Munich. When the BMW M8 GTE broke cover last year, it was
celebrated for its innovative design that embraced both the
motorsport and road car heritage of BMW, while making a clear
statement of modernity. Speaking in an interview, Michael Scully,
Head of Design BMW Motorsport,
and
the man behind the aesthetics of the latest Le Mans
challenger, explains how the BMW M8 GTE’s looks came to life.
Mr. Scully, the BMW M8 GTE has been built to compete in the
toughest endurance races around the globe. Why do you think the look
of the car is important?
Michael Scully: “When a car like the BMW M8 GTE debuts publically
before a flagship production car such as the BMW 8 Series, the
continuity of performance and design character are of heightened
importance because the race car plays such an active role in helping
to shape and communicate the essence of the new BMW 8 Series.
Race cars are typically known to be functionally-driven objects, and
I love when a vehicle is so focused: they have an innate, authentic
expression of what they do. That visual communication is more
subjective than a stopwatch however, and as a designer, I’m interested
in both the absolute performance of the vehicle, and what character
its shape and graphics communicate. Having synergies between those
elements is sometimes highly challenging, but it’s also what I find
most rewarding in design.”
As a designer, does this balance of function and emotion bring
compromise or structure?
Scully: “It’s a two-way street. The criteria of functional
requirements help structure the design process and give us something
to respond to. Trying to find innovative, clever solutions in response
to that framework is, for me, what being a designer is all about.
Without those constraints, the creative process could be considered to
be solely an artistic thing: essentially producing sculpture, for
example. Uniting the essential BMW design DNA with the functional and
regulatory requirements in the development process is for me, where
the creative dynamic really begins.”
In which way does design show the character of a car? And what
is the character of the BMW M8 GTE?
Scully: “I think
we have created a focused, determined expression with the BMW M8 GTE.
The car has a formidable presence, and this is partly due to its
essential proportions sourced from the production car: It has the
classic two-box proportion with long hood, and visual emphasis of mass
on the rear wheels which make it, fundamentally, a sports car. As we
added nearly 100mm to each side of the car, and with its explicit
aerodynamic elements, the car overtly conveys its intent to win races.
At the front of the car, we’ve taken the opportunity to pronounce the
internal ducting of the kidneys with a bold colour application, and
celebrate the purpose-driven aerodynamic shapes. Combined with the
intense, forward-focused headlights and endurance racing-specific
corner lights, the car has a highly determined expression… something
that I feel is relevant to the purpose of the car.”
Your grandfather was an influential architecture historian. Do
you think this is a co-incidence or do you believe you can inherit
the language of shape and design?
Scully: “My Granddad taught me that there is added significance when
a building or an object acknowledges its context, and that designing
in a situational vacuum is fruitless. An object can add positively to
the human experience if conceived with an awareness of its
surroundings. Sometimes this connection can be accomplished by
directly referencing that environment; for example a house on a
mountain range with the roofline gesturing to the mountains’ specific
slopes, or sometimes by blatantly disavowing the existing surroundings
to provoke a larger dialog. Both can be valuable depending on the
specific instance, but making those deeper connections is a designer’s
onus. I think that’s where I learned about finding relevance, meaning,
and impact in an object or image.”
So, if the mountain range is the context for the building, the
circuit is the context for the race car?
Scully: “Exactly. The context of a race car is the competitive arena.
I’m captivated by objects that are built for competition use because
they look, and are, so purposeful. As a result, they happen to send a
very clear, visceral message of their intent. For the BMW M8 GTE to
be relevant in this context, modern, bold, and impactful shapes and
graphics were in order, and I think the car succeeds in carrying those
attributes forward to the world’s stage.”
What are the other challenges for a car race designer?
Scully: “At BMW Design we use precise lines in
conjunction with nuanced surfaces to achieve an interplay between the
two, and lend a visual structure to the shape of the car. The
regulations for the BMW M8 GTE however, forbid any kind of crisp lines
being added to the surfaces; in fact, they require a minimum of a 50mm
radius to any surface addition in many areas. This tends to
necessitate very clunky, albeit legal shapes. With this project we
were continuously looking for ways of maintaining the integrity,
richness, and precision of the BMW 8 Series production car design,
while also abiding by the regulations, and achieving our aerodynamic
and packaging targets. One of the ways we have accomplished this is
with inlets and outlets for the air in the bodywork: they perform
critical functions, and also give a precision and structure back to
the shape that could otherwise get a bit heavy.”
How did the relationship with your BMW 8 Series colleagues
work?
Scully: “BMW Design’s leadership has obviously had a very active hand
in the BMW 8 Series, and that also includes the GTE variant.
Additionally, the exterior designer of the BMW Concept 8 Series is a
good friend and co-worker of mine: understanding where he was coming
from thematically was really helpful in maintaining continuity between
the cars. We also had the chance to directly exchange ideas for the
GTE, so in that sense it was a natural extension of the BMW 8 Series lineage.
I see race cars and production cars at the BMW Group as having a
two-way relationship: A lot of manufacturers promote how their race
cars inform their production cars, and we do that too, but at BMW our
production and concept cars also inform our race cars. And I think
that’s what gives an authenticity to each of them.”
Do you have an example of that two-way relationship?
Scully: “On the mirrors of the BMW M8 GTE, I was striving throughout
the development process to get the iconic BMW ‘M hook’ that points
back towards the centreline of the car integrated into the main
housing of the mirror. It’s an element of our M production cars that
really resonates with BMW purists. From my initial sketch with an
underslung, cantilevered support, and in iterative collaboration with
the aerodynamicists, we found some notable functional benefits from
the shape of the mirror, particularly in the highly sculpted base:
it’s something that really does positively affect the aerodynamic flow
regime down the side of the car. So with the mirrors we have a
relationship where the race car’s functionality is improved, but the
fundamental design vocabulary and direction is inspired from the
production cars.”
What are your favourite parts of the BMW M8 GTE and why?
Scully: “As I mentioned, I’m proud of the mirrors because they have
an embedded aerodynamic function, carry the M iconography, and have a
modern, purposeful expression. I also really like the front kidneys
with their exposed interior surfaces for the specific care and feeding
requirements of the race car. The kidneys evoke the history of BMW
with the forward-leaning shark nose, and by opening them up with
exposed internals, we reference that heritage in an entirely modern way.”
To sum it all up: Where does the BMW M8 GTE rank compared to
the other BMW race cars you have worked on?
Scully: “The BMW M8 GTE is truly distilled down to its essence. It is
an efficient, competitive machine. It has a highly defined purpose,
and a distinct, dynamic persona. For me, it’s the most elemental,
determined car that we have ever built.”