Asymmetry is a trait overlooked in automotive design. A principle often discarded by engineers due to its awkward shape and lack of symmetrical beauty, the unorthodox form can often lead to success, as the Nardi 750 Bisiluro shows. A car sharing more in common in looks with motorcycles sidecars, Nardi’s 1955
Tag: Italian
Alfa Romeo 6C Aerodynamica Spider
Few cars can trace their lineage down to such illustrious cars as the McLaren F1 and the Lamborghini Miura, but without the Alfa Romeo 6C Aerodynamica Spider, these landmark cars may have never existed. An incredibly important piece of motoring history, the one-off experimental Aero Spider’s a car with one
Lancia D50
The home of engineering innovation within Italy has always been Lancia. A company with more mechanical claims to it name than any other, one of the company’s quirkier ideas was their 1954 Grand Prix entry, the D50. Unsurprisingly, the most striking feature of the D50 are the twin fuel tanks straddling
Alfa Romeo 16C Bimotore
One engine not giving you enough grunt? Just add another. That must have been the essence of the conversation between Enzo Ferrari and the Alfa Romeo racing team when construction began on the Alfa Romeo 16C Bimotore, only with more Italian hand gestures. Built in just 4 months, the Bimotre’s chassis
Lamborghini Miura Roadster – The Story of the Mythical Bull
Occasionally, a car comes along and completely revolutionises the way things are done; a true contemporary. It’s fair to say the Lamborghini Miura was one of these. The most important example of mid 60’s motoring, the Lamborghini Miura captured the public’s imagination from just a chassis, let alone when clothed
Alfa Romeo Carabo
Whilst many designers approached the idea of the wedge car, Marcello Gandini turned it into an art form, penning such illustrious wedge cars as the Lamborghini Countach, Lancia Stratos and most daringly, the 1968 Alfa Romeo Carabo. Built on the chassis of an Alfa Romeo 33 Stradale, far from an ordinary
Lancia Stratos Zero
Many would argue Marcello Gandini is the greatest automotive designer of the modern day. Need proof? Just look at the Lancia Stratos Zero. Debuted at the 1969 Turin Motor Show a year before the production Stratos, the two cars shared very few components, let alone drastically different stylings. Having spent
Abarth 1500 Biposto
Conceived as a design exercise into automotive aerodynamics, Franco Scaglione’s Abarth 1500 Biposto is a wonderful example of ‘form follows function’ design resulting in a truly beautiful shape. Considered the predecessor to Scaglione’s trio of Alfa Romeo BAT cars, so much so the Biposto is often referred to as BAT
1979 Ferrari 400 GT
The 400GT was a larger engined version of the 365GT4 2+2 that it replaced. The 4823cc V12 engine provided the new 400 GT with much improved performance over its older sister. All Ferraris built in this period were costly, low-production machines, based on increasingly complex tubular chassis frames and clad
