any more? Even these classics have been heavily modified as technology moved on, under relatively unchanged bodywork.

The original Mini, the Morris Minor, Fiat Panda/Uno, Peugeot 205 or Mercedes w124?

And I almost forgot, the Citreon 2CV and Renault 4L

 

[tyred]

on a more topical note, the brooks b17 saddle…

Absolutely. A True Classic which makes cycling comfortable

 

[swee'pea99]

Now this

is a perfect piece of design. No-one has ever made better, at any price. No-one ever will.

 

[XmisterIS]

The classical style:

It's been good for at least 2500 years and still going strong! It's that good ol' golden ratio that does it ...

 

[theclaud]

The waiters friend, as good today as it's always been...

Indeed, 3BM, but there are Waiter's Friends and Waiter's Friends. The zenith of Waiter's Friendery is surely the Pulltaps Double-Lever WF?

 

[amnesia]

The wheel ?

I think we'd all agree it's endured the centuries...


I can't imagine a Rubik's Cube looking like anything else.

 

[Globalti]

Invented in 1938:

 

[threebikesmcginty]

Indeed, 3BM, but there are Waiter's Friends and Waiter's Friends. The zenith of Waiter's Friendery is surely the Pulltaps Double-Lever WF?

Looks lovely TC - mine, I'm ashamed to say, is a couple of quid spesh from the offie...