Ford iosis X Concept (2006)

Lamm and his team were keen to exploit what appears to be an emerging trend for sporting crossovers or SUVs and a movement away from the traditional two-box styling that dominates the segment irrespective of vehicle size. "This opportunity suits kinetic design perfectly - iosis X is more of a four-door coupé crossover which is very compact and emphasises Ford's driving dynamics."

Lamm and his team wanted to move the 'kinetic design' story on while retaining all of the key elements of the form language. As a result, the chunky five-door sports coupé crossover couldn't be more different in its stance and dimensions to the original iosis Concept, a sleek muscular four-door coupé, yet the two are undeniably linked.

"This vehicle shows how we can apply kinetic design principles to a different type of vehicle," said Martin Smith. "We've taken all the key themes and graphic elements first seen on iosis and morphed them into a very sporty crossover with the footprint of a compact C-segment car."

At the front, iosis X features the bold new Ford of Europe face translated into a more rugged look to convey the strength of the vehicle.

Most noticeable are the strong inverted trapezoid elements, including a prominent lower grille section.

"The dominant lower inverted trapezoidal grille is now a really strong brand element," commented Lamm.

Appropriately for a crossover, the lower grille has been enhanced further by reducing the upper grille to little more than a ram air intake - a horizontal slot bisected by a bright metal bar and featuring a deliberately large Ford blue oval badge that appears to be thrusting forwards from within the engine bay.

Impending pedestrian impact legislation has influenced Ford's distinctive approach to front overhang and headlamp design. The front corners are aggressively chamfered, reducing the apparent size of the overhang, while the large headlamps follow the chamfering into the front wings, resulting in a distinctive kicked back appearance.

"Rather than see the pedestrian protection legislation as an inhibitor to the design philosophy, we now treat it as a positive design attribute," said Smith. "To accommodate the required volume in the front of the vehicle we have not only chamfered the corners back, but we have included a deep offset from the top of the hood to the front wings, creating a distinctive shoulder that runs along the side of the car to the rear."

In side profile, muscular surfacing and these strong and athletic shoulders run through the car, and are underscored by a dynamic undercut line that gives iosis Xan extremely dynamic stance, further enhanced by very bold wheel lips. Air vents aft of the front wheel arches, a key signature on the original iosis, appear also on iosis X, drawing air from the front brakes.

Side doors hinge outwards at the leading edge of the front door and rear edge of the smaller back door and are designed without a 'B' pillar to give easy access and an uninterrupted view of the stunning interior.

"When the car is viewed from three-quarters, either front or rear, the last visual points you should see are the wheels, and that's just the case with iosis X," asserts Lamm. "I especially like looking at the car from the rear three-quarters view because that emphasises the undercut which develops in a different direction to the original iosis, with a stronger shadow at the rear gradually fading out to the front."

As well as balancing the proportions between the upper and lower body sections, this undercut gives the car its sleek proportions, and it seems to be moving forwards even when standing still. This is further emphasised by the swooping roofline and daylight opening that has a coupé-like profile at the rear. The resulting confident stance of iosis X belies its relatively compact C-segment size.

In addition to leading the eye around each of the corners at the front, acute chamfering also serves to disguise the longer rear overhang.

"It needs to be longer at the rear otherwise the roof line would stop abruptly and the car would look quite truncated," explained Lamm.

Rugged and dynamically formed 'skid plate' claddings on the lower part of the vehicle stand off from the body and create a very new look.

"Usually there is some dark plastic or painted, grained plastic in the rocker area," Lamm explained. "We decided to move in a different direction and designed 'skid plates' as separate elements on the car that aren't integrated into the shape but floating on the side panels. These were inspired by the aerodynamic foils we see on the side of a Formula One car."

At the side, these 'skid plates' fold down to act as a step for easy access into the vehicle. They are fitted with rubber treads featuring the same patterns used in the tyres.

Key elements of kinetic design are trapezoidal shapes and three-dimensional forms and the interplay between them. Whilst the inverted grille at the front is the most obvious trapezoidal graphic it appears in many other interpretations throughout the exterior: the intakes at the front, the chamfers at the base of the windscreen and rear window, within the wheels, in the 'C' post kink and the ridges running down the bonnet are all elements of this basic shape.

A bird's eye view is the best illustration of iosis X's 'three-plane plan" form but this is also hinted at within the unique wheels which Lamm considers to be the most extreme so far designed by his team. "Mixing the finishes within the wheels heightens the three-dimensional effect, especially on the perimeter castings that look as if they could almost be scooping the mud and water out of the way."

Lighting elements have developed significantly since the original iosis, and for iosis X, the team has been able to capitalise on the use of latest lamp technology.

Both front and rear lamps deploy LEDs in a highly detailed execution featuring swept back top edges. But what excites Lamm is not just their 3-D structure but the way in which they seamlessly follow the contours of the body.

"Too many vehicles feature elements that look as if they're attached to the surface or are poking through apertures that have been cut into the body work," clamed Lamm. "That's not the case with iosis X. The lamps appear to be formed as one with the surface, which gives a terrific 3-D effect and, if you look at the rear lights, you can see obvious links to the new S-MAX and Galaxy."

Wing section door mirrors housing spotlights are mounted high up on the 'A' pillars while the rear fog lamp runs the width of the car above the rear skid plate that also floats away from the bodywork.

There was intense debate about the car's colour before the team arrived at their final choice.

Unusually for this class of vehicle, iosis X is finished in an icy, brilliant white chilled further by a blue 'flip' effect in the paint finish which is set off by twin silver stripes running the length of the bonnet and etched into the glass roof.

"Most products of this type tend to be modern interpretations of moss green or greys. We thought it would be fun to do iosis X in a sheer white. That's appropriate for us as we have a history of using white to good effect - think of the GT40s and rallying Escorts - and the current Fiesta ST is very popular in white with blue racing stripes," Smith said.

"It's not a pure white, because that would make the car look pretty heavy," explained Lamm. "The paint we have created features a blue 'flip' effect that changes tone with light and helps describe the forms and shapes in the car."

Inside iosis X - Optical Impact

Ford's interior design team, led by Nikolaus Vidakovic, have created a dramatic and exciting interior for iosis X.

"We started with all of the positive elements from the original iosis project, and evolved these to deliver even more visual interest and drama that you might not expect from a crossover," Vidakovic explained.

The interior is dominated by a new 'interlocking bridge' centre console structure inspired by modern helicopter cockpit design. The large console dives down from the instrument panel dividing the front and rear pairs of seats and dominating the interior before dramatically sweeping upwards at the rear and into the roof.

"Think of a Scorpion's tail!" added Vidakovic.

The rear section of this console has a practical side to it as well, as it provides a support and opening mechanism for the one-piece rear hatch in place of traditional hinges. It also provides a secure location for the spare wheel.

A central overhead panel contains personal lighting for the front and rear occupants plus ambient lighting and an entertainment screen for rear passengers. It also houses three passenger grab handles which would traditionally be located on the cant rails above the doors.

Twin glass roof panels flank the central overhead console, and these are complemented by a totally unique new feature - a solid glass floor beneath the drivers and passenger seats which offers a most unusual view of the terrain below.

"Because this is a rugged crossover rather than a four-door coupé, we needed to make different interior design decisions," Vidakovic said. "At the front, you have the usual functional elements you need to control a car, but when you go rearwards we introduce elements more appropriate to this type of vehicle such as lighting and storage features."

The slim instrument panel is a further development from that in iosisand some elements of this theme will undoubtedly feature in future Ford products.

New technology has allowed the interiors team to locate hardware for the information, entertainment and heating, ventilation and air-conditioning systems remotely away from their controls. This has dramatically freed up space under the instrument panel, creating a floating centre console and offering a greater feeling of spaciousness. It also allowed the team to develop a range of practical storage facilities that customers could choose from, allowing them to tailor that area for their own needs.

A similar section in the rear console opens up the floor space for the back seat passengers.

The slim instrument panel flows through into the door lines, creating a dramatic cockpit feel for the front seat occupants. Facing the driver is a radical steering wheel developed from that used in the original iosis, featuring orange perspex sections and contrasting white 'piano' inserts.

The controls in iosis X employ soft touch screens and touch sensitive controls in the centre stack.

The main instruments present themselves in the form of a pair of orange illuminated transparent foil dials that create a deep 3-D effect, and are housed in individual goggle-like binnacles. Between them is a Ford HMI screen that allows easy driver control of navigation, advanced cruise control or other vehicle settings.

Although iosis X is not intended to be a mechanical prototype, it is fitted with an electronic sequential gear change control in the centre console. Its innovative design is similar to that found on many computer games consoles, and fits snugly into the palm of the hand. Surrounding the gear shifter is a series of soft touch buttons for dynamic controls, including suspension and traction settings.

Air vents, which are usually a dominating feature of any fascia, have been subtly disguised with fine mesh blending them into their surroundings.

"We've spent a lot of time developing this mesh over the years," revealed Vidakovic. "It took a lot of work to get it right so that the mesh wouldn't vibrate or restrict air flow to the passengers."

Orange mood lighting, created by light emitting diodes and light pipes, illuminates the interior. However, not much lighting is needed in a car that features not only frosted glass panels in the roof (to continue the twin silver stripes from the bonnet over the roof) but also a glass floor.

"We wanted to create the feeling that driver and passengers are connected to the outside world and can see their surroundings more clearly," Vidakovic said. "The glass floor is absolutely unique in a vehicle, like those that you get in boats which allow their passengers to look into the ocean. In this case, occupants will be able to see the elements beneath them as they travel."

The glass floor also led the design team to develop a unique mounting system for the front seats with runners either side of the glass panels. The added benefit to this is that it gives the rear seat passengers more foot room beneath the front seats.

The seats themselves are highly complex and have been designed specifically with the rigours of cross country or light off-roading in mind, featuring more supportive padding in the upper back section and integrated seat belts.

"We've bought trapezoidal elements and themes into the interior to link with the exterior, whilst the interior sheet metal and piano white surfaces are also links with the bodywork to create a harmonious entity," concluded Vidakovic.