RCA students redesign classic cars for Salon Privé

Eleven postgraduates from the Royal College of Art's Vehicle Design program have redesigned and modernized past Concours-winning cars for the ‘Concours of the Future' design exhibition at this year's Salon Privé in London.

Concours of the Future, a first for the Salon Privé, will be showcased on 4 July before being judged the next day by a panel chaired by automotive designer and RCA visiting professor Peter Stevens. The judging panel is made up of Dale Harrow, head of the RCA Vehicle Design program and some of the biggest names in car design: Giles Taylor, director of design at Rolls-Royce; Peter Schreyer, chief design officer at Hyundai and Kia and Peter Horbury, vice president – design at Geely.

The top three student designers will be rewarded with trophies designed by Bridge of Weir Leather Company and a magnum of Pommery champagne, while the overall winner will benefit from a visit to Milan for a behind-the-scenes tour and design master-class with Andrea Zagato at the Zagato Design Studio.

Around 40 students applied to enter designs for Concours of the Future but just 11 designs were selected for the exhibition.

Stevens said: "Some of the results are astounding, and I'm delighted to be supporting the design exhibition with some of the most esteemed designers from around the world. Our young RCA designers are presenting their continuing fascination with the romance of the motorcar to their prospective future employers, and what an illustrious panel it is."

As well as the samples released today, we can expect to see redesigns of cars from Ferrari, Alfa Romeo and Peugeot among others.

By Rufus Thompson