Table of contents for 274 in AUTO & DESIGN

Giorgetto Giugiaro says it was an act of courage. Because when he proposed to Carlos Peralta that he create an exclusive supercar, even he could not have imagined such an extraordinary outcome. It was March 2024 and Giugiaro had been invited to Pastejé, Mexico, where every year Peralta – a magnate heading up a large industrial group and an avid car collector – hosts an annual private car event on his sprawling estate. In terms of the number and quality of cars on display, it stands on a par with the most prestigious of international concours d’elegance. “Your superb car collection is missing one thing, though: the car I could make for you for next year”, the Italian designer told his host. No sooner said than done. Carlos Peralta is…

Is designing a van like the Transit like designing a car? Yes and no. It is from a strictly technical and, if you will, procedural standpoint: sketches, then on to the computer and models, with one eye on aerodynamics and the other on surface treatment, working with headlights and sculpted shapes as with cars. But then the amount of models comes into play, as Andrew Wolton, Exterior Design Manager at Ford Pro, explains: “It’s much more complicated than a car because it’s a multiplication of models. For a car, at worst, you have to design a four-door sedan, a coupé, and a wagon. For one of our vans, we have to work with three different lengths, four different heights, and cabins with one or two rows of seats. It’s a…

Quando la Geely Galaxy M9 ha fatto il suo debutto mondiale a Milano, non si è trattato soltanto della presentazione di una nuova auto, ma del culmine di un processo di progettazione determinato dalla gestione ottimale dello spazio e realizzato attraverso una collaborazione interculturale. Come Suv ammiraglia a sei posti del marchio Geely Galaxy, la Geely Galaxy M9 riflette una rivoluzione nel processo di design. Anziché disegnare il veicolo sulla base di dimensioni fisse, il team di design si è posto una domanda fondamentale: che tipo di spazio è oggi davvero adeguato per le esigenze della famiglia moderna? Questo interrogativo chiave ha influito sul processo di progettazione, condotto congiuntamente dal Geely Innovation Design Center di Shanghai e da quello in Italia. Attraverso una collaborazione interculturale, il team ha integrato diversi…

Great opportunities can emerge from dire circumstances. “The genesi the Lynk & Co 08 happened during the early days of the pandemic lockdown,” explains Stefan Rosen, President at Lynk & Co Design. “There was no other option: we had to do everything remotely. It seemed impossible, but the team found such intense energy that the project took off at breakneck speed.” To overcome travel restrictions, the Lynk & Co design teams in Gothenburg (where roughly 500 people now work) and Shanghai maximised their technology to work simultaneously through virtual reality. “It was a tool that allowed us to see the car’s evolution and place it in any setting we wanted, from city streets to lake shores to mountains,” Rosen continues. “Step by step, we managed to design the 08 entirely…

“The designer profession demands to keep one’s antennae up, to capture and perceive trends and signals that come from the world around us. For this reason, and added to this, it’s important to work closely with young people: they’re always one step ahead in intercepting these signals”. Francesco Paszkowski is one of the distinguished names in contemporary yacht design, with his studio based in Florence: thirty-three years of history and over 300 boats launched. He trained at Studio Spadolini and has collaborated with brands such as: Baglietto, Sanlorenzo, Tankoa, Heesen, CRN, Custom Line, Cantiere delle Marche, Rizzardi, ISA, Canados and Turquois. In other words, the finest of the international scene. His studio is bustling with young people; he has been collaborating with IED Turin for several years, and we asked…

City cars are under scrutiny. They are seen more and more as a force for disruption, and local authorities are being increasingly obliged to take restrictive measures to ease traffic congestion. While urban mobility issues have been in the spotlight for years, recent studies have focused on exploring innovative alternatives with the aim of reducing stress and improving city dwellers’ quality of life. Lately, cute, compact microcars have become a common sight, zipping around our streets and dodging in and out of traffic to reach destinations effortlessly and find parking spots with ease. The Toyota group is one of the leaders in this trend: “The Olympics of 2021 in Tokyo and 2024 in Paris triggered a surge of creativity: for these events, we developed a number of mobility solutions tailored…

“Over its 60 years of service, the Ford Transit has become an icon among working vehicles. It has been a privilege for our Design teams in the various locations to design Ford Transit products that have impacted on the lives of so many people and their businesses. We look forward to the exciting challenge of continuing that tradition, with new Ford Transit vehicles that will serve future generations for decades to come.” Amko Leenarts, Director of Design, Ford of Europe «Nei suoi 60 anni di servizio, il Ford Transit è diventato un’icona tra i veicoli da lavoro. È stato un privilegio per i nostri team di design nelle diverse sedi progettare prodotti Ford Transit che hanno avuto un impatto sulla vita di così tante persone e sulle loro attività. Non…

And then came Terry Drury’s day. An engineer at Ford UK, passionate about motorsports and a driver himself, he founded a small and later not so small team - TDR, in fact: Terry Drury Racing - which in 1971 took a Transit full of muscle and extra-large tyres to the traditional Easter meeting at the Brands Hatch circuit. The Supervan was born: a van with the power thanks to the 4.95-litre Ford V8 engine, with 441 horsepower for 240 km/h - of a powerful sports car. It had just one problem: with its steel body taken straight from the Transit production line, although mounted on a Cooper Monaco trellis chassis, it was excellent for drag racing, but its aerodynamics did not allow for great speeds on a circuit. This would…

With its squared-off lines, bold presence and broad visual appeal, the Cyber X marks a bold new direction for MG, uncharted waters for the Chinese SAIC Group. “It’s a planet-wide city adventure toy”, says Jozef Kabaň, Vice President of SAIC Design. While the vehicle’s styling clearly draws its inspiration from the world of off-roaders, MG clarifies that the technical specifications remain those of a traditional electric car, and are therefore not geared towards offroad adventures. The reason for these forms is simply to tap into a trend that uses a symbolic styling language to create fashionable vehicles with the aim of attracting younger customers and reflecting their desire to explore the world. The Cyber X is crafted with a precise formula, combining specific design elements: short overhangs with wheels pushed…

They say that numbers have no soul, but in transforming a digital project, which relies on sequences of numbers to trace volumes in virtual space, into a solid object requires craftsmanship care and sensitivity. And it is on this concept that the activity of GMA ProtoLab was built and developed, a company of the Falsone Group based in Orbassano, on the outskirts of Turin, an area where know-how and creativity are bound by an invisible yet extremely strong thread. Founded in 2008, this atelier is led by CEO Giorgio Falsone, who learnt the secrets of perfect execution from his father Giovanni, applying them to the creation of models, show cars and special vehicles. “Our activity began in 2016 by adding preassembly and final assembly phases to the painting, rapidly expanding…

Alpine has pulled a fast one. Meaning that, for the first time in its history, which began in 1955 and has now reached the prestigious milestone of seventy years, it’s having a go at creating an SUV. An electric one, no less, as announced during the launch of Renault Group’s zero-emissions strategy, according to which the Dieppe brand (a town in northern France overlooking the English Channel) would produce only battery-powered vehicles. The SUV in question has five doors and five seats and is called the A390. It’s built on the same platform as the electric Renault Scenic, though the base has been thoroughly revised in terms of proportions: 6 centimetres wider and 15 cm longer, whilst the height has been reduced by 4 cm, giving life to a crossover…

Sixty years. From fathers to sons and grandchildren, the Transit has accompanied them all, often in the same family. When the first unit left the Ford plant in Langley, Berkshire, on 9 August 1965, perhaps no one thought that one day that van, celebrated for its innovative design that bid farewell to the image of the “box on four wheels”, would be worthy of great celebrations. “It brought an American automotive language to the world of light commercial vehicles,” says Jens Sieber, Chief Designer of Ford Pro. “It was multigenerational,” adds Andrew Wolton, who works alongside him as Exterior Design Manager: “It touched the lives of many people through a number of different uses: a move, a holiday, as a limousine, a tow truck, in addition of course to its…

“What’s it like working for the world’s most famous luxury brand? A real challenge”. Gorden Wagener joined Mercedes-Benz in 1997 and his career has gone from strength to strength ever since. Today, he is Chief Design Officer of the German group, but he swears that “my passion for this job is as strong as it was on my very first day”. Where do you get your inspiration from? “I’m a firm believer in beauty. The beauty of nature, human beauty. I make an effort to translate these elements into automotive design. For example, in nature, nothing is ugly. Everything has a purpose. There is symmetry, logic and beauty in every detail. This is the guiding principle behind my work”. Who are the designers you look up to? “I admire those…

Innovation moves apace, even in the world of heavy machinery. That’s the spirit behind CASE Construction Equipment’s latest creation: the Impact concept, a compact wheel loader powered by a fully electric powertrain. In addition the vehicle is cab-free. it can work in tight, hazardous spaces without putting the operator at risk. While it does not have autonomous driving capabilities, it is steered remotely also from a dedicated control lounge office. David Wilkie, head of Industrial Design CNH, shares the inspiration behind the creation of this strikingly unconventional vehicle. “The Impact is a technological marvel”, says Wilkie. “It brings together all the latest technology and, although designed for the future, it is closer to reality than you might imagine. It is fully functional and many features could go into production in…

ICARO by Natale Acri, Alejandro Marinetti, Davide Vintari, Tianyi Wang Sharp lines that slice through the air, a lightweight structure to guarantee peak performance, interiors designed like an extension of the human body. The six sports cars designed by third-year students on the Transportation Design course at the IED in Turin, as part of their final year thesis projects in collaboration with Dallara, attempt to redefine the concept of high-performance sports cars with proposals that embody the core values of the brand from Emilia: lightness, efficiency, safety and the raw thrill of driving. An ambitious, deeply inspiring challenge which, through creativity and a futuristic vision, has given life to bold concepts inspired by nature and the animal world, drawing on the synergy generated by the collaboration with one of the…