Chapter 1
Shaping the wind's first path
Chapter 2
The secret language of visual emotion
Chapter 3
Mastering the invisible flow
Chapter 4
Cultural signatures of global design
Ch 1 · Shaping the wind's first path
audi The Austrian engineer patented teardrop shapes to create the Rumpler Tropfenwagen, achieving an incredibly low 0.28 drag coefficient.
audi Buyers rejected the car's radical rounded silhouette, causing a major commercial failure.
Quiz
Why is the 1934 Chrysler Airflow remembered as a milestone in automotive design history?
audi Automotive Clay Aerodynamics
We carve the warm clay till the curves feel right, and trace the smoke stream in the wind tunnel light.
Quiz
Which iconic 1962 sports car famously utilized the Kammback tail design to increase racing performance?
Quiz
Which aerodynamicist pioneered the flat-backed tail design to reduce wind drag in the 1930s?
Quiz
Who introduced industrial modeling clay to the automotive styling process in the late 1920s?
Quiz
Why do modern car designers still use physical clay models alongside digital software?
Fun Fact
Aerodynamic fish: The boxy Mercedes-Benz Bionic concept car from 2005 was actually modeled after the highly aerodynamic shape of the tropical boxfish.
Glossary
aerodynamics (noun)
The study of the properties of moving air and the interaction between such air and solid bodies. In 1921, Edmund Rumpler designed the Tropfenwagen, pioneering the application of aerodynamics in passenger car design.
The study of the properties of moving air and the interaction between such air and solid bodies. In 1921, Edmund Rumpler designed the Tropfenwagen, pioneering the application of aerodynamics in passenger car design.