Sincerest Form of Flattery? Thanks Ferrari!!

[GKW05GT]

Perhaps you should ask the Mayor on Ferrichat what he thinks. You haven't pulled his chain in a while.

 

[STORMCAT]

Cool is cool...

 

[SYCO GT]

I feel like the front 2/3's is 95% similar. The way the front is flat on the surface, and the arc of the rounded area in front. The shape and angle of the front windshield and the driver and passenger windows. How the top of the windshield curves into the roof...

Only 95% since no white stripe on this version. (I kid...)

 

[SYCO GT]

Aren't there copyright laws in automobile design? This is a flagrant rip off!

Ed

Here is an interesting summary of three types of intellectual property legal devices (1) design patents, (2) copyrights, and/or (3) trademarks/trade dress. And how they might apply to the historical 60's era Ford Mustang design (and it's subsequent 2005 redesign by FMC), and what options Ford might have to protect the design against other companies creating vehicles with a similar look. Sourced from an old edition of the CCBJ (Corporate Counsel Business Journal). Used here for educational purposes.

Automobile Designs: Protecting An Investment In A Legend With Intellectual Property

As the Ford Motor Company proudly exclaims, when referring to the new 2005 Ford Mustang , "The Legend Lives." Made popular by Hollywood stalwarts such as Steve McQueen in Bullitt and Nicolas Cage in Gone in 60 Seconds, the Mustang look has become forever entwined with American pop culture. The...

ccbjournal.com

 

[Special K]

Perhaps you should ask the Mayor on Ferrichat what he thinks. You haven't pulled his chain in a while.

That’s always good for about three hours of rants... DBK and Sinovac like to stir that pot!

 

[SYCO GT]

I asked an Art Director colleague for thoughts on the design and this was the response, which I thought I'd share:

IMHO, there are two ways of analyzing the designs.

Primarily, there's the silhouette. If you got rid of all the details of both cars and just filled them in as black silhouettes, then it'd be confusing over which car is which. Whereas, for example, if you looked at the silhouette of a Jeep and a Toyota FJ Cruiser, you wouldn't get confused at all. Same genre of vehicle, but both totally distinct silhouettes.

Secondarily, the details such as the hood scoops and side scoops are placed in the same areas on the silhouettes. The shapes of those scoops are different, but their placements on the silhouette just reinforce the feeling of the sihouette "rip-off." It's like they double-downed on the rip-off. I'm sure there are technical functional things that require the scoops to be where they are, but plenty of other cars don't have those details at all... let alone those details on the same silhouette.

 

[SPI]

Thats 1 expensive 488 GT3 without headlights and a back bumper.

They should make more of these so I can start buying Ferrari (RACE) stock options.

 

[Cobrar]

As pointed out, there are both design and utility patents. I don't know which, if either, Ford applied for on this car. One thing that is clear, there are non-obvious (e.g. patentable) elements of the Ford GT design, that in 'utility' lead to it having improved functionality (aero). Whether or not, Ford finds that infringement worthy of litigation, is another matter.

 

[SBR]

And it's still nowhere near as beautiful as the NFGT.

 

[Roadtrip]

Personally I think its gorgeous... I love the NFGT as well (of course).... I see the crazy similarities to the GTA car and the New GT but I also think it looks like a modern interpretation of the Detomaso Pantera. It departs drastically from the direction Ferrari has gone for the last 30 Years which is why (other than being red) it doesn't scream Ferrrrari when I look at it.