Legendary automotive designer Peter Stevens has weighed into the controversy around some recent new-car arrivals including the Ferrari Luce and Jaguar Type 01 (below).

Stevens, whose career is highlighted by the McLaren F1 road car and includes work for Lamborghini and BMW, believes there is too much “fuss and misunderstanding” around some recent design work.

He has come to the defence of Ferrari, Jaguar and Porsche, while also highlighting work by Fiat and Renault and criticising some over-the-top contributions.

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“It almost looks like the attention span of some, but not all, Instagram and Facebook readers/viewers is about three or four weeks,” Stevens said in his own social media post.

The veteran British designer has singled out the digital commentary around a series of recent high-profile arrivals.

“The fuss and misunderstanding of the Ferrari Luce, followed by the fuss and misunderstanding of the Murray Group’s F1c solid fibreglass model, has subsided,”

he said.

“It has been replaced by the fuss and misunderstanding around the Jaguar Type 01, and now the new Porsche Mission S which may be petrol, hybrid or electric. Well four exhaust pipes might be a give-away, and the visible fan is certainly for engine cooling and not a minute increase in aerodynamic downforce.”

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Then he highlighted a lesser-known arrival.

“A quietly appearing proposal for a new Acura Nexera Vision from the charming Yasutake Tsuchida, maybe suggest(s) that ‘Less is More’, although I am not sure that the lower front end is clearly resolved.”

He also provided his thinking on some other lesser-known newcomers.

“At the very recent Paris Auto Show the Stellantis Group made a vibrant pitch for the fun side of the automotive market, looking to gain ground among the post truth, digital mayhem of the hypercar field,” he said.

“ I have to admit to naming the Spyker C8 Preliator XXV the ‘Spyker Vulgarion’. This C8 Preliator XXV surely represents what an impossible situation the high-performance car manufacturers have got themselves into.

“When excess is no longer enough, whether it be in horsepower, engine rpm, top speed, cornering force, or outlandish detailing, then more must be the answer. And it is not.”

Stevens moved to consideration of some other design work in Paris.

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“We were shown at the Paris Auto Show (well those who attended the show were shown) what a very different future might look like.

“The Citroen 2CV was fun but it was nowhere as pleasing as the little Nissan Escargo from 1989. The rippled bonnet surface is continued on to the scuttle panel and even on to the air vents, that is asking for trouble when building a low-cost car.

“The Fiat Multiplina (?) looks to be a fun looking car, apparently with batteries it is overweight, no surprise there. Whilst the Fiat Multiplay, (?) is a troubled soul.

“Having worked with Alpine Renault who were all about light weight, the guys at Renault seem to have forgotten that.

“New cars should not be about feeding off the looks of past models but more about learning from their philosophy,” he finished.