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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 »

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 »

 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:  

Having reached a certain age I recently suspected I am getting old, without realising it or, even worst, with no intimate will to concede it. Now I know I am old.

This morning I received from Bradley R. Farell an e-mail message saying “Hi, Jason wanted me to send you a exclusive photo. Photo credit to: www.pdj-photo.com“. The photo is this one that I am glad to offer you, as a unique exclusive preview, teaser, or what else you like to call it, of the Project M.

Coming from New York, this must clearly be the latest and most advanced “communication technique” and if you do not understand why this gentleman Farrell is approaching me in such a sharp and to-the-point style even though I have not had the privilege of having been introduced to him, it must certainly be because I am getting old, out of touch and far from the new trend.

I hope that you, my readers, will concede me that at least I am making an effort to reduce the lag and remain in touch with the modern reality and the futuristic trends. Whereas most of my colleague journalist would consider the “exclusive” image an April’s Fool joke sent 12 days to late and forget about it in an instant, I choose to offer you every bit of information you may like to see.

Just do me a favour, if you will: tell me that I was right in bringing this to you, rather than just ignore it, as my old-style school of journalism and communication had suggested as an instinctive reaction.

P.S. – Just between you and me: I would have much preferred to bring to you a colour rendering in the old times style.

1970 Bertone Stratos – Just one of many benchmarks for J. Castriota.

According to absolutely unreliable sources, the bespoke supercar being completed at Stile Bertone facilities in Caprie under the direction of Jason Castriota might be called CAT 1. Speculative sources in Torino like to think this might eventually be the name to be given to the first public work of the Italo-American design for Stile Bertone. The bespoke “fuoriserie” into which Stile Bertone and Castriota have invested some six months of intensive design, engineering, manufacturing and video-taping work will be making its first public appearance at the Concorso d’Eleganza di Villa d’Este, in parallel with the disply of its full scale model at the Shanghai Motor Show. According to some, the name is the acronym of Coupé Aerodinamico Tecnologico 1, to stress the company tradition for futuristic design works. Other sources are ready to bet that the actual meaning of the acronym is Castriota Automobili Torino. It seems to be a joke but….why not.

According to one reader, the tail of Stile Bertone supercar has a strikingresemblance to the Stola 1998 Abarth Monotipo

At this time it is interesting to take a good look to the design and the making of the SVS Codatronca by Ercole and Paolo Spada. This spectacular supercar – built on the chassis – and with the powertrain – of one of the most powerful Chevrolet Corvette might well serve as a benchmark for the evalutation of the Supercar soon to be unveiled in mock-up form at the Shanghai Motor Show and as a running prototype at the Concorso d’Eleganza di Villa D’Este, later this month.

The two cars share a lot in addition to their mission and ambitions: attract car collectors with a passion for high performance speed and clear cut, very distinctive design.

The SVS Codatronca TS comes with a Chevrolet Corvette ZR 1 V8 engine tuned up to deliver 630 HP at 7000 rpm and 668 Nm of torque at 4800 rpm. This is said to be good enough for acceleration time of just 3.4 second from 0 to 100 kph and a top speed of 340 kph in 6^th gear, at 7000 rpm.

Unlike the Stile Bertone supercar, which aims at setting a new record at the Nuerburgring, the SVS Codatronca has been designed and tuned to enhance “the pleasure of driving instead of speed record, in the perfect style of the gentleman driver.”

The other remarkable difference between the two is that whereas Stile Bertone and Jason Castriota made extensive use of carbon fibre for their bodywork, the Spada (Father & Son) elected the traditional aluminium body panels technique for the construction of their Codatronca. Here, a review of the making of the SVS Codatronca TS and few images of the actual car.

Click on image for complete photo gallery:    

The news is not official yet, but within the designer’s circle of Southern California everybody seems to believe that Jason Castriota – a past student of the Art Center College of Design – will be the new director of design of Stilebertone.This would be confirmed by the fact that Castriota visited the Los Angeles Auto Show and attended the Automotive Designers Night there with Mr. Roland Martin, Sales and Marketing manager of Stilebertone. They travelled together from the Ghangzhou Auto Show to Long Angeles and if two plus two equal four, one has to come to the conclusion that Castriota has not resisted the temptation to take the position that Giorgetto Giugiaro, Marcello Gandini and Marc Deschamp had before establishing their own consulting businessIn a recent interview to our publication, Teresio Gaudio, CEO of Stilebertone has anticipated that the company is expanding its design potential with addition of three new designers and a new director of design. Jason Castriota, the most talented designers of Ferraris and Supercars in recent years. Castriota is credited for the design of the Pininfarina Maserati Birdcage, the Maserati Granturismo, the Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano and P4/5. Most recently the Pininfarina Rolls-Royce Hyperion “fuoriserie”.Born in New York from Italian parents, Jason went to Pininfarina for a working-stage from Art Centre College of Design in Pasadena, California, but after the planned “semester” he did not return to the U.S.A. He wanted to stay at Pininfarina and learn by actually designing cars. At Art Center, Castriota was a student of Ken Okuyama who later became his boss at Pininfarina.The Pininfarina design studios in Cambiano are regarded by hundreds of designers as the “Best design school in the world”.

According to inside sources at Maranello, Jason Castriota, the most talented designers of Ferraris and Supercars in recent years, is leaving Pininfarina. The American-born Italian designer could not be reached so far but Pininfarina’s press officer, Daniele Cornil, did not deny the report, simply answering “no comment” to our request for confirmation. However, Cornil added “we will not make any comments before our press conference at the Paris Motor Show on October 2nd”.

The designers’ circle in Turin is excited about the rumours and everybody is wondering what Castriota is going to do. Whether he is going to join another company or will set up his own design consultancy. Read the rest of this entry »

First written for Car Styling, Issue 173 (Tokyo, July 2006)

* Stories and cars from recent past you may like to read and see again.

LINEA PININFARINA.

Ten years after the front-engined Ferrari 550 Maranello replaced the mid-engined heirs of the mythical Testarossa in the upper, 12 cylinder, Ferrari class, the new 599 GTB Fiorano writes a new chapter in the history of Ferrari and of Supercar.  It is longer, higher, a lot more comfortable and yet it is lighter and dramatically faster around bends (and on straight lines). Even more relevant is the fact that, despite its dimensions, the 599 GTB looks more compact and nimble. (more on the car itself)

The fantastic performance of Ferrari technology called for a design capable of communicating the potential and of contributing to it, through aerodynamics, efficiency and the aesthetic harmony combining Ferrari power with Pininfarina elegance. Read the rest of this entry »

First written for Car Styling, Issue 173 (Tokyo, July 2006)

* Stories and cars from recent past you may like to read and see again.

Tecnica Ferrari.

To design a new Ferrari is the ultimate dream of every designer and student. However, actually designing one is probably the most difficult design job on earth, if not a nightmare.
Everybody always expects from Ferrari something that is really outstanding. From president and CEO, Luca di Montezemolo, to the young boy looking at a motoring magazine in a remote area in Guatemala, China or Kazakhstan.
Evidence of this came recently from the challenge presented to the top students of the most famous design schools around the world when Ferrari asked them to compete by submitting “new concept for the myth”. The students came up with excellent design propositions but no one with a new “concept”. Apparently only Pininfarina seems to be capable of delivering a convincing proposition that meets with Ferrari’s expectations.

The new Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano is the latest evidence, and indeed this is a very convincing design job, despite the given industrial (read investment) restrictions and the conservative market it must keep attracting. Business sense force Ferrari (and Porsche) to seek for innovations that do not shock their traditional customers but possibly attract new ones.

Listen to Ken Okuyama and Jason Castriota, respectively director of design and chief designer at Pininfarina, as they explain the design process and every single decision it went through, and you fully appreciate why designing the Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano was quite a challenge and why the outcome is going to be a winner; in the design circles as well as within Ferrari enthusiasts and collectors, and in the market world-wide.

The 599 GTB Fiorano is a strikingly sculptural car, with the purest Ferrari character and Pininfarina’s elegance.

When the project started at Ferrari and Pininfarina in the second half of 2002, the mission was clear: “create the most performing 12-cylinder Ferrari berlinetta” was Montezemolo’s directive to Okuyama. That is what they actually need to counter attack the strongest competition ever expected from an increasing number of powerful competitors.

Ferrari engineers had in mind what was needed to set the new standards in uniqueness, design and exhilarating driving. Their new two-seater GT supercar comes with the V12, 6.0 litre aspirated powerplant installed “mid-ship” behind the front axle. (see technical specifications and Evolution of the Ferrari V12 two-seater GT Berlinetta) Designed for the ultimate Ferrari Enzo, and newly tuned to deliver 620 HP (some 103 HP per litre of displacement), the engine has been engineered to play the magic music of a pure V12 soundtrack from both the intake manifold and the exhaust system.

The V12 is mated to the latest development of F1 transmission, a new generation that cuts overall gear-shift times to 100 milliseconds. On its turn a most sophisticated stability control system makes sure that the car has always the best grip to the road for cutting-edge performance in term of road-holding, safety and stability. Further innovations in the suspension system and the control of their oil viscosity greatly improve the driving experience through faster adjustments, reduced roll and superior body control when braking or accelerating.
At the same time the new Ferrari 599 GTB greatly benefits of the ultimate development of the aluminium construction technology and the revised architecture. Pininfarina had to dress-up this superlative ”performance” creature.

Click on the image for the complete photo gallery.