| Make
|
Alfa
Romeo (by Bertone) |
| Model |
Pandion |
| Concept
year |
2010 |
| Production
year |
- |
| Engine |
4.7
litre V8 |
At the 2010 Geneva Motor Show two of the largest Italian
automotive design firms both unveiled concept cars to
mark the 100th anniversary of Alfa Romeo. Except where
Pininfarina unveiled the 2uettottanta
concept - which looked just a few tweaks away from
being production ready. Bertone came up with the Pandion
- which looked like it came from another dimension.
It's great to see Bertone's back with some bold originality,
because with their recent managerial and financial turmoil
a more conservative design might have been more likely.
Instead though they decided to dial up the craziness and
channel it into an innovative concept which would turn
heads and break new ground in automotive design.
The Pandion gets its name from the Latin name for an Osprey:
a sea hawk that nests and lives in coastal areas. The
designers, led by Bertone's new Brand Director, Mike Robinson,
took inspiration from the wings of this bird of prey when
designing the jaw dropping door opening mechanisms, and
from the hawks' facial markings when developing the next
generation Alfa Romeo face.
The front end of the Alfa Romeo Pandion features a striking
new design which, while recognizable as belonging to an
Alfa, takes the styling another step forward. Which is
impressive considering how good most Alfa Romeo's look
today. The front end is designed to resemble the helmets
worn by ancient warriors, with slits for the headlights
and a slightly larger opening for the grille. Below the
headlights are additional horizontal openings for fog
lights.
However it's not until you see the rear of the Pandion
that the design really gets interesting. Here the designers
have incorporated an array of crystal-like blades which
are intertwined in various widths and lengths in a seemingly
random pattern. This unique structure is designed to make
it look like the car is traveling so fast the framework
of the car is actually starting to disintegrate out of
the back of the vehicle. Two small panels underneath this
latticework house the quadruple tailpipes. These white
painted panels are supposed to convey a sense of continuity
to the design, as if they are fixed to the rest of the
bodywork. The taillights are fully integrated into the
organic tangle of the blades and disappear when turned
off.
The Pandion's interior is also on the receiving end of
some rather peculiar design ideas. The structures used
within were created to appear somewhat organic or 'grown'.
The 2+2 seating layout - although even in the press release
from Alfa Romeo they acknowledged that the rear seats
are merely 'extra spaces' - is typical of Alfa's sports
cars. The front seats which seem to flow out of the footwells
are only 30 mm thick. They have carbon
fibre shells and are covered in a backlit gel material
which conforms to the shape of the driver's or passenger's
body.
The steering wheel is clearly that of a sports car, while
the controls are similar to those of Alfa Romeo race cars,
with two analogue dials placed directly on the steering
column. Three of the four LCD screens offer a rear view
inside the passenger compartment (two on the sides, one
on the windscreen) and they are directly connected to
the external video cameras that substitute the rear view
mirrors normally placed outside the car. The larger screen
placed in the centre (9"), in the middle of the console
- and within reach of the passenger as well as the driver
- also displays information on the car's secondary systems.
Powering the Alfa Romeo Pandion is a 4.7 litre V8 which
produces 450 horsepower.
Similar and related vehicles:
Alfa Romeo 2uettottanta
Alfa Romeo Proteo
Alfa Romeo Brera
Alfa Romeo Issima
Alfa Romeo Nuvola
Alfa Romeo 8C Competizione
Alfa Romeo BAT 11
Alfa Romeo Diva
Alfa Romeo Spix
Alfa Romeo Coelus
Alfa Romeo Montreal
Alfa Romeo Berlina Da Corsa
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