Creation was a wonderful thing, and inspiration was something you stumbled upon, not something you could force.
Take a serial novelist, for example. At first, they might begin a story because of one brilliant idea. But after writing three to five hundred thousand words, their inspiration and passion might start to dry up. The whole process would become painful, and they would have to search for a new spark to keep a long-running story alive.
An outstanding sports car designer was much the same. They were always searching for inspiration, always chasing that sudden flash of brilliance that could appear in a single moment.
As a sports car enthusiast, Ethan had naturally imagined designing a car of his own. He had always liked drawing, and he had once been fairly good at it. But in his previous life, designing a sports car had felt completely out of reach, so he had never seriously tried. Now, at last, the opportunity was right in front of him.
With a pencil in hand and an eraser beside him, Ethan focused completely on the piece of cardboard in front of him.
The middle-aged man and the older man stared intently at the board as well. As the outline of the car took shape stroke by stroke, their interest in Ethan's design grew stronger and stronger.
Eva did not know much about cars, but she was fascinated by Ethan's concentration.
For a while, the only sound in the room was the soft scrape of pencil against cardboard. Ethan's drawing skills were only average now, so he kept sketching, erasing, and redrawing. The entire process lasted for more than an hour.
By the time he finished, Ethan felt as though all his strength had been drained from him. He was exhausted, but his mind was incredibly excited. Looking at the design he had drawn, he realized that the car combined countless classic elements from the sports cars he had seen in his previous life.
For the headlights, he had borrowed the aggressive, commanding look of the Audi R8. But he made the front of the car tougher and more muscular without letting it become too angular, allowing it to flow naturally into the roofline. As for the front design, aside from keeping the Audi R8's most creative and imposing intake grille, he also added elements from several other classic luxury sports cars.
The curve of the roof was elegant, blending seamlessly with the front of the car. The lines were clean and beautiful to look at. At the same time, Ethan gave it a full carbon-fiber roof, making the entire upper section of the car even more visually striking.
The lines above the wheel arches were full of movement. Together with the side blade lines behind the doors, they connected the front, side, and rear of the car perfectly. To create the kind of sports car presence he wanted, Ethan chose a mid-engine layout, pushing the driver's seat farther forward and making the whole structure feel compact and tense, like a lion ready to pounce.
Behind the left and right doors, between the wheel arches and the roof, were large side air intakes. Ethan had taken inspiration for these from several sports car designs he loved, giving the entire vehicle a look that felt distinctive, modern, and full of personality.
The rear of the car was just as creative. In particular, Ethan placed two powerful exhaust grilles at the back, echoing the design of the front. Combined with the muscular rear end, they pushed the car's character to another level.
Just as Ethan had said earlier, what he wanted in a sports car was strength, presence, dominance, style, and individuality. This design blended many of the classic sports car elements he had seen in his previous life, keeping the best parts and discarding what did not fit. The result matched almost perfectly with the image he had described.
But beyond its toughness and personality, the design also retained a unique sense of romance and elegance. Because of that, one could imagine it appealing not only to men, but also to countless women.
The three people around him stared at the drawing board in front of Ethan, immediately captivated by this model that felt powerful, majestic, and intimidating, yet still made people fall in love with it at first sight.
"The body design is practically a work of art. The engine is mid-mounted, while the intake and exhaust layout at the front and rear fully considers the cooling needs of a high-performance sports car," the older man murmured as he studied the drawing.
The middle-aged man pointed at the two large side air intakes behind the doors and could not stop praising them.
"This is absolutely brilliant. It blends perfectly with the car as a whole. The design is dynamic and full of personality, but it's also highly functional. Other than incredible, I really can't think of another way to describe it."
The two men continued studying Ethan's design, while Ethan himself felt a little embarrassed. In reality, his design was mostly copied from classic sports cars he had seen in his previous life. He had simply fused together the elements he liked most. The only regret was that he had never studied sports car design, so he had no idea whether such a design was actually practical.
Eva looked at Ethan with admiration. The man in front of her seemed full of mystery, as if there was no end to what he could do. He had previously guided her in choosing acting roles, helping her become a popular Hollywood star. Now, he could even design sports cars, leaving these two seasoned car enthusiasts praising him without restraint.
Just how many talents was he still hiding?
"By the way, the doors on this car are scissor doors, right?" the middle-aged man suddenly asked, as if something had just occurred to him.
Ethan immediately nodded. "I love scissor doors. That design is pure genius."
Hearing that, the older man chuckled with a trace of pride, but soon frowned.
"I'm afraid scissor doors may be difficult to apply to this body shape. We'd have to build a model before we could know for sure."
After hearing this, the middle-aged man studied the sketch for a while, then nodded in agreement. At the same time, he offered many of his own suggestions and began modifying the design, all of them involving highly professional details.
Ethan was only an amateur. His design was simply a collection of classic elements from various cars blended together, with little regard for practicality or technical principles. Naturally, it had plenty of amateur mistakes.
After the middle-aged man and the older man discussed and revised the design again and again, they finally reached a version even they were satisfied with. Only then did the middle-aged man begin redrawing the sketch from scratch.
Watching him draw with such confidence and precision, Ethan could tell that his skills were excellent. The man quickly outlined the car's appearance while also writing down many details, specifications, and points that needed attention along the side.
"Uh... you wouldn't happen to be a professional sports car designer, would you?" Ethan asked awkwardly.
The two men in front of him felt far too professional. They had even taken tires, weight distribution, body length, width, height, and other factors into consideration. Every part of their drawing was based on those practical details.
The car they drew was much cleaner than Ethan's version. After all, Ethan's sketch had been modified several times, and the middle-aged man's drawing skills were far better than his. Naturally, the final model looked smoother and more pleasing to the eye.
"Hehe. What do you think?" the older man asked, suddenly sounding like a mischievous child.
Ethan shook his head. He did not like guessing games.
"By the way, sir, you should give this car a name." The middle-aged man handed him the pencil.
Ethan thought for a moment, took the pencil, and wrote "Red Rebels" on the drawing.
He guessed that these two were probably designers of some kind. They must have thought his sketch was interesting and wanted to take it back for research.
As for the original, Ethan had already put it away.
Although the sketch drawn by the middle-aged man looked better, Ethan still preferred his own version. After all, that was something he had drawn himself.
After Ethan and Eva left, the older man smiled and asked the middle-aged man, "Fabrizio, what do you think of this design?"
"A stroke of genius, Uncle Marcello!"
"You think it was a stroke of genius?" the older man asked again.
"Wasn't it?"
The older man looked outside with a smile. Ethan and Eva were walking farther and farther away, their figures gradually blurring in the distance.
"This is a design he has clearly been thinking about for a long time. It's rough, and he's obviously never received professional training, but he has real talent in this field. At the very least, I don't think this design was an accident. More than that, when I look at it, I always feel as if there's still something unfinished hidden inside it."
"Then perhaps we should keep him, Uncle Marcello," the middle-aged man suggested with a smile.
There were not many sports car designers in the world who could receive such high praise from the older man. Fabrizio felt that the young man who had just left must truly have great talent in this area. His company was currently struggling with a lack of fresh creativity. If they could really find the older man's successor, that would be wonderful.
"Didn't you get his address and phone number?" the older man asked in surprise.
The middle-aged man stared at him. "You didn't mention it. Besides, I was busy redrawing the design sketch just now. I was completely absorbed."
The older man immediately sighed.
Manchester was a large city, and there were many people here who could afford a Lamborghini. Finding one particular young man would be easier said than done.
"Ahem."
The sales manager, Jack, who had clearly been listening from beginning to end, finally spoke up.
"Mr. Gandini, I don't think you really follow football, do you?"
The older man and the middle-aged man both turned to look at the sales manager. Jack immediately felt a wave of pressure come over him.
"Hehe. The gentleman who was just here is the owner of New Manchester United Football Club, right here in Manchester. It's said that he owns several businesses in the United States and has a net worth in the hundreds of millions. I'm afraid our company couldn't afford to hire him!" Jack said, not even daring to breathe too loudly in front of these two highly respected design masters.
"A football club owner?"
"A net worth in the hundreds of millions?"
The older man and the middle-aged man both exclaimed in shock.
"This is getting interesting. Hey, your name is..." The older man smiled and pointed at the sales manager.
"Jack, Mr. Gandini," the sales manager reminded him respectfully.
"Oh, right. Jack, make the arrangements. I want to stay here for a while. Also, prepare the things I need. I want to build a model as soon as possible. Once the model is ready, we'll go and have a proper talk with him," the older man said with a smile.
(To be continued.)