Kia Sculpts Full-Size EV4 GT From Tennis Court Clay for Rafael Nadal

Designers mixed industrial modeling clay with earth taken from the courts where Rafael Nadal won his titles and shaped the blend into a full-size Kia EV4 GT that now sits at his tennis academy in Mallorca. Sources for the court clay include the surfaces in Monte Carlo, Rome, Madrid and Roland-Garros in Paris, places that produced 63 of his singles titles and the record 14 French Open victories that earned him the King of Clay name.

The sculpture’s body is outlined in white tape, which also serves as the boundary marks for a tennis court, with the design mirroring the game’s regulations. Additional text on the artwork commemorates Rafa Nadal’s 50 consecutive clay-court wins and five seasons as the top-ranked player. His autograph is tucked in the rear. The thing about this sculpture is that, although being based on a production car, it has been stripped of all but its body. There is no cabin, seats, or drivetrain, therefore it is a stationary piece that cannot be driven off the showroom floor.

Some have pointed out that it is mounted on production-style wheels and tires, which makes it much easier for the crew to get it into position than a standard clay model. Of course, there’s the clay. That still plays an important role in automotive development, particularly in the early phases. A digital tool can’t provide the same sense of surface tension or reflections, and sometimes you simply want to reach out and grip the material to make it work better. In this case, the standard modelling clay was combined with the hefty substance used for tennis courts, giving the finished piece a real link to the surface Nadal competed on.

It was presented at the Rafa Nadal Academy in Manacor, where a large group gathered to pass it on to the man himself. Kia Spain has sponsored Nadal since 2004, the year before he won his first Grand Slam, and he has served as the brand’s global ambassador since 2006. He eventually resigned from professional tennis last year, after spending 209 weeks atop the global rankings. He stated that receiving such an tribute for a creation built from the very materials with which he made a name for himself was extremely special, and it served as a reminder of the years he’d spent working with the company.

The sculpture is based on a dual-motor EV4 GT. That model is a hatchback with 292 horsepower and an 81.4 kWh battery; however, those are not the specifications for the clay version. Kia has created a series of short films that document the entire process of working on the artwork, from shaping it to the time Nadal approached it. The entire thing ends up turning something that is simply a normal element of automotive design into a permanent record of Nadal’s incredible time on the courts and all of his years working with Kia.
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