After an absence of two years from the international scene Bertone returned to Geneva Motor Show, introducing the concept car Alfa Romeo Pandion: an aggressive but beautiful coupe designed as a tribute to one hundred year anniversary of Alfa Romeo. Alfa Romeo
Pandion Concept: an extreme sports car and controversial in the manner typical of Bertone. The concept car's size (4,620 mm long, 1971 mm wide, 1230 mm high, 2,850 mm wheelbase) offers a sporty compact external dimensions with a sense of large sports car interior, all controlled by a 4.7 liter, 450 hp 8 - cylinder Alfa Romeo engine. Alfa Romeo
Pandion
The Concept is the first car produced by Mike Robinson in his new role as Director of Design and Brand to Bertone. A dream car "pure" Alfa Romeo Concept Pandion takes its rightful place as a member of the family history Bertone Alfa Romeo cars have always been style icons, influencing the history of the automobile and Italian craft as the excellent design, proving themselves to be an indisputable reference points for the entire world of car design.
The name comes from the animal world, as Pandion haliaetus is the scientific name of an osprey, a hawk nesting sea and live in coastal areas. The designers, led by Mike Robinson, was inspired by the wings of this predator to invent the gating mechanisms spectacular, and the marks of the hawks facial Alfa project the feeling of traditional family in the new era of design. Pandion
Alfa Romeo Concept
In nearly a century of tradition Bertone, is not the first time that natural wonders have inspired the names of the concept cars. Just think of the Corvair Testudo (1963) and, coincidentally, the Alfa Romeo Babysitting (1964), carabids (1968) and Delfino (1983).
Design: The initial concept
tight, muscular body, the Alfa Romeo Concept Pandion is the result of an original interpretation of the Alfa Romeo badge, where the man fed represented snake is not the attraction of style (what we call the 'skin'), and the cross symbol aristocratic rigor of rational thought, the technological aspect (what we call the 'frame'). According to this interpretation, the design of Alfa Romeo Concept Pandion is, like all Alfa Romeo, a perfect synthesis between 'skin and' Frame, the ideal balance as a result of a tension between opposites: the technology and sensuality, rationality and instinct, architecture and sculpture, structuralism and organicism, industrial excellence and excellent craftsmanship.
The Alfa Romeo Pandion design concept is based on a Robinson concept called "Skin & Frame" - a new interpretation of the duality inherent in the age of 100 Alfa Romeo logo. "Skin" refers to the serpent in the logo, representing the world renowned Italian excellence in a beautiful, seductive, and "Setting" refers to the cross in the logo, representing the mechanics of high performance excellence in career Italian car. The combination of the two has become a dynamic line in search of a perfect equilibrium resulting from the tension between opposites: the technology and the sensual, rational and emotional, architectural design and sculptural form, structural and organic excellence industrial and craft excellence.
According to this interpretation, the vibrant energy in all Alfa Romeo is represented by the vertebral structure Pandions' (or 'frame'), which traverses the length of the car on the grid V-shaped nose of the car on the way V-bumper on the tail of the car, across the interior as a structural element that supports the visual aesthetic surrounding layer (or "skin").
Design: Details have
front, the Alfa Romeo Pandion Concept features a sloped hood and sculpted while creating what is, for all purposes, a mask, almost like the helmets worn by ancient warriors. The Alfa Romeo feeling "family", instantly recognizable at first glance, does not allow even a hint of nostalgia retro look toward the future with a revolutionary and innovative style. No doubt it's an Alfa Romeo with a look that has never been seen before. The typical Alfa quad headlights are buried deep in the outermost tip of the T-shaped grid, highlighting the stunning coupé wide stance. Four white bars of light strikes the curiosity of the observers, two position lights above and below two fog lights, creating a virtual bi-plane of light at night. The typical five horizontal bars on each Alfa Romeo radiator grille are visible here, providing a reference to the historical identity of the brand. The front grill is full of thousands of tiny interlocking sheets that contribute to new algorithmic design throughout the car. Alfa Romeo
Pandion
The Concept is the profile of a sports car, no room for compromise. The architectural design is the cab backwards ", ie, the carrier is facing the rear of the car and the long hood of the car pushes the visual center back. The part of the body visually connects the front to the back sensual sharp through a side window long flowing extending from the front wheel arch to rear, improving accessibility Excellent this sport coupe low-bodied. Since sports cars are traditionally difficult to get in and out of, this important ergonomic activity has been facilitated with an extra wide door opening to compensate for the low roof line. This formula not only adds new graphics stunning new visual division between the upper and lower body, but also offers an incredible panoramic window for passengers inside. The strong dark diagonal division of light on the rear side view accentuates the powerful rear-drive design and draws attention to the mechanism for opening the hidden door.
The rear features an impressive array of glass-like leaves that are intertwined in various widths and lengths, which protrudes into space. The rear of the car, in fact, has a disembodied or "pixelated" look, which is a metaphor for the comet's tail, "as if the absolute speed of the vehicle is pulling the underlying technical" Frame "back away from the sensual, flowing "Skin" above. This "dematerialization" phenomenon of the cars is generated by the intrinsic motion of the form, which means that the car seems to move even when at rest.
There are also two small shields below fixed white the rear bumper to have the quad exhaust pipes, creating a visual continuity of the white side panels seem to wrap under the car.
The rear lights are completely integrated into the organic tangle of leaves and disappear when turned off. The new Alfa Romeo family feeling is more visible on the rear bumper of the car itself in the form of V in the front of the vehicle, which travel throughout the body, forming a powerful virtual, Alfa Romeo spine.
doors, as in many other masterpieces Bertone design (such as Alfa Romeo Carabo 1968, the 1970 Lancia Stratos 0, the Lamborghini Countach 1972, 2007 and the Fiat Barchetta) that opens in a visually striking. Virtually articulated around the axis of the rear wheel, the Alfa Romeo Concept Pandion open doors, turn back, reaching a perfect 90 degrees above the center of the rear wheel, lifting the entire body side of the vehicle from fender front of the rear fender. When fully open they are more than 3.6 meters high. This solution is particularly spectacular design for the glamor, bringing back the 'wow' factor to today's automotive industry dull. This futuristic door mechanism also has a pragmatic side as well. Since all the "extreme" cars Sports are literally impossible to enter and leave the Alfa Romeo Concept Pandion is designed to use the horizontal space on the car since the vertical space is so limited.
In the case of an accident resulting in a "roll-over, doors off of the bodywork of the vehicle to allow passengers to exit the car.
The interior minimalist
glamorous forms that make the Alfa Romeo Concept Pandion spring to life are the result of a design to create an organic whole, without resorting to short cuts to ensure continuity between the interior and outside, a perfect balance between rigor and dramatic architectural forms living organisms.
design language used to create the passenger compartment has resulted in a fluid, due to the accessories seem to have grown spontaneously, without being designed or constructed. We call this expressive code, never seen before in the automotive sector to present the algorithmic design. The concept, borrowed from the world of mathematics, indicates an ecological alternative to traditional design and is the "multiplication of random shapes. It is as if the design is still a kind of complex development that is neither linear or geometric, generating a ' self-organization "form, with the" growth spontaneous "algorithms as" swarms "or" vine ".
Looking inside the Alfa Romeo Pandion Concept, the first things that attract our attention are the front seats. car design is typical of Alfa Romeo coupe, ie , 2 +2. While the two rear seats are the "classic" white space, the front seats are two incredibly thin (30 mm), ergonomic chairs chaise longue. They have carbon fiber shell (that mimic the style exoskeleton car or "skin") treated Technogel ® and backlit LCD display with back light ® fabric, which conforms to the shape of the driver or the passenger's body. The principle which inspired designers was "zero gravity", ie, a warm and welcoming, which provide a greater sense of quality of life inside at first, but ... zero gravity.
In fact, all the furniture inside the cabin, visual tend to float, suspended in the magic of blue light. Behind these options minimalist yet hides a careful study of ergonomics: the seats are the result of a perfect synthesis of high performance, flexibility and lightness. The empty floor lights in the same pool "blue" color of the seats, which offers a spectacular visual continuation of the seats voluptuous, with his "flowing contours where you feel the driver and passenger protected in a truly enchanting performer.
The steering wheel is clearly that of a sports car, while the controls are similar to those of Alfa Romeo race cars, with two analog dials placed directly on the steering column. Three of the four LCD screens offer a view inside the rear cabin (two on each side, one on the windshield) and they are connected directly to external video cameras that replace rear-view mirrors normally placed outside the car. The largest screen in the center (9 ") in the center console - and the extent of the passenger and the driver - information also appears on the car's systems (air conditioning, sound systems, Sat Nav, etc ...). Conclusion
"We walk in the footsteps of giants." That is the motto of the company Bertone. The Giants are referenced Giovanni and Nuccio Bertone. However, following his steps, does not mean copying, however. This means the application of its teachings and its use as a guide for new developments. We ask our designers to follow a total creative method, where there are phenomena that are apparently not related to each other and try to apply to the automotive world. However
research design is not enough. A Bertone concepts we study, and therefore each design is the result or effect of an innovative idea or a new phenomenon. Mike Robinson, director of brand design and Bertone, said: "Cars are like movies: they have to tell a story to win people over. The best car designers are storytellers necessarily excellent and their products, whether prototypes or products mass-produced, reflect their creators' ability to gather ideas fascinating of all fields, from all over the world, to gather and transform them into new stories and old. This is what we tried to do with the Alfa Romeo Pandion concept. "
