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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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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Among the most beautiful cars to be seen at this year Concorso d’Eleganza di Villa d’Este is this unique Alfa Romeo 8C 2900B designed and built by Carrozzeria Touring in 1938. The extremely elegant (and fast) Berlinetta was built on the running chassis developed by Alfa Romeo as the successor of the very successful Alfa Romeo 8C 2300. In its time, the Alfa Romeo 8C built in many different configurations for the road  and for the racing circuits was one of the fastest motorcars world-wide. Alfa Romeo built only 33 Alfa Romeo 8C 2900B running chassis but, only six were coachbuilt as Berlinetta.

This Alfa Romeo 8C 2900B Berlinetta is owned by Alfa Romeo’s Museo Storico

This unit, coming back to Italy after 62 years spent around the world, ranks as one of the most elegant vehicles to emerge before the Second World War. In September 1947 the car migrated from Italy to Switzerland and to the USA. After being sold to a buyer in South Africa in 1980, the car – with red paintwork at that time – was restored in England and repainted in its original blue.Powered by the famous Alfa Romeo straight-8 designed by Vittorio Jano, the car was purchased in 2005 by Jon Shirley, one of the founders of Microsoft who resides in Medina (Washington) and restored to its original condition

Voted Best Car in Show at Pebble Beach last year, it is very likely that it will double its success and be awarded the Coppa d’Oro di Villa d’Este by public referendum. After all the Concorso takes places few miles away from the shops where this car was built 71 years ago.