Auto Design

From Giancarlo Perini.

Sergio Pininfarina, a truly honourable member “for life” of the Italian Senate and a legendary figure of the Italian design and sports cars history has passed away last night (July 4th, 2012) at his home in Torino. He was 85.

Sergio Pininfarina was not elected Senator but was appointed, just like current Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti, for his merits by the president of the Italian republic. In 2005.

Through his crystal clear life and career Sen. Pininfarina was elected member of the European Parliament and awarded the most prestigious awards by nations around the world, such as

The French Légion d’Honneur, Honorary Royal Designer for Industry, Foreign member of the Swedish Royal Academy of Engineering science and Automotive Hall of Fame in Dearborn, Michigan (2007) and Geneva (2008), but he was primarily the leader of the Italian design temple established by his father Pinin Farina and known world-wide with the Pininfarina name.

But he primarily was known and revered for his leadership in Italian design, following in the footsteps of his father, Pinin Farina, who established the Pininfarina name worldwide and helped make Italy synonymous with automotive styling leadership.

With him, Italian design and Italy loose a real Maestro.

When Pinin Farina reached a life-long co-operation agreement with Enzo Ferrari, it was his son Sergio who was appointed to ensure the success of the new alliance. Sergio Pininfarina delivered much more than that and today the Ferrari-Pininfarina is seen as a unique brand association worldwide.

Not a designer himself but quite a creative entrepreneur with a strong will and the elegance of a gentleman, he brought his company to the highest peak in the automotive design and coach-building business. He signed off most of the greatest Ferrari successes, built many successful sport cars for the carmakers around the world and created iconic design for Alfa Romeo, Cadillac, Fiat, Lancia, Peugeot and Rolls-Royce.

Under his direction Pininfarina designers created dream cars such as the Ferrari Modulo and the Ferrari Dino 206 C Competizione, and turned dreams into reality with the Alfa Romeo Spider and Duetto, the Fiar 124 Spider, a number of Peugeots, from the 403 to the 406 through the 504 and the 205; as well as their coupé and cabriolet derivatives. The Ferrari is a story apart. In more than half a century Pininfarina has created superlative sports cars that are legendary.

“An exceptional person, who connected his name indissolubly with our history and our success,” Ferrari Chairman Luca di Montezemolo said in a  public statement, adding: “Sergio was one of the most important advocates of ‘Made in Italy’ all over the world, a man who gave Italy credibility and splendor.

“Calling his relation with Ferrari legendary is not enough. First with Enzo (Ferrari) and then with me, he planned some of the most iconic models, such as the Testarossa or the Enzo, just to name two.”

Harald Wester, CEO of Maserati, says Sergio Pininfarina, who oversaw design of the current Quattroporte in 2003 “was the force behind the return of the Pininfarina design on contemporary Maseratis. His place in automotive history is assured and huge.”

Giancarlo Perini (c)

After proposing a series of concepts and teasers, Mini is now ready to launch on the market its sixth member of its range: the Mini Roadster. The charming kid is the first open-top two-seater in the brand history and to so me extent it links to the British tradition of open sports cars, with a light and simple manual soft-top roof. Read the rest of this entry »

By Giancarlo Perini ©

BMW Board of Directors,  managers and employees have presented their all-new 3 series limousine to the press gathered in Munich for an event that has been broadcasted on line for all car enthusiasts, in sometwhat retoric yet appropriate cerimony celebrating the BMW team at large and the Munich factory that produce the company most iconic and profitable range.

Read the rest of this entry »

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Combining creativity with complete know-how and modern technology.

I would like to share with you this report recently published in Japan by Car Styling magazine. A special issue dedicated to the Italian Designers and “Carrozzeria”.

Within the territories of one-man-design-show, resisting in and around Torino, Paolo Martin keeps his creativity and design work running in many directions. As usual.  His hairs are whiter than ever but his genius is evergreen, just as it is the case for secluded Marcelo Gandini and public-persona Giorgetto Giugiaro.

He is one of the very few talents left that has a complete understanding of car design and body construction. One of the few men who can tackle any aspect of the process. As such he is a very precious heritage of the traditional art of coach building.

It is for this reason that he regrets that he receives less commission from the car, yacht and motorcycle industry these days of decline. He still has plenty of good ideas that could be turned into a successful project. Even more relevant he regrets he has few chances of passing over to the young generations his past experience, just as Maestro Giovanni Michelotti did with him when he was 16 years old.

On the other side, he is happy to take commissions from private investors and enthusiasts. He loves the human relations with them and the exchange of cultural input, be it from the Arabian Peninsula, the Far East or the Americas.

On the projects he develops for private customers he must keep the secret, unless authorized by his patron.

Recently, he was allowed to release some interesting design works he developed in the past couple of years.

Three projects he had a lot of fun to work with.

One for a multifunctional “Desert Running Suite” that combines a carry-on tent of some 100 square meters blossoming from a sort of very large 6×6 all-road heavy-duty vehicle carrying a small living room with all comfort and all the most sophisticated equipment that tycoons, VIP, government officials may want or need to take with them in the desert for a mission, a week-end excursion or a party.

One derivative also considers a sort of moving “ceremony hall on wheels for the desert”.

A sophisticated mechanism develops the huge tent in minutes and displays solar cell panels providing plenty of energy for the satellite communication centre and other amenities. The execution of the vehicle has been put on hold after the recent turmoil in Nord Africa.

The second project is a typical “coachbuilder” sportcar that is clearly inspired to the popular De Tomaso mid-engined V8 two-seater that the new “De Tomaso” company is to unveil at the Los Angeles auto show later this year. His project has not been commissioned by the company but by a private collector who was eager to see what could done at this time to revive the myth of the affordable supercar and have one built for himself.

The layout, dimensions and proportions are very modern and yet there is the de Tomaso DNA in this car.

This second project shows how Paolo Martin has kept up with the CAD and virtual modelling technologies and indeed he has developed the “2 Posti Sportiva 2012” in few weeks on his PC with all the technicalities integrated into the project and the basic data for quick and economical milling.

Probably Paolo Martin is the only star designer who emerged in the great old times (the 60ies and 70ies) of Italian coachbuilding and has developed his skill to confirm and visualize his design ideas through contemeporary virtual technology.

See his renderings for self-speaking evidence. Obviously we need not to comment on his own, very elegant and dynamic design for a modern mid-engined sport car.

We would simply add that we would love to see it in the real world.

We can show also a third project that Paolo Martin has developed on his own after the instigation of a journalist who asked him how he would design the Modulo of the third millennium.

In no time Martin penned what he calls the “Modulo Enzo”. A design that is absolutely up to the mythical name of “Modulo” and of Ferrari. Again, the project is not just a beautiful rendering created on a PC but a realistic vision (though futuristic, like he Modulo) of a super Ferrari. The car is feasible, with few concessions, and recently a famous connoisseur and collector has shown interest in having one built for himself.

That would certainly be a dream of millions enthusiasts coming true and a fantastic promotional vehicle for a high-tech company.

End of this report by Giancarlo Perini ©.

by Giancarlo Perini (c)

Now I realise I have made a mistake to give up a visit to China for Auto Shanghai 2011. At least I would have been able to see the Volvo Concept Universe and offer you my opinion. Read the rest of this entry »

From Giancarlo Perini ©

Today Volkswagen has eventually released the first official pictures of its third generation Beetle. The official images show that the grand child has grown up and aims at developing a personality of its own, on line with the tune of the mature-internet generation. Read the rest of this entry »

By Giancarlo Perini ©

The 2011 Auto Shanghai motor show, opening in a week time, will not be business as usual. Indeed it will mark a new era of the entire world car industry, the one steered by the Chinese market and industry. China is the biggest car market, and the one that is growing faster worldwide. The leading premium brands are betting on for most of their growth in the decade. Read the rest of this entry »

By Giancarlo Perini ©

Can you concentrate all the luxury of a most aristocratic Rolls-Royce into a compact Mini?

Probably not. Yet you can go a very long way with the help of the Rolls-Royce design team led by Ian Camerun. Just look at the very plush and British interior of the Mini Inspired by Goodwood to be unveiled for the first time at Auto Shanghai next week and you may agree that a compact city car can be very seriously luxurious, filled with the finest material, soft leather and quite a bit of traditional walnut veneer. Read the rest of this entry »

Few days after the teasing rendering, here is the official information on the roadster Codatronca Monza roadster soon to be on the stage of the Top Marques in Montecarlo. Obviously this is not an April Fish, as the M3 Pick-up posted yesterday.

For those of you who can’t wait to know everything about the latest creation by Ercole and Paolo Spada my edited report, here is a 1 to 1 reproduction of the company press release. Read the rest of this entry »

According to Turin and Detroit insiders, the famous Italian coachbuilder Zagato has just completed the new (and rather unusual) Alfa Romeo TZ 3 “Stradale” that was expected to be unveiled in May this year at the Concorso d’Eleganza di Villa d’Este but instead it will be seen in public for the first time at Pebble Beach in August. And that is for a good reason and a good cause, as we shall see in a moment. Read the rest of this entry »