Lone Stars: the Fifties
17 June 2023 3 min read 2 images
Automotive design milestones are often one-offs. Lorenzo Ramaciotti guides us through a remarkable story.
Throughout the history of the automobile, there have been numerous lone stars which, when you look at them today, continue to shine with their own light. None of them were created to become production cars, but rather to send out a message that was uninhibited by industrial and marketing constraints, signed by designers and the manufacturers themselves. Here comes the second part of our series on Lone Stars, based on intensive conversations with renowned Italian designer Lorenzo Ramaciotti: the 1950ies.
The world was shrinking, and horizons were widening – this was the decade of jet aircraft, and cars were directly inspired by them, with fins and nose- cone air intakes. With the Great Depression a distant memory, along with the destruction seen in Europe and half of the world, wellbeing began to spread in a climate of carefree trust. The car was directly influenced by this. The three Alfa Romeo BAT cars by Scaglione for Bertone and the three Firebirds by General Motors are the iconic symbols of this period, also be because they represent a project that was articulated over time. No less interesting is the Lancia Aurelia Pininfarina PF 200, very representative of this new trend, and the 1957 Chevrolet Corvette SS XP-64.
1952
The Lancia Aurelia PF 200: Inspired by the North American F-86 Sabre, the Lancia Aurelia PF 200 from 1952 anticipated the trend of designs inspired by the new and fascinating fighter jets. This unique example gave Carrozzeria Farina further prestige, which was consolidated in those same years by its collaboration with Ferrari, which appointed the design firm as its reference coachbuilder.
1952
Close attention to aerodynamics and its effects were the main features of Franco Scaglione’s design. In 1952, when he was Chief Designer at Bertone, taking his cue from the shapes of jet aeroplanes, he created the Abarth 1500 Biposto. The client, Carlo Abarth, who was beginning his career as a manufacturer, wanted a car with a particularly strong effect. He succeeded perfectly.
1953-1957
The three Alfa Romeo BAT, presented one at a time at the Turin Motor Shows in 1953, 1955 and 1957, are the culmination of the pursuit of the best aerodynamic coefficient by Alfa Romeo – the chassis are the same as the 1900 – interpreted by Franco Scaglione and built by Nuccio Bertone. The result is now considered authentic art.
1953-1957
The General Motors Firebird I, II and III: The concept is indicative of a cutting-edge company, not only with breakthrough technical objectives, but also one to take inspiration from fighter jets such as the Douglas Skyray on future production models. The three models built in the 1950s experimented with different engine solutions to test the potential of turbine engines. Other choices were also progressive in terms of the construction of the bodies, the evolved braking system, joystick controls and the introduc- tion of systems that anticipated today’s electronics.
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