The first-place winning sketch for the FCA US Drive for Design competition, designed by Davis Kunselman, Mount de Sales Academy in Macon, Georgia.
For years, the hallmark of Fiat Chrysler products – and before that simply Chrysler – have been their compelling designs. The Dodge brand, in particular, leads this tradition.
However, nothing stands still and even the brand’s wildly popular retro designs for the Challenger and Charger feature updated takes on timeless designs that bring new aficionados to the Dodge brand.
The company says long, flowing shapes accented with razor-sharp edges, inlets and exits that tap into cooling airflow with minimal drag, and wheels sized to leave little room for anything else – are the design keys for Dodge three decades from now.
They know this because they’ve asked the potential designers of the future to share what they think the next generation of Dodge vehicles should look like and the current designers draw inspiration from that as part of the 2017 Drive for Design contest.
The second-place sketch for FCA's US Drive for Design.
(Inside story: How Dodge got the Demon up to a hellacious 840 hp. Click Here to find out.)
The brand has held contest for five years and challenged U.S. high schoolers in 10-12 grades to look 30 years out to imagine what vehicles will look like. The FCA design team partnered with EyesOn Design and Lawrence Technological University for this year’s contest.
“The Drive for Design contest helps connect our design team to the extraordinary artistic talent of students across the country and allows us to help guide them for a potential career in automotive design,” said Mark Trostle, Head of Performance, Passenger Car and Utility Vehicle Design, FCA – North America.
(How much for a Dodge Demon? Click Here for the final numbers.)
From the submitted designs, the team picked three winners:
- First place – Davis Kunselman, Mount de Sales Academy (Macon, Georgia)
The third-place sketch.
- Second place – Richard Chen, Delmar High School (Delmar, Delaware)
- Third place – Paige Webb, Stoney Creek High School (Rochester, Michigan)
“All of the submissions were creative and visionary as they truly thought about what vehicles could look like in the next 30 years,” Trostle said.
(For the NY debut of the the world’s fastest production car, Click Here.)
The prizes for the winning entries included: a two-week summer automotive design course at Lawrence Technological University (includes housing, meals and field trips); passes to the EyesOn Design Vision Honored Black Tie and Silent Auction and Automotive Design Exhibition in Grosse Pointe Shores, Michigan; three-day/two-night stay in Michigan (includes flight, hotel and rental car); and an Apple MacBook Pro.