As an artist, wouldn't Jason Castriota's works become more valued after his death? And he'd be remembered as the guy who designed the prettiest insect.
I say, buy one, and kill him.
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Now, seriously, I think the car looks alright. It's got some awesome points, like the wings, the doors, and the aggression and angles which is just so Bertone. I'm staring at a pic of the P4/5 right now, which is so athletic, lean and curvaceous, pure Pininfarina. I laud him for switching to such a radically different design philosophy and doing pretty damn well. However, I do think the proportions look weird from the front 3/4 view, kind of like a halfway house between a conventional coupe and a shooting brake, but without any of the functionality of a shooting brake.
Overall, I'd say a decent design, and surely he's gonna sell it all out, if they go ahead with their production plans. ZR1 platform is awesome, exclusivity is, well, exclusive and sought after by those super-rich.
Go take a look at that '47 Ferrari for a minute, and then come back in and try to say something positive about this horror. Face it: human beings already know what's beautiful.
Classic cars are beautiful because the designers were only concerned with beauty, not trying for "modernity" or "expression" or other bollocks du jour. This thing is trying not to look "new" so hard that it's deliberately ugly.
Bad news Bertone: if I want deliberately ugly, I can buy a Subaru.
I've been hanging around with a lot of Alfa enthusiasts lately, and looking at old Alfas is a good way to understand the whole Pininfarina/Bertone divide. Look at a Duetto (boat-tail) Alfa Spider, designed by Battista Pininfarina. It's all convex curves, except for the concave section halfway up the side-- cut off the windshield and it'd look a bit like a wheeled torpedo. Then look at a "step-nose" Giulia GTV, designed by Giorgetto Giugiaro, who might disagree with Peter's assertion that Gandini was the most influential designer at Bertone. It's curvaceous too, but it's much more muscular and aggressive. The two cars are both recognizably "Alfa-ish," but they're completely different from a stylistic perspective. This is awfully surprising, considering they're basically the same car under the skin. Luckily, we don't have to choose just one.
I loved that Quattroporte! My uncle had that Quattroporte in dark blue with a beige interior - it was gorgeous. I was surprised to see a Viennese license plate on the car that seems to be parked in the czech republic. Then again it's not particularly far to drive ;)
Great article as always, it's a pleasure to read you Peter!
I don't know when Marcello first used the "Angular Rear Wheelarch", but if we look at the '70 Lancia Stratos Zero concept, which was unveiled 1 year before the Countach, we can see a kind of.
Regarding the use of this feature on the Mantide...I always considered this feature as Gandini's signature more than Bertone's signature, because Marcello used it during his years at Bertone of course, but also later, as an independent designer (Quattroporte, Diablo, CiZeta V16T, etc.).
I mean, it's historically correct that today we have Bertone's cars featuring "Angular Rear Wheelarches", but in my opinion, being Marcello a famous designer, and being still alive and active, I wouldn't have used (stolen?) his signature as a sign of respect for one of the best car designers ever. What do you think about?
Once again, superb prose, Mr. Orosz. Although the Pininfarina/Bertone analogy, which would've been apt 10 years ago, is no longer valid as Pininfarina's design these days have been a mixed bag. Their designs are no longer graceful (perhaps with the exception of the GranTurismo) and they are adorned with fuctional ugliness/ugly functionality without the critical sense of timeless beauty. Ironically, Jason Castriota and Ken Okuyama were instrumental in this.
And I must lament the fact that you would associate the Mantide with the Countach. Mr. Castriota no doubt has more Bertone in him than Pininfarina, but other than the fact that both are extreme interpretation of car design, I see no real connection.
The eccentric wheel arches are a Gandini (my all time hero, even more than Fioravanti, or Giugiaro) trademark, and the Mantide's just seems like a poor copy made from a cellphone picture, or rather a errant style addition to the mess that is the Mantide.
06/19/09
I say, buy one, and kill him.
---
Now, seriously, I think the car looks alright. It's got some awesome points, like the wings, the doors, and the aggression and angles which is just so Bertone. I'm staring at a pic of the P4/5 right now, which is so athletic, lean and curvaceous, pure Pininfarina. I laud him for switching to such a radically different design philosophy and doing pretty damn well. However, I do think the proportions look weird from the front 3/4 view, kind of like a halfway house between a conventional coupe and a shooting brake, but without any of the functionality of a shooting brake.
Overall, I'd say a decent design, and surely he's gonna sell it all out, if they go ahead with their production plans. ZR1 platform is awesome, exclusivity is, well, exclusive and sought after by those super-rich.
06/19/09
Classic cars are beautiful because the designers were only concerned with beauty, not trying for "modernity" or "expression" or other bollocks du jour. This thing is trying not to look "new" so hard that it's deliberately ugly.
Bad news Bertone: if I want deliberately ugly, I can buy a Subaru.
06/19/09
06/19/09
06/19/09
06/19/09
06/19/09
06/19/09
06/19/09
By that token, would a X6 also be considered a marvel of modern design? If so, I quit.
06/19/09
im hating the camera angles... or it could be that this car doesnt have any good angle to it
06/19/09
06/19/09
05/07/09
05/07/09
05/08/09
05/07/09
05/07/09
I don't know when Marcello first used the "Angular Rear Wheelarch", but if we look at the '70 Lancia Stratos Zero concept, which was unveiled 1 year before the Countach, we can see a kind of.
Regarding the use of this feature on the Mantide...I always considered this feature as Gandini's signature more than Bertone's signature, because Marcello used it during his years at Bertone of course, but also later, as an independent designer (Quattroporte, Diablo, CiZeta V16T, etc.).
I mean, it's historically correct that today we have Bertone's cars featuring "Angular Rear Wheelarches", but in my opinion, being Marcello a famous designer, and being still alive and active, I wouldn't have used (stolen?) his signature as a sign of respect for one of the best car designers ever. What do you think about?
05/12/09
05/07/09
Sorry.
05/07/09
And I must lament the fact that you would associate the Mantide with the Countach. Mr. Castriota no doubt has more Bertone in him than Pininfarina, but other than the fact that both are extreme interpretation of car design, I see no real connection.
The eccentric wheel arches are a Gandini (my all time hero, even more than Fioravanti, or Giugiaro) trademark, and the Mantide's just seems like a poor copy made from a cellphone picture, or rather a errant style addition to the mess that is the Mantide.