Conceptually speaking, we love the autonomous car. It frees us up to snooze, party, and get some danger-free highway nooky. It also removes us from the position of having to make moral decisions behind the wheel, which we support.
On the other hand, we’re not so keen on the design direction that most autonomous cars are taking. For instance, we present the Google Self-Driving Car. It is dainty, petite, with a surprised expression and an overall air that could be described, in the progression of automotive design, as prepubescent.
And that’s why we’re relieved that Google has taken a moment to adorn the little white and beige cars with a splash of color. Today they announced the dopily-named “Paint the Town” project, for which Google tapped artists in Austin, Texas, and hometown Mountain View, California, and asked them to create community-oriented pieces that fit on the prototype’s door panels.
The results? Well, the Andy Warhol Art Car this ain’t. But there are some standouts. In particular, we love Kerry Brandau’s dreamy painting of the Santa Cruz boardwalk and Immaculada de Castillo Ditzel’s lovely poppy panorama.
