07 Jan 07
Ford sprung a rare surprise in Detroit when J Mays, Ford's vice-president of design, unveiled the futuristic Airstream crossover concept.
As the name suggests, the Airstream takes its design cues from the iconic American trailers (caravans) - all silver shininess and polished, flat surfaces. A three-door concept, it features a driver's side hatch and passenger-side clamshell door, plus a curious T-shaped rear door: it's not exactly practical and clearly won't make any production model anytime soon.
The concept's graphics (the shapes of the windows, lights and front grille) are funky and futuristic, with the windows trimmed in orange. This echoes the orange theme of the graphics on the S-Max's conceptual forerunner, the SAV, and, of course, the favoured colour of the Focus ST. For Ford, at least, orange is the new black.
The interior is inspired by the classic sci-fi movie 2001: A Space Odyssey. Features include a floating instrument panel with touch-sensitive controls and a multi-function single-gauge display. We were unable to confirm whether it speaks to the driver, HAL-like, telling you: 'I'm sorry Dave, I can't let you do that.'
The interior also features a 360-degree screen and a 21st-century lava lamp because, as Mays, with his tongue firmly in his cheek, said, 'You need one of those, don't you.'
The front seats are pod-shaped swivelling captain's chairs to allow 'socialising'. In the rear there's lounge-like seating covered in red fabric that's intended to create a 'cocoon-like environment.'
The Airstream is an interesting concept, not least because it shows how importantly Ford sees the crossover segment, with senior executives at the company's press conference emphasising that nearly all the Ford-owned marques will be featuring crossovers in their ranges over the coming years. Indeed, the fact that the Airstream is so futuristic-looking - and is powered by a plug-in hydrogen hybrid fuel cell drivetrain - demonstrates that crossovers are not just a noughties flash-in-the-pan. Consumers seem to like them - the size of the market is due to top 3m by the end of the decade - so they're clearly here to stay.
However, as futuristic and funky as the Airstream is, Ford had an older demographic in mind when designing it, talking about baby boomer empty-nester fiftysomethings. The relevance of the Airstream to that generation also comes from the fact that it is the generation among whom recreational vehicle (RV) ownership is highest.
The Airstream is unlikely to become a production vehicle, but its significance lies in the fact that it does offer a number of clues to Ford's thinking on crossovers and that while the future for Ford might not, at the moment be bright, it's certainly orange.
