“At that point all the designers were transportation designers,” Clarke observed. “This time we took a team approach where there were transportation designers, entertainment designers, environmental design, product design and graphic design. That was a good thing, but also maybe a bad thing as far as the car went.

“What I noticed - and in later discussions with the faculty they confirmed that they had seen it before - is that the entertainment and environmental designers, for whatever reason, influenced the rest of the designers. It seemed that the focus came off the car. Even 'though we told them that the car was the primary project, it became secondary.

“The point we made to the students - and none of them really achieved it - is that what I feel we truly need is an iconic design that people can say: There's no question, that's an Indy car, and it's uniquely different than any other open-wheel car. With everything we have today, the lay person can't tell the difference between a Champ car, an Indy car, or Formula 1 car, or any other kind of car. Really, all open-wheel cars have all looked about the same since the mid-seventies.”

Clarke was equally disappointed when he discussed his concept with Nick Wirth of Wirth Research who are involved in the development of the Acura ALMS car.

To read the rest of this Gordon Kirby column and other 'The Way It Is' columns go to www.gordonkirby.com