Turning pictures into paintings or sculptures is nothing new, but what about turning an Instagram post into a life-size work of art? Audi has decided to do just that, with the help of famous automotive designer Camilo Pardo.
Most famous for his role as the chief designer on the 2005-2006 Ford GT project, Pardo now spends his time creating unique pieces at his studios in Detroit and Los Angeles. His automotive design career was inspired by a fascination with ’60s- and ’70s-era sports cars. After graduating from the Detroit Center for Creative Studies in 1985, he immediately went to work at Ford’s Dearborn Design Center. Before the GT project, Pardo helped create vehicles at Ford’s Italy and German studios. Though Pardo has since expanded his work to other fine art segments, he has hosted Detroit Auto Designers’ Night at his studio for the last 15 years.
Audi asked the designer to do something a bit different than his normal routine — turn five Audi Instagrams into large, vibrant paintings. As an independent artist, Pardo has never worked in partnership with a brand, so this is not an occasion that’s likely to be repeated.
In this short clip, Pardo describes his appreciation for Audi styling, which he says “creates a very exciting proportion and stance.” We see Pardo slowly transform a cherry red Audi Quattro from an Instagram into a stunning painting — what Pardo calls taking a social media post to the “next gear.” Besides the uniqueness of the project, Pardo says he was attracted to Audi’s proposal for its exposure of his craft.
Audi says Pardo will bring five Instagram posts to life this holiday season but if you were hoping to be one of these lucky few, you may be disappointed — printed pieces of paper shown briefly in the clip suggest Pardo’s posts have already been selected.
BYD has launched the third-generation Qin Plus DM-i in China, and the first thing that caught my eye is its price. According to CarNewsChina, the plug-in hybrid sedan starts at 79,900 yuan, which is about $11,980. That’s an incredibly low price for a brand-new car, especially by US standards.
What’s even more impressive is the range. The Qin Plus DM-i can drive up to 137 miles on electricity alone, which should cover most people’s daily commutes without using a drop of gas. Once the battery runs out, the 1.5-liter engine takes over. Thanks to its 17-gallon tank and roughly 91 mpg with a drained battery, the combined range reaches up to 1,423 miles.
Apple won the PC market’s worst quarter, but that’s not the entire story. It won the race by stumbling less than everyone else.
PC makers shipped just 57 million computers worldwide in Q3, which might look good, but it’s a 21% year-over-year plunge (via Counterpoint Research). And despite Apple’s Mac shipments falling by 11%, to 5.6 million, its market share rose from 8.7% to 9.8%. How did that happen?
Update (October 22 23:54 PT): In response to our query, GM clarified that offline recording support is already available on eligible vehicles. Like Tesla's Sentry Mode, it requires owners to connect a USB drive to save incident recordings, which can be viewed on the vehicle's infotainment screen. The upcoming Connected Cameras feature will build on this by giving owners remote access to these recordings via the revamped OnStar app, allowing them to check footage without walking out to their car.
General Motors has announced plans to add a new Connected Cameras feature to its OnStar service starting next year, giving drivers a way to monitor parked vehicles remotely and capture footage of certain incidents.