FUTURE RIDE

Is it the FUTURE yet? I think it's time we saw more designs on the road by Darryl Starbird, Raymond Loewy, and Gene Winfield. Real cars have curves! Happy New Year from Spy Vibe! Let's go for a drive in a few of these classic concept creations. Who is that lady in silver driving Paul Foster's car from UFO? Hint: Benedict Cumberbatch (Sherlock, Imitation Game) calls her mom! Related posts: Designer Gene Winfield, John Lennon Ferrari, Factory Five, The Sea Lion, David Tennant reads Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Raymond Loewy's Avanti, Mary Quant Mini, Aston inspired by Lelouch, George Harrison's DB5, Jaguar Weekend, new Volvo P1800, Also check out the Auto Universum blog by Agent J Kraus here. 

Selected Spy Vibe posts: Imitation Game, New Avengers Books, Road to Hong Kong, Inside Gerry Anderson, Ringo Does Goldfinger, Sixties Beat Wear, SPECTRE Announced, Popular Skullture, New Gerry Anderson Sets, New SECRET AGENT set, Art of Modesty, Avengers Blu-ray update, Tokyo Beat 1964, Polaroid Spy, Modesty Monday, Feraud Mod Fashion, Flint Scores!, Bond Danish, Home Movies, New Richard Sala Book, New 007 Comics, Designing Bond Books, Green Hornet Manga, Margaret Nolan Art, No 6 Festival, Barbarella Returns, 007 Audio Books Return, Designer: Gene Winfield, Avengers Interview: Michael Richardson, Ian Fleming: Wicked Grin, Jane Bond Hong Kong Records, Ryan Heshka Interview, Comics Week: Man From R.I.V.E.R.D.A.L.E., Comics Week: Archie, Comics Week: Robots, Comics Week: Cold War Atomic, Comics Week: SPYMAN, Comics Week: Jimmy Olsen, Rare Avengers Scripts, Man From Uncle UK Comics, Mattel X-15, Thunderbirds Comics, Shakespeare Spies: Diana Rigg, Shakespeare Spies I, Rodney Marshall Avengers Interview, Avengers Book: Bowler Hats & Kinky Boots, George Lois Design & Mad Men, Richard Sala: Super-Enigmatix, Danger Diabolik Soundtrack, Cold War Archie, Playboy Bunny Interview, The 10th Victim Japanese and Kindle, U.N.C.L.E. Japanese Books, The 10th Victim German Edition, The Saint books return, Trina Robbins Interview, Catsuits, Batman '66 Green Hornet Interview: Ralph Garman Ty Templeton.

SPACE DESIGN

Spy Vibers have been interested in yesterday's post about designer Raymond Loewy and his designs for Ian Fleming's Avanti. Here are bonus images of some of Loewy's concepts for NASA's Mercury, Apollo, and Skylab missions. Loewy's book Industrial Design here. Spy Vibe's coverage of the Dieter Rams design exhibit at SFMOMA here. More about Skylab's design process here. 

Recent Spy Vibe posts: Steranko S.H.I.E.L.D. Artist Editions, David Tennant's Ian Fleming audio books, The Prisoner & Captain Scarlet, HMV returns to Oxford st w Beatles promo, Diego Fortunato & Verner Panton,  Saturday Morning Cartoons, Assassination Bureau on DVD, new Young Bond series,  Peter Asher, Gerry Marsden tour, Elio Petri on Blu-ray, Sophia Loren, new Beatles BBC album, new Hercule Poirot novel, Beatles fall 2013 releases, A Hard Days Night cinematographer dies, Magic Christian on Blu-ray, Early Beatles image archive, Julie Newmar, Erno Goldfinger, Hitchcock tribute

Recent Ian Fleming posts on Spy Vibe: Erno Goldfinger, Ian Fleming Music Series links: Noel Coward, Whispering Jack Smith, Hawaiian Guitar, Joe Fingers Carr, new Ian Fleming Catalog, Jon Gilbert interview, Double 007 Designs, Bond audio book reissues, discovery of one of Ian Fleming's WWII Commandos, James Bond book covers, Ian Fleming's Playboy interview for Kindle, Spy Vibe's discovery of a rare Ian Fleming serialization, rare View to a Kill, Fleming's Royal gold typewriter, Ian Fleming's memorial address

AVANTI

Aston Martin. Bentley. James Bond may be famous for his sports cars, but the secret agent inherited the love of high-speed design from his literary father, Ian Fleming. My favorite Fleming auto is the Studebaker Avanti. In fact, I featured the car in my upcoming Miki Zero spy novel. The Avanti was designed in 1961 by none other than Raymond Loewy. One of the principal creators behind modern industrial design, he created the Coca-Cola bottle, Greyhound Bus, Lucky Strike package, PA Railroad locomotives, logos for Shell, Greyhound, Exxon, Nabisco, and the US Postal Service, and even the interiors of NASA's Saturn I, 5 and Skylab! Loewy was born on November 5th, 1893 in Paris and spent much of his life in the United States. Google paid tribute to him on their site today. Below are preliminary studies for the Avanti by Loewy. I like to imagine Ian Fleming pouring over these drawings with a rush of excitement. The 007 author famously replaced his second Ford Thunderbird with the Studebaker Avanti you see below, which he said was "an infinitely higher class of machine." (The model in my book is white). You can see more Avanti details on my Spy Vibe Novel image reference page on Pinterest here. Spy Vibe's Ian Fleming image archive here.

Recent Spy Vibe posts: Steranko S.H.I.E.L.D. Artist Editions, David Tennant's Ian Fleming audio books, The Prisoner & Captain Scarlet, HMV returns to Oxford st w Beatles promo, Diego Fortunato & Verner Panton,  Saturday Morning Cartoons, Assassination Bureau on DVD, new Young Bond series,  Peter Asher, Gerry Marsden tour, Elio Petri on Blu-ray, Sophia Loren, new Beatles BBC album, new Hercule Poirot novel, Beatles fall 2013 releases, A Hard Days Night cinematographer dies, Magic Christian on Blu-ray, Early Beatles image archive, Julie Newmar, Erno Goldfinger, Hitchcock tribute

Recent Ian Fleming posts on Spy Vibe: Erno Goldfinger, Ian Fleming Music Series links: Noel Coward, Whispering Jack Smith, Hawaiian Guitar, Joe Fingers Carr, new Ian Fleming Catalog, Jon Gilbert interview, Double 007 Designs, Bond audio book reissues, discovery of one of Ian Fleming's WWII Commandos, James Bond book covers, Ian Fleming's Playboy interview for Kindle, Spy Vibe's discovery of a rare Ian Fleming serialization, rare View to a Kill, Fleming's Royal gold typewriter, Ian Fleming's memorial address