December 30, 2004

BELL DESIGNER TAKES THIRD IN MOTOR TREND DESIGN CONTEST

SANTA CRUZ, Calif. - Bell Sports Industrial Designer Hilgard Muller took third place in the 2004 Motor Trend International Design Contest with his entry, the Aegis, a car that reflects both the heritage and future of the Bell brand. Muller's submission was one of more than 2100 entries from 80 countries in the Professional Design category.

With the theme "Brand it Your Way," contest organizers sought automotive design entries that reflect the non-automotive brand of the entrant's choice. Of the five finalists, Muller, who has created such helmets as the Bell Sweep and Metro, was the only designer to work for the brand he was designing his entry around. Category winner Steve Cook's sport utility entry was based on the Victorinox Swiss Army knife brand and runner-up Magnus Gustafsson's airplane-like design was Lockheed Martin branded.

"All the finalists in the contest had amazing designs and I was really happy to be among them," said Muller. "It was a great exercise to distill the brand down to its essentials and then create something completely different based on those attributes."

Muller relied on Bell's 50 year heritage for many of the car's details--the Aegis' wheels reflect the original Cragar mag that was designed by Bell founder Roy Richter, as do the "velocity stacks" behind the driver that are reminiscent of the much revered race cars Richter built in the '50's and '60's.

Bicycle helmet construction is also reflected in the design as the car's inner/outer skeleton mimics the reinforcing cage used in Bell bike helmets to add strength. The car's body panels are made of carbon fiber and polycarbonate that is bonded to expanded polystyrene (EPS) foam using the Fusion In-Mold process that Bell pioneered for bicycle helmets. Styling cues are also borrowed from bike helmets as design lines of Bell's Sweep are readily apparent in the car's shape.

Muller spent more than 200 hours designing the car and building a scale model that Bell displayed in their booth at the Interbike trade show. The car was also on display at the California International Automobile Show (CAIS) in Anaheim, Calif. where the final judging took place.