Auto Design

BMW and the Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este will be celebrating their 80^th anniversary this year with a very special edition that will also mark the ten anniversary of the BMW sponsorship and involvement of the famous event on the banks of Lake Como. Although BMW was established in 1916 (as a constructor of aircraft engines) the company built its first passenger car in 1929 after becoming famous for its motorcycles. Read the rest of this entry »

Fabrizio Giugiaro, joined forces with Kamal Siddiqi, chairman of British engineering specialist Frazer-Nash Research Limited to create a new and innovative electric hybrid with the performance and look of aLamborghini by Lamborghini (not by Audi). The car, once completed, will have to show it is capable of reaching a top speed of 300 kph and accelerating from zero to 100 kph in 3.5 seconds andand from 0 to 200km/h in 10.4 seconds, making this the fastest hybrid car in the world, and the cleanest GT Supercar. Read the rest of this entry »

The all-new website http://www.insideprojectm.com/ is proposing today to “be a part of the top secret world of car design with Jason Castriota” by joining what it is called “Project M” (for Marie Jeanne Bertone?). However, at least at this time, there is not much about the project itself but a short video summing up the history of Nuccio Bertone and the independent design company he founded under the name of Stile Bertone.

The first comment from a “navigator” identified by a yellow Miura and by the name “dogeared” was: “The video was pretty good a bit fancy pants for my taste but I am looking forward to seeing the rest of the episodes.” Read the rest of this entry »

Italdesign-Giugiaro is not slowing down its innovation drive through the car industry freeze but keeps investing and expanding its horizon. Read the rest of this entry »

A preview of the “smaller” Rolls-Royce, so far known as the RR4 (that is the fourth model in the range after the Phantom, its Coupé and Drophead) will be offered by the British carmaker of prestigious car with their “Rolls-Royce 200EX”, at the Geneva Motor Show.

Read the rest of this entry »

I have known Christopher “Chris” Bangle since he was at Opel at the time when he designed the interior of the Opel Junior show-car. Through the years we have talked several times. I cannot consider him a friend. We never met for other reasons than our jobs and in our roles, but through the years I have been appreciating more and more what he was doing at Fiat, when he was there and at BMW.

Read the rest of this entry »

The Official Calendar is a must for MINI fans.

A friend of mine has sent a memo to remind of the 50^th Anniversary of MINI next years and sent the images of the Official Calendar published with the co-operation of MINI and their Designers.

Here is the news, as I have received them. Read the rest of this entry »

Brought to you from the company design centre.

Pictures always say a lot more than thousands of words.

However, here some news you might light to read, in addition to what I reported before the Paris Motor Show.

The Mini Crossover Concept is said to be anticipating a significant – and to some extent revolutionary – addition to the range. The Crossover contains the seeds of the new generation “down-sized” SUV that will be anything but a SUV. This explains why it is called “Crossover”.

Read the rest of this entry »

Going to an international motor show is like going to the annual market. You meet a lot of friends and people, see many things and you come back home with the head full of information, impressions, news, comments and opinions. So much so that indeed you need a few days to arrange everything in some sort of order so that you get to the essence of the experience. This is all the same and yet all different every time. And I am not just talking of the cars.

As for cars, new cars I mean, I have come home with an incredible load of pictures and information.

I would have to share them all with you the very moment I sat back to my PC last Saturday but this is simply impossible. It takes a lot of time to put a label and classify more than 2000 images.

Now, having done just that I can start sharing with you some of the most significant. Or at least some that I image you want to see as soon as possible.

This is why, at this time I am offering you a series of photo galleries to look at. What you see is a combination of images shot at the Paris “Mondial de l’Automobile” and images provided by the press offices and design studio of the car makers.

I am giving priority to the latter ones, as the most attractive and unique.

Related information and comments will be posted shortly. Click on images below to access their photo gallery.

There is no doubt that the design of the Bentley Continental GT is a masterpiece, inside and out; and you would expect that everybody would be just happy with it. Actually, since its launch, the British brand is a striking success and sales are much better than anticipated.

Yet, Zagato – which are through their stimulating renaissance just like Bentley – has been able to give this very fast (600 HP turbocharged W12 engined) four-seater, two-door coupé a new personality, with a more emotional and indulgent style by simply re-shaping its skin. The car is more sensual now and yet its style is shaper, sophisticated and distinguished. It has the perfect style of a bespoke – tailor made – motorcar. Read the rest of this entry »