Auto Design

Those of you who read Car Styling magazine might have been puzzled by my report on the Geneva motor show published in the latest (and last?) issue of the magazine.
For some mysterious accident that are more common in the printed press than you can image my text was cut and mixed up. For a more accurate reading and for the records I am publishing here the original text. Just as a sign of respect for my readers.

Official statistics show that the latest and 80th Geneva Motor Show set a new record for “premieres”, with as many as eighty “new cars”, or so, unveiled for the first time there. Now, considering the space in the magazine is not growing with the number of new cars at motor shows, let’s go straight to the point and answer the usual questions: how was the show this year. What was relevant and worth recording for the years to come?

First I would say that I saw more irrelevant, disappointing or irritating cars (read designs) than interesting and attractive ones: be for their design or their lack of innovative ideas/concepts. A short list includes the Aston Martin Cygnet,  Renault Megane CC, Renault Wind and Toyota Auris.

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LILLI BERTONE HAS FULL CONTROL OF “STILE BERTONE”.

Lilli Bertone, the strongly minded widow of the late Nuccio Bertone, is reportedly the only owner of the Stile Bertone design think tank as of July 28^th. After the Turin Court ruled that Mrs. Bertone has the right to a minimal majority stake in the company, with the remaining 49.9periodical in the hands of her two sisters, the Bertone matriarch has succeeded in buying them out and ensure herself 100% of the stakes into Stile Bertone. Read the rest of this entry »

Italy, August 6th, 2009.

The Bertone Saga is coming to an end these days as the Italian government has reviewed the very few offers presented from five bidders, only three of which met the procedure formality and the expectations of the Appointees (namely: granted a job to all Carrozzeria Bertone workers).

The job of Minister Claudio Scajola was simple and easy. Perhaps just a formality.

The first of the three bidders that made it to the deadline was interested just in the premises and facilities of the coachbuilding industrial complex of Carrozzeria Bertone; one only wanted the Bertone brand name, logo and Archive; the third one wanted both. Read the rest of this entry »

Different designers have different approach to communication, publicity and image.

Even before starting his new Corvette ZR1 Mantide, Jason Castriota, designed and organised a massive communication campaign banking on internet, video-clip and photo shooting. By the time the Mantide was ready for its unveling everyone knew about it.

On the contrary Ercole and Paolo Spada entirely focused on what they love most: car design. They did not care much about marketing, public relations, photo shooting et all. When it was first unveiled in Monte Carlo last year only those belonging to the inner circles of design had heard about it, via internet of course. Than came the printed press.

Through the months passed since that unveiling, it has emerged that the Spada Codatronca is not the easiest car to photograph and based on the pictures that have appeared so far it was easy to either love or hate the car.

Time had come for the Spada to realize that someone had to look at the Codatronca with the eyes of a photographer and they have organised a photo shooting (and many hours of photoshop, or a similar software) , to present their very special Corvette ZR1 in a different perspective. Obviously the growing rivality between the Codatronca and Mantide is playing a role. For the good of car designers and the public.

Here, I am glad to be the first to offer you a selection of “different perpectives” of the Spada Codatronca. Well I would b, if only we could manage to get Flickr work as it is intended to. Come back until the link to the photo gallery works all right. Thank you

Complete Photo Gallery:

According to some reports, Stile Bertone has stated that it plans to accept up to ten orders for their Corvette ZR1 Mantide “one off”, each carrying a price tage of 2 million dollars. That is some 1.6 million euros, just 0.1m euros higher than the price Jason Castriota mentioned when I talked to him at the Villa d’Este Concorso a couple of weeks ago. The add-on is probably the price of the full-optional ZR1 serving as the starting point for their job. Read the rest of this entry »

The Concorso d’Eleganza di Villa d’Este this years has been as good as the weather. That is to say that half of it was very good, with peaks of excellence, and the remaining half was bad, raining and boring, with touches of ugliness.

 By the end of the elegant week-end on the Lake of Como, one would say it was not one the best edition ever but still offered enough interesting cars to look at, people to greet and talk to, and subjects to discuss.

As such it was one not to be missed. Those who did not attend it missed the extremely rare chance of hearing the sibilo and smelling the pollution of its turbine engine, not to mention seeing this extraordinary visualisation of the dreams about the cars of the future they were dreaming in the fifties and sixties.

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One of you has asked me which was your favourite car at Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este 2009?

Now I am in a hurry to catch a flight out of town but I can try to post a quick reply. Difficult question. Here the first answers. Considering this is a Concorso D’Eleganza and not a competition about the most attractive (for overall qualities such as rarety, power, brand, performance, style, etc.) among the classics my first choice would probably be the 1954 Aston Martin DB 2/4 built by Bertone.

Second choice would be the 1952 Lancia Aurelia B52 built by Vignale.

Among the “concept” I would say that none win my points for elegance but if I have to choose one among them as the most interesting I would say the Mindset (with its very elegant interior)

and the Stile Bertone Mantide for its dynamic proportions and style.

I shall come back to this in a week time, though.

 Eventually, the big day for Jason Castiota with Stile Bertone came yesterday. Its Stile Bertone Corvette ZR1 Mantide was presented to a small number of friends, colleagues, suppliers and friends, at the superlative Fiat Group Automobiles proving ground in Balocco just a couple of hours after the latest details were fixed in Caprie. Faithful to the coachbuilder tradition the one-off came late to the meeting, as if that had been orchestrated to further tease those eager to see it and get a first hand impression. Well, my first impression is that the Mantide look fine in pictures and a lot better in reality. Some fussy detail in the back are much less obvious, the roof profile looks very dynamic and express a clear message of high speed, the design is structured and occasionally complex but the main surfaces are perfectly mastered. It is at the front that Castriota’s team has left room for improvement. Obviously organising in a harmonius composition the never-ending surface of the front bonnet is not easy, especially when you want to make a strong impression. The many facets of the front seem to be inspired to a diamond but the outcome is not so brillant. In action, at very reasonable speeds (no problem was the imperative), the silhouette look very exciting and by the end of the day I might end up liking this design better than that of the Pininfarina P4/5 Ferrari Enzo. According to Jason Castriota, the Mantide might be sold to a Chinese enthusiast. The price is now at 1.5 million Euros, but those who are ready to pay some 650,000 euros for one the five units (one per continent?) might get one to their own specifications. Bertone  would love to build if as many orders are placed after the car is presented, tomorrow, at the Concorso d’Eleganza di Villa d’Este.   

Interiors, details, people and more in the photo gallery:  

Mrs. Lilli Bertone is waiting for the slow coming developments of all the procedures that will eventually put the word “end” onto the sad Bertone saga, which see herself and her two daughters arguing on the destiny of the family heritage. In the meantime she is not on idle. She has not time to wate and has recently made a pro-active move by establishing a new company, in association with two well established design and engineering companies: TE.DI and MED. To make clear at the outset about who is in control Lilli Bertone (who has the controlling stake majority) has called the new company BERTONE CENTO.

The name says it all: Cento is Italian for One Hundred and it is precisely the 100^th anniversary of BERTONE that she wants to celebrate and she is focusing on, as point of arrival as well as for the point-in-time for a new departure. Mrs. Bertone is not a teen-ager but she seems to have the enthusiasm, the energy and the determination of a tiger at its best. She has also secured to her new company the talent and experience of Michael “Mike” Robinson, the renowned American-born designer that has made a brilliant career at Fiat and Lancia before going free-lance.

The tall Californian designer has lived in Turin for the past 30 years and has previously held the role of “Director of the Centro Stile Lancia” in the 90s, where he created the concept cars “Dialogos” and “Nea” as well as the Lancia Lybra, Phedra, Thesis, and the latest Ypsilon”. Later, as Director of the Centro Stile Fiat (until 2005) he directed the design development of the Fiat Ducato light commercial vehicle, and the interior of the Fiat Grande Punto.

Mike Robinson will act as “Brand & Design Director”.

Mrs. Bertone has also selected Architect Franco Carretto as head of the Train Design Division of Bertone Cento. The world-renowned train designer was previously the director of the Train Design at Giugiaro Design where he designed trend-setting mass transport vehicles for Chinese, Finnish, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish railways companies, in addition to the Light Underground Train for the Copenhagen Railways.

In announcing her new company, Mrs. Bertone stated: “We are confident that this combined team of creative and technical excellence, including Robinson’s futuristic vision and his great ability to scout talent and motivate teams, Carretto’s long history of success designing train exteriors and interiors, both supported by an experienced team of engineers and industrialists, in perfect harmony with my relentless determination, will empower BERTONE CENTO to return as a one of the world’s driving forces in transportation design and engineering”.

Bertone Cento is an independent company and has no corporate relationship with Stile Bertone, Carrozzeria Bertone, Bertone Glass or the holding Bertone S.p.A. According to a statement issued by the new company, BERTONE CENTO is committed “to bring Bertone design and engineering back into the heart of the worlds’ most important automobile manufacturers, and, on the threshold of a hundred year history reawaken the pride of Italian style and ingenuity”.

Eventually, the day to show what Jason Castriota can deliver when left on his own (and his team) and free to run the show, with all the freedom and confidence that Bertone has traditionally assured to his designers. Nuccio Bertone designed cars with his imagination and confidence in his team. He created fanous designers and I am sure he would have given a chance to Jason. Read the rest of this entry »