Geneva show: Italy to get another raging bull

ITALIAN design house Italdesign is about to put its new-found engineering and prototyping skills to good effect by starting its own low-volume supercar division, starting with a run of just five hand-built cars aimed at cashed up collectors.

To be launched next month at the Geneva motor show, Italdesign Automobili Speciali will be based in the same Nichelino workshops outside Turin that turned out 70 pre-production prototypes of the recently launched Audi Q2.

Like its part owner Lamborghini, Italdesign has chosen a logo featuring a bull for its new venture, in a nod to its home town that has a rampant bull on its coat of arms.

Since December, the company has released four teaser images of its new supercar, showing fragments of the bodywork, badges and headlights while promising a powerful engine and high performance.

“It will be an extraordinary story, on ordinary roads,” the blurb says.

The company has given no hints at the powertrain of the new car, but with Lamborghini and Audi as joint owners, it is possible that it will simply lift a V10 from its sister companies.

Alternatively, it might employ an all-electric powertrain like the one it plonked in its 2016 Geneva show star, the Lamborghini Huracan-based GTZero wagon concept.

That three-motor system had a claimed top speed of 250km/h and a range of 500km.

Founded by legendary designer Giorgetto Giugiaro in 1968, Italdesign has delivered concept and production car designs for a wide range of motor companies, including Volkswagen, Maserati, Alfa Romeo, Audi, Fiat, Hyundai, SsangYong and Ford.

In recent years, it has branched out into engineering prototyping, fabricating pre-production cars for various clients, particularly Audi.

Italdesign CEO Joerg Astalosch said his company had said last year that it had competencies in styling, development and production of “ultra-low-series cars”.

“Today, one year later, we are delivering the first running testimonial,” he said. “This part of our business has been now integrated into our existing service portfolio.

“This is styling, engineering, prototyping for small and high volume production vehicles, especially also as a turnkey competence. One example for these services in general is the recently launched Audi Q2.”Naturally, Italdesign Automobili Speciali’s new logo was done in-house.

Italdesign head of innovation design Filippo Perini said the logo was inspired by the symbol of Turin, the bull.

“In this city the history of Italian automobile was born, the most famous and prestigious car-makers were born, as well as the ‘coachbuilders’ who made the Italian car design famous worldwide,” he said.

“Besides, it’s the city which hosted, from 1968 to 1974, the first headquarters of Italdesign. With whis logo therefore we wanted to celebrate the passion and the know-how that ideally unite Italdesign and Turin.”Apparently, the logo comes with the seal of approval of the City of Turin.