Designing the future
Birth of a prototype
Creating a prototype involves several co-ordinated stages and impeccable teamwork, beginning with freehand sketches and culminating in the full-scale model. The intervening phases are marked by the continuous search by the entire team for solutions and combinations that will create cutting-edge motoring perfection.
8C Competizione
Designed and developed by the Alfa Romeo Style Center, the ‘8C Competizione’ prototype will be the veritable icon of the brand, with a name that evokes the great sports tradition of the Company. As borne out by the code ‘8c’, which in the Thirties and Forties already characterized the road and race cars equipped with the original 8 cylinder engine designed by the famous engineer Vittorio Jano.
The name ‘Competizione’ is a tribute to the 6C 2500 Competizione, the sports coupe driven by Fangio and Zanardi in the celebrated Mille Miglia race in 1950.
Thus, ‘8c Competizione’ is no mere fancy name, rather it is a reference to the brand’s long-standing involvement in sports. In reality, the Alfa Romeo legend was born to a significant extent of the wins obtained by its car models on the race tracks all over the world. So numerous that, by themselves, they add up to a long and fascinating story, made of people and agonistic passion, engines and cutting-edge technical solutions. The same protagonists who helped to create that inestimable human and technological heritage that continues to generate beautiful car models, full of character, and, above all, able to combine the emotion of styling with the pleasure of driving.
This is the background of the original, captivating style of this ‘straight 2-seater’, made of carbon fiber and generously sized: it is 1,900 mm wide, 4,278 long and 1,250 high, with a wheelbase length of 2,595 mm. Great dynamism is achieved by the horizontal ‘groove’ that surmounts the front wheel arches and extends into the sides.
Moreover, the large tires (245/40 – R20 at front and 275/35 – R20 at rear) and the ‘muscular’ rear wings accentuate the impression of individuality and strength of the model. All this, however, does not detract in the least from the elegance of the lines that run softly from the front to the rear, all the way to the light clusters set in the integral bumpers. The overall stylistic balance finds its maximum expression in the bold design of the backlight, which occupies the rear surface and partly enwraps the rear pillars. Of great historical and evolutionary significance is the rearrangement of the front elements the way they were in the most important Alfa sport cars of the past: the ‘whiskers’ and the shield, in fact, are aligned at the same level. Not to mention the fact that the entire bodywork is a sequence of classical references, an ideal stage where the Brand’s stylistic cues are revisited in a modern key. They can be identified at a glance: see for instance the front, evoking the features of the old on-road version of the 33 Coupe, or the tail, with the round lights clusters that characterized the Giulia TZ.
In short, the ‘8c Competizione’ concept car has an appeal that cannot be resisted, in that it is the purest expression of Alfa Romeo’s concept of the ‘motor car’. Indeed, with this unprecedented model, Alfa Romeo’s stylistic language takes yet another step forward. Compared to the ‘Nuvola’ concept car – which prefigured the shapes and surface treatments of Alfa Romeo’s new aesthetics -, the stylistic approach of the ‘8c Competizione’ exalts the brand’s DNA through a modern, hi-tech interpretation of the most renowned projects in the history of Alfa Romeo.
Nor should we forget a unique feature that has always characterized Alfa Romeo’s sports models and continues to do so today: the excitement that even the most sophisticated drivers invariably experience at the wheel of an Alfa Romeo. And the ‘8c Competizione’ is no exception to this rule. Just consider that the vital force under the bonnet is a 4.2 liter engine with 8 cylinders in V (90°) formation, supercharged by means of a volumetric compressor.
This powerful engine develops over 400 HP at 7,000 rpm and is mated to a rear-mounted mechanical 6-speed gearbox to achieve a top speed of over 300 km/h (168 mph), enabling the prototype to accelerate from 0 to 100 km (0 to 60 mph) in but 4 seconds and a half. The absolute performance capabilities of the V8 engine in terms of power and torque include both stunning peaks (over 45 kgm (325 lb-ft) at 4,500 rpm) and regular and progressive delivery, even at very low speeds, making the 8c into a car which is capable of exalting feats, but is also suitable for everyday use on regular roads, not just on the race tracks.
To its sparkling performance, the ‘8c Competizione’ adds extraordinary road holding and the handling of a purebred sports car. The merit goes to the double wishbone suspension (front and rear), ensuring maximum driving pleasure, and combining the superior control associated with front-wheel drive with exceptional sportiness and accuracy: the ideal combination when tackling mixed routes. It should also be noted that for this prototype Alfa Romeo selected front-wheel drive precisely in order to give free rein to the exuberance of the engine and offer emotions truly beyond compare.
The cockpit shares the same design logic as the bodywork, both in terms of compact, sport-orientated design, resulting in great lightness, and in terms of an exquisitely formal styling which, by striking the best balance between form and function, puts the emphasis on the most significant and characterizing features of the interior trim.
Formal analogies establish an intriguing consonance between the exterior and the interior: this is well exemplified by the rear wings, which underscore and highlight the wheels by creating a muscular contraction in the bodywork, while, internally, a corrugation in the smooth surface of the facia around the two round instruments produces an eye-catching effect.
The same scheme can be observed in the entire facia, where all the functional parts are enveloped and incorporated into the basic carbon surface, but their natural distinction in terms of shape and function, instead of being effaced, is forcefully underscored by the use of different materials: this applies to the black air nozzles, the black lid atop the dash and the highly refined cockpit made of dark-tinted aluminium.
The essential, sporty quality of the interior trim is further enhanced by the typical color scheme of race cars: mostly black, but enlivened by an artful counterpoint of light and dark elements, light and shade, achieved by a careful choice of materials. This configuration, which gets across an impression of structural lightness, was obtained by seeking the optimal balance between high-tech materials, carbon and aluminum, and traditional materials, leather and twisted natural fibres.
The contrast between smooth and rough textured surfaces generates a distinctive three-dimensional quality: the cockpit structure and the side sections of the seats – in aluminum and fine grained leather – have an intrinsically level texture, while the materials making up the broader, more uniform surfaces are characterized by the interplay of light and shade, as in the carbon expanses of the facia, the rear wall and the floor, the braided pattern of the central portion of the seats, the glossy composite material making up the door panels.
Brera
When looking to the future, Alfa Romeo doesn’t change it’s winning habits! It still launches concept cars that lead the way on the roads of the future. The prototype representing the brand’s manifesto for the start of the 3rd millennium is the “BRERA”, a model with thrilling and rational contemporary styling, created by Italian design.
Basing the model on an original idea by the Alfa Romeo Style Center, Giugiaro has come up with a new front, one that is dynamic (with its V-shape design), but still classic (with the chrome holders for the six lights set into two triangular holes. Meanwhile, in the splendidly reworked side and rear, one can spot the stylistic features typical of the brand, that were used so well in the 147. A true declaration of intent for the brand’s aesthetic philosophy!
Proteo and Nuvola
Designs that influence the future, “Concept Cars” represent an innovative basis to build upon. A conceptual debut that can be read as a sort of “manifesto” of the company’s goals.
The mid-eighties saw the creation of the Proteo, a model that could be seen as the sense and direction of a change that was taking place at various levels. The Proteo represents a major turnaround for the company in ideological, formal and design terms, the precursor of the models of the nineties. The 145, the 146, the GTV and the Spider can all be considered design spin-offs prompted by the Proteo.
The second half of the nineties saw a further strategic rethink in Alfa Romeo’s design and corporate philosophy, focusing on the company’s historical and essential sporting background. The first concrete example of this ideological definition was the 1996 prototype, the Nuvola, considered the embodiment of these new ideas. With a highly suggestive character and aerodynamic styling, the Nuvola has rounded, sinuous lines, but subtle, almost imperceptible edges give these lines the feel of tensed muscles. The Nuvola represented the school of thought behind later models, such as the 147, 156 and 166.