AutoDesignO, this year in partnership with MPG, held XPLORE West Coast Design on September 1st. The event was held at Bahia Corinthian Yacht Club in Newport Beach and featured three one-on-one interview sessions with various designers as well as cars on display from Mazda and Rezvani Motors, plus a virtual reality live demo from Nurulize.
Causing a stir at XPLORE was the Rezvani Beast. Ferris Rezvani, President and CEO of Rezvani Motors says, “We set out to create the lightest, highest performance enthusiasts car for around $150,000. The Rezvani Beast is made of all carbon fiber, weighs in at 1,700 lbs and delivers 500 HP.” The Beast is now in production and each car is built to order (Build time takes approximately 12 weeks). Each Beast is American made and assembled in Orange County, CA. (more photos available here)
Mazda, one of XPLORE’s sponsors, had a presence in both the one-on-one design discussions at the event, as well as in the vehicles on display. Mazda auto designer, Julien Montousse*, was the first featured speaker of the afternoon and on display were the 2016 Mazda MX-5 Miata Club, 2016 Mazda CX-3 and 2014 Mazda6 Ceramic SEMA concept. With the event’s focus on design, it was only appropriate to show the latest version of Mazda’s iconic Miata, as well as the ceramic concept that was hand painted with thin grey lines to “mimic the linear frequency patterns found on the likes of couture dresses and flowing fabrics” alongside fashions by Charmaine Joie Couture.
photo on left, Julien Montousse by Jan Wagner, photo below by Aremis Studios for Charmaine Joie Couture.
Featured in the second moderated discussion of the afternoon, plus providing on-site live demos was Philip Lunn, CEO of nurulize, a sponsor of the event and a company with the mission “to create disruptive applications for the emerging virtual reality revolution.” Mr. Lunn “is driven by a passion for the democratization of 3D graphics and the belief that VR will fundamentally change the way we work with computers.” Event attendees were able to demo several virtual reality experiences, including a mock auto design review and the company’s flagship Nu Reality Desert Home.
pictured above, Philip Lunn explains the demo to MPG members Chris Woodyard and David Hillburn
pictured below, David Hillburn participates in the virtual reality experience by nurulize. photos by Carrie Kim
For more photos of the event, please visit the photo album, featuring images from Jan Wagner, Carrie Kim and Aremis Studios. For questions about content, sponsorship or further details on the event, contact John Grafman, at john@autodesigno.com.
*Julien Montousse was named Mazda North American Operations Design Director after the event. See press release.
