Auto Design

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.

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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 »

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 »

By Giancarlo Perini. ©

You can’t be mistaken: the show car that Smart is presenting in Geneva with the name of “forspeed” proves that the company’s designers have taken a ride on the roller-coaster and had a lot of fun in creating an EV Roadster so full of curvatures, shapes and colour that in its full-size dimension attract teen-agers with a driving license and, in a smaller scale, would be the dream of their younger brothers and sister under ten. Read the rest of this entry »

By Giancarlo Perini ©

MINI is far from being tired of launching newer and sexier ideas in spectacular show-cars. In Geneva they will we unveiling their shortest and possibly lightest (for the millenium) Mini so far. It will be also the fastest from zero to 100 thanks to its hybrid technology since, according to a company statement “it is designed to allow the integration of a drive system which combines further enhanced sprinting ability with average fuel consumption of just three liters per 100 kilometers (94 mpg imp).” Read the rest of this entry »

By Giancarlo Perini ©

The official unveiling is just a week away. It will take place in Milano at the Pirelli Headquarters.

The pictures of the most exclusive among the best performing supercars that more than 1 million Euros (1.35 million dollars) can buy make it clear: this is really the ultimate cars to have or Maharajas and Sultans, but Hollywood producer, pop stars, finance and industrial tycoons, and well established royalties. Read the rest of this entry »

Which way the Chrysler group Design is going is becoming apparent with the launch of the first series of cars and SUV from Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep.

A significant example is the was the “European” sized Compass has been given an attractive face and is now ready to reach the Jeep dealers in North American, just before the 2011 NAIAS. Read the rest of this entry »

by Giancarlo Perini ©

The name sounds very familiar and recalls the mid-ship supercar designed by Giugiaro that actually marked the birth of the M (for “Motorsport”) branch of BMW.  That was 32 years ago.

Comes January 2011 and a “second generation” M1 Coupé will makes its World premiere at North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) in Detroit. Read the rest of this entry »

Can it just be a meaningless coincidence than 50% of the winners of the Car of the Century awards presented to top personalities of the Twentieth Century have been friends for almost 40 years and although both over 70, have a lot to share under the roof of Italdesign-Giugiaro?

Late in 1999, a jury of 132 professional automotive journalists from 33 different countries, under the presidency of Lord Montagu of Beaulieu, awarded the title of Car of the Century’s to Ford’s T Model and the same awards to four top personalities in the car industry through the past century.

Their choice made up for a very impressive panel: Giorgetto Giugiaro was elected Car Designer of the Century, Ferdinand Porsche, Car Engineer of the Century, Henry Ford I Entrepreneur of the Century and Ferdinand Piëch Car Executive of the Century. Read the rest of this entry »