10 Of The Strangest Italian Concept Cars Ever
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10 Of The Strangest Italian Concept Cars Ever
Italian cars manufacturers' famous passion, flair, and desire to stand out resulted in a fair share of outlandish concepts over the years.
The Italians make some of the best cars in the world – not necessarily for their build quality, but in terms of driving feel and automotive soul. Sometimes they get a bit carried away with their descriptions and performance figures, but this just adds to their cars’ awesomeness.
Italian concept cars – like their production counterparts – are amongst the greatest showcases at motor shows. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, Italian concept cars followed much of the same basic design elements in the form of wedge shapes – ultimately resulting in the production version of the Lamborghini Countach. This wedge trend continued well into the 1980s and influenced many sports cars and supercars over the years – from the Fiat X1/9 to the Ferrari 512 Testarossa, and even other manufacturers’ cars such as Chevrolet with their C4 Corvette.
With all the passion and flair they put into designing their cars, Italian manufacturers produced plenty of gorgeous cars over the years. However, their desire to stand out also resulted in a fair share of outlandish concepts.
10 / 10 1968 Alfa Romeo Carabo
The Alfa Romeo Carabo was the winner of the so-called ‘wedge war’ of the 1968 Paris Motor Show. The Carabo is also considered to be the direct predecessor to the Lamborghini Countach, sharing much of its styling and the famous scissor doors.
The Carabo was built on the 33 Stradale chassis and featured a 2.0-liter V8 producing 230 hp at an atmospheric 8,800 rpm and 148 lb-ft at 7,000 rpm. The car was fitted with a 6-speed manual transmission and was capable of reaching 155 mph. The Carabo was also 39 inches tall, making the Ford GT40 look like a skyscraper.
Related: Alfa Romeo Needs To Bring Back The Spider Quadrifoglio
9 / 10 1976 Ferrari Rainbow
The Ferrari Rainbow was a weird blend of retro-futuristic styling incorporated into a design that looks like a mash-up of a Fiat X1/9 and Lancia Stratos – all conglomerated on the chassis of a Ferrari 308 GT4. It was also pained gray, a color not really known for featuring in a rainbow.
The Rainbow was a statement of automotive design and featured Ferrari’s first instance of a mid-engine retracting hard-top roof – an accolade accredited to the 458 Spyder. While the Ferrari Rainbow was an interesting car to look at, we are incredibly glad it never made production – unlike the absolutely gorgeous 1980 Pinin.
8 / 10 1970 Lancia Stratos Zero
The Lancia Stratos is one of the most legendary cars in production history. It was a massively successful rally car, and thanks to its lightness, was a great sports car – even though it was a handful to drive.
The Stratos Zero Concept was one of the first prototypes which would eventually become the production Stratos. The Zero featured the 1.6-liter V4 engine from the Fulvia and is considered to be one of the greatest automotive design concepts to ever exist. It was so good, that it was featured in the High Museum of Art’s ‘Dream Cars’ exhibit in Atlanta, Georgia.
Related: Here's Why The Lancia Stratos Needs To Make A Comeback
7 / 10 1976 Alfa Romeo Navajo
Another Alfa Romeo concept based on a 33 Stradale chassis was the Navajo – a retro-futuristic sports car that looked like it drove straight out of the Spectrum R&D department in the classic Captain Scarlet television series. It featured the same 2.0-liter V8 as the Alfa Romeo Carabo.
Unfortunately, Bertone only built one example of the Navajo. The styling was a complete departure from Alfa Romeo design of the previous few decades, and it ushered in a new era of Alfa Romeo road cars.
6 / 10 1970 Ferrari 512 S Modulo
The Ferrari 512 S Modulo looks like something which would be comfortable starring in classic science fiction movies such as 2001: A Space Odyssey, or the 1979 James Bond film, Moonraker. It is built on a 512’s chassis and fitted with a 5.0-liter V12 engine producing in excess of 550 hp.
The car was shown off at the 1970 Geneva Motor Show, whereafter it was kept in the Museum of Pininfarina in Turin, Italy. The concept was then sold to American entrepreneur James Glickenhaus in 2014, who is busy with a full restoration.
5 / 10 1972 Maserati Boomerang
The Maserati Boomerang follows the Italian formula of flat and pointy geometric shapes. However, this is not what made the Boomerang stand out from the crowd. The Boomerang’s unique feature is its interesting take on the steering wheel. While all other steering wheels are mounted in front of the instrument cluster, the wheel on the Boomerang is part of the cluster.
While it is a great concept car, it was mainly its steering wheel design that made it stand out. It is an exceptional feature that is only now being experimented with on production cars such as the Koenigsegg Jesko and Gemera.
Related: The 2023 Maserati Grecale Shows Us The Future Of Italian Sports Cars
4 / 10 1967 Lamborghini Marzal
The Lamborghini Marzal was another wedge design with some interesting features. The car itself was built as a one-off to showcase the company’s new design language. It was designed as a four-seater, however, the concept only had two doors, which opened upwards in the same manner as the Mercedes-Benz 300SL Gullwing’s doors.
To accommodate the design, the car was fitted with a 2.0-liter inline-6 at the back of the car – like a Porsche 911 – and had a 5-speed manual transmission. The Marzal was first unveiled to the world at the 1967 Monaco Grand Prix, driven by Prince Rainier III and his wife, Princess Grace. It made an appearance again during the opening ceremony of the 2018 Monaco Grand Prix, with Prince Albert at the wheel and Princess Charlene by his side. Quite the important car then.
3 / 10 1967 OSI Silver Fox
The OSI Silver Fox was a proposed supercar that resembled a catamaran rather than a car. It was a last attempt to keep the Italian coach-builder afloat – pun intended – and was built using left-over parts from previous contracts.
Where supercars of the era featured large V12s, the Silver Fox was fitted with a 1.0-liter 4-cylinder engine, which produced less than 100 hp. OSI intended to enter the Silver Fox into the 1968 24 Hours of Le Mans, but unfortunately, the company went under in 1967.
2 / 10 1980 Lamborghini Athon
The Lamborghini Athon was an exercise in automotive design, influenced by the recently invented Cyberpunk genre. It was based on the Lamborghini Silhouette of the previous year and was built by Bertone. Under the hood was the same 3.0-liter V8 from the Silhouette, producing around 260 hp and 237 lb-ft of torque.
The Athon was built during one of Lamborghini’s financial crises, eventually being given to Bertone to showcase in their museum. The media coverage regarding this move saved Lamborghini and allowed the company to continue its business until it was bought by Audi during its next financial difficulty in 1998.
Related: Lamborghini Teases New Model, Sets Reveal Date
1 / 10 1953, 1954, And 1955 Alfa Romeo BAT
The Alfa Romeo BAT concepts were never intended for mass production, but rather as testbeds for aerodynamic studies. The three Berlina Aerodinamica Tecnica cars were built between 1953 and 1955, with each car exploring a different aspect of aerodynamics.
While the current Mercedes-Benz EQS holds the title as the most aerodynamic production car with a drag coefficient of just 0.19 cd, the BAT 7 achieved this same coefficient in 1954. The Alfa Romeo BAT cars are amongst the most influential concept cars in the motor industry – even if they look like something Batman would drive. Alfa Romeo tried to rekindle their legacy with the BAT 11 concept in 2008. The three BAT cars were sold together in 2020 for a hefty $14.8 million and make regular appearances at the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance these days.
Michael De Kock is passionate about cars and everything from avocados to particle accelerators. He has studied psychology and knows a little bit about fixing cars (old Land Rovers mostly). He also blogs and has a book, 125 Creative Writing Prompts for Petrolheads, available on Amazon. His philosophy in life: Stop the hate - Adopt a V8.
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