Star Wars: 10 Secrets Behind X-Wings You Need To Know
5. More Thought Was Put Into The X-Wing Than You Would Imagine
The original X-Wing model had little resemblance to the finished product save for the wings and nose-shaped front. George Lucas felt like this design didn't work since it looked too slick. He wanted Star Wars to be a "used universe" so everything appeared worn down by time and usage. As a result, clothes, equipment, and vehicles are intentionally made grimy, chipped, and dirty.
To avoid the X-Wing from coming across as a generic spaceship, a Dragster car was used for the vehicle's body. The starfighter's design was based on an early 1960s Formula 1 car to accentuate its authenticity even further. (Lucas may have gotten this idea while editing and shooting the opening shot of the Formula 1 movie, Grand Prix in 1966.)
To highlight realism further, Lucas wanted the ships to look like they were riveted and assembled together, with visibly bulky engines and motors poking out of them. Even though the segments that were painted or glued on were tiny, some of them less than a millimetre, details like this helped make the vehicles look far more realistic.