Embracing Visible Wear and Tear (Shark Battle Scars)

[AZFox]

TL;DR: A picture of a battle-scarred shark represents the Slate Design Team's approach toward visible wear. Highlighting rather than hiding battle scars is key to the Slate ethos.

A few weeks ago @Mad Mac posted something from ChatGPT that piqued my interest:

"The design inspiration for the Slate Truck's rugged aesthetic was, in part, an image of a "battle-scarred shark." Tisha Johnson, Slate's head of design, mentioned that this image of a resilient and fierce shark influenced the vehicle's look, aiming for a design that looks proud and capable despite potential "battle scars" of daily use."
Courtesy Gemini 2.5 Pro Preview

Apparently the Slate's exposed plastic's appearance is supposed to improve when it accumulates scuffs and scrapes, similar to the Battle Scars of a Resilient and Fierce Shark.

A web search found this:

Slate's design philosophy is equally unconventional. The company's head of design, Tisha Johnson, describes the inspiration as a "battle-scarred shark," a motif that embraces visible wear and tear rather than hiding it.​

and this:

The Verge visited the Slate design center recently, where the company featured an image of a big, gray shark, covered in scrapes and scars. “It looks like a shark that has definitely been in more than one brawl and clearly has come out ahead because it’s still swimming,” said Tisha Johnson. She is the head of design at Slate after spending a decade designing cars at Volvo. Highlighting rather than hiding battle scars is key to the Slate ethos, she said.​

​

Here’s the thing. That body cladding is gray. It’s gray on the outside. It’s gray on the inside. And if it gets scratched or gouged, it’s gray in the middle. So the basic Slate — known as the Blank Slate — is grey.[...]​

and this:

One of her team's guiding inspirations for the truck's rugged but design-forward look was, improbably, a picture of a battle-scarred shark.​

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"There was an image of, I think it was called the world's most beat-up shark that just happened to be floating around," said Johnson.​

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"And it was remarkable as far as how this shark had apparently taken some abuse, but it still looked proud. It still looked fierce. That image in particular was was very inspiring to us."​

I'm not sure what to think about this. It may be cool, who knows? To me the Slate will be utilitarian, not something delicate you're supposed to pamper.

I'd like to see an example of a battle-scarred Slate just to be sure about what Tisha Johnson means.

Also, would adding a wrap make much of a difference?

 

[Dorbiman]

I’m curious to see how it plays out. As I recall Saturn did some similar stuff with composite plastic panels. I’m not sure if Slate is doing anything different, but I could see it aging pretty well honestly

 

[midbay]

The Pontiac Fiero had coated composite plastic panels and looked okay. The uncoated grey plastic panels on early Honda Elements didn’t fare as well.

 

[Johnny-Longtorso]

My Sky is a sea of plastic - still looks great 17 years later

 

[Dorbiman]

My Sky is a sea of plastic - still looks great 17 years later

Always loved the Sky and the Solstice! Glad to see one being taken care of

 

[AZFox]

My Sky is a sea of plastic [...]

Are you sure that's comparable?

Question

What kind of plastic are the Saturn Sky's body panels made from?​

Answer

The Saturn Sky's body panels are not entirely made of plastic; however, it uses sheet molding compound (SMC) for the front and rear fascia and a small front quarter panel. The rest of the body is made of hydroformed steel, as Saturn was moving away from polymer body panels for the Sky model.​

 

[AZFox]

Wondering if there could be something similar to PPF (paint protection film) that could act as a transparent shield that would preserve the plastic.

 

[The Weatherman]

Wondering if there could be something similar to PPF (paint protection film) that could act as a transparent shield that would preserve the plastic.

There is a clear Matt version of PPF that a lot people have used to keep the original color, but make it have Matt finish look.

That might be an option.

 

[Luxrage]

I’m curious to see how it plays out. As I recall Saturn did some similar stuff with composite plastic panels. I’m not sure if Slate is doing anything different, but I could see it aging pretty well honestly

I am sure the slate's will be thicker, and we've had 20 years of progress in plastics, but I remember a few Saturns having panels that 'shattered' or had huge cracks develop when I lived in Chicago. Usually this happened in the very cold months.

I know two Fiero owners that haven't had this issue, and one's a Texas car where the plastic should be brittling up from UV damage. The only benefit the Element, and the other grey-black plastic cars have is that you can readily respray them with SEM or trim/bumper paint. Easy to color match black.

My big concern is that since the panels are un-covered, are we going to see the crazy injection-molding flow 'banding' pattern that plagued mid-00s black/grey plastics after a few years of harsh sun exposure? This second picture is one I took. There's a minivan around here with blue plastic bumpers and they have faded so unevenly it's almost artistic.

 

[SichuanHot]

I feel much more confident in durability because the panels are plastic. There's less concern about body panels rusting if they get scratched and plastic generally rebounds and has self healing properties.

 

[AZFox]

Is the plain-gray finish matte, not glossy? Apparently so if Slate Auto's recent promotional video is any indication.

Keeping a matte plastic finish looking factory-fresh for years could be a challenge.

Can clear protective film be successfully applied to a matte surface? (Not saying I would... just wondering.)

 

[bartflossom]

I just sold my Solstice of 19 years. The body panels of it and the Saturn Sky are hydro-formed metal panels. The hydroforming was done by a Canadian company and the slowness of the process was the main reason they could only crank out at best about 25K a year. They could have sold a LOT more but were originally thinking it would only sell about half as many as Miatas. Hydroforming was chosen because it allows you to easily make panels with lots of compound curves. Both cars were made on the same assembly line in Delaware.