Designing the Future
In the golden era of automotive design in the 1960's, the Italian designers were in a race to create the most futuristic motorcars the world as ever seen. In 1968 the great designer Marcello Gandini at Bertone, designed a concept car that would shape the future like no other! It was to be the first vehicle to have scissor doors, this
awe-inspiring masterpiece is the Alfa Romeo Carabo! This design from Gandini is the exact opposite of his earlier and most well known creation the Lamborghini Miura. Gandini's Miura is that of the curved design, a design that could be described as flowing with the wind. The Carabo is the exact opposite of that in everyway. It is the definition of wedge-shaped design, being described as cutting through the on coming air flow. The Carabo was of such influence that it inspired Gandini's design for the Lamborghini Countach! Just a year after the Carabo from Bertone, yet another 33 Stradale based concept was unveiled. This concept was from ItalDesign of Giorgetto Giugiaro and the car was the bewildering Alfa Romeo Iguana! Like the Carabo before from Bertone, the Iguana would also have an important roll in influencing future designs. For example the Iguana featured a brushed metal roof frame and cabin pillars. This brushed metal idea would be found on Giugiaro's future design of the DeLorean DMC-12. A further influence of the Iguana, is found in its front end design, inspiring Giugiaro in his designs for the 1970's Maserati Bora and Merak. The Iguana just like the Carabo is a concept of the greatest importance in the history of automotive design. Both these car led the way into the wedge-shaped design future that was the 1970's. In the same year as Giorgetto Giugiaro's Iguana concept, at Pininfarina the designer Leonardo Fioravanti created a 33 Stradale based concept of his own. This was the striking giallo (yellow) painted 1969 33/2 Coupé Speciale! Design of the 33/2 Coupé Speciale was influenced by Fioravanti's earlier creation, the Ferrari P5 concept. Unlike the Carabo and Iguana the 33/2 Coupé Speciale is not a pure wedge-shaped design, rather a mix between the wedge-shaped and the curved design trends. This makes the 33/2 Coupé Speciale truly special, as for no other car looks quite like it except the P5 concept that inspired it. Furthermore unlike Iguana and Carabo the Coupé Speciale's design did not influence any production car, making Fioravanti's concept the definition of the word (Speciale) Italian for special. From the scissor doors of the Carabo, to the brushed metal of the Iguana and the spectacular design of the 33/2 Coupé Speciale! All three of these amazing concepts created the future for automotive design and have become iconic in the history of the automobile!
