Lone Stars: the Sixties

Throughout the history of the automobile, there have been numerous lone stars which, when you take a 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 third part of our series on Lone Stars, based on intensive conversations with renowned Italian designer Lorenzo Ramaciotti: the 1960ies.

In the mid-1960s, with manufacturers led by managers who had their sights clearly set on large series production numbers, a stylistic revolution appeared that ended up monopolising an entire 20-year stretch: square shapes and tight lines. Automated production lines removed every trace of craftsmanship from the production processes and became a stimulus for the creation of lone stars ready to drive design forwards through radical shapes. These proposals were increasingly distant from mass production, but fundamental in nurturing the automotive dream. The Marzal spacecraft for Lamborghini and the Carabo wedge for Alfa Romeo, both by Bertone and Gandini, are clear references to this approach. No less interesting for the technical concepts developed by its famous engineers, Busso and Satta, and its ground breaking style was the 1966 Alfa Romeo Scarabeo, bodied by the Turinbased OSI on a design by Sergio Sartorelli.

1968

The 1968 Alfa Romeo Carabo: One of the many extraordinary examples of the creativity of the Bertone–Gandini duo. Presented in 1968 in Paris and built on the chassis of an Alfa Romeo 33 Stradale, it predated important models such as the Lamborghini Countach. Its colour scheme, bright green and orange, mirrors that of the Carabus auratus, or golden ground beetle, that gave it its name.

1968 Alfa Romeo Carabo

1968

In 1968, the Ferrari P5 Berlinetta Speciale Pininfarina sent out a message: Enzo Ferrari had a hard time accepting the idea of mounting his engines at the rear of the car, a configuration introduced in Formula 1 by the British a decade earlier, so the arrival of this concept designed by Fioravanti indicated that a V12 from Maranello with this solution would eventually appear. It came in 1971, and was called the BB.

Ferrari P5 Berlinetta

1969

The 1969 Mercedes-Benz C111/1: This was the first of a series of models developed by Mercedes-Benz to test the Wankel rotary engine. Its accentuated sportiness adopted lines that would be continuously refined, but would not allow the project to reach its goal.

1969 Mercedes-Benz C111/1

1969

The 1969 Sigma Grand Prix: If today’s Formula 1 cars are designed to provide almost absolute safety, part of the credit should go to this concept. It was created on the initiative of the Swiss magazine Automobile Revue with the support of Ferrari, which provided the chassis, gearbox and V12 engine. Many important innovations were introduced to ensure safety – a manifesto that, over time, became a reality.

1969 Sigma Grand Prix