Celebrating the Art of Italian Coachbuilding
Celebrating the Art of Italian Coachbuilding
Imagine strolling into a 1970 auto show and coming face-to-future with a vehicle so low and sharp it could slice the bell-bottoms right off your leisure suit. In the 1970s, Italian design houses like Pininfarina, Bertone, Ghia, and Italdesign were in a feverish race to envision the car of tomorrow – and apparently, tomorrow was shaped like a doorstop.
The De Tomaso Pantera is a unique blend of Italian style and American muscle – a mid-engine exotic born from an unlikely partnership between a boutique Italian carmaker and the Ford Motor Company. Conceived in the early 1970s, this sharp-edged sports car combined a sleek Italian design with a brawny Detroit V8, creating an automotive love child of two continents. It emerged in the quirky automotive landscape of the 1970s as an “odd mid-engined supercar” that “never earned acclaim as Ferrari and Lamborghini did; yet its iconic design and Ford-sourced engine made it an icon of the time”. For car enthusiasts, the Pantera’s story is a compelling tale of ambition, innovation, quirks, and raw horsepower – all wrapped in a package that could make a Ferrari owner sweat. In this article, we’ll dive deep into the Pantera’s origin and design, its technical feats and foibles, how it stacked up against Italian rivals, its evolution through the years, and even its modern rebirth in spirit. Buckle up (and maybe keep a fire extinguisher handy) as we explore the legend of the Pantera.
Italy in the 1950s was a place where wrecked roads and rationed fuel couldn’t stop a design revolution. Post-war Italians approached car design with the same gusto they applied to opera and espresso – loud, passionate, and utterly original. The result was the birth of the fuoriserie movement, a golden age of custom-built cars crafted by master carrozzieri (coachbuilders) that turned everyday chassis into rolling art. This was the era when a humble Fiat could don a bespoke suit of aluminum and when driving your one-of-a-kind coupe to the local café made you a minor celebrity. In this long-form road trip through history, we’ll explore how Italy’s coachbuilders redefined automotive artistry in the ’50s, blending technical innovation with cultural flair in a way that was as humorous and engaging as it was groundbreaking.
Delve into the Ford RS200, a legendary mid-engine Group B rally car of the 1980s. Learn its wild history, cutting-edge design, specs, rally record, and cult legacy
If you’ve ever driven a Volkswagen Golf or drooled over a Lotus Esprit, you have Giorgetto Giugiaro to thank. This Italian design wizard has penned everything from everyday hatchbacks to exotic movie star cars – all in a career spanning more than 60 years. Born into an artistic family in rural Italy, Giugiaro went from sketching cars as a teen to being crowned Car Designer of the Century in 1999. Along the way, he even dabbled in designing cameras, firearms, and yes, a new shape of pasta (because why not?). Buckle up for a ride through Giugiaro’s life and work – a chronological tour of the man who styled the cars we drive and the ones we dream about.
Italian classic cars are more than just beautiful machines — they’re works of art on wheels, infused with design brilliance, motorsport history, and unmatched emotion. As we head into 2025, collectors and enthusiasts are zeroing in on several Italian models that are quickly rising in value.
If you’ve ever dreamed of restoring a vintage Alfa, investing in a Ferrari-powered Fiat, or owning a wedge-shaped piece of Italian history, now may be your moment — before the market moves beyond reach.
Discover the true story behind the De Tomaso 1600 Spider—an unauthorized copy of the Fiat X1/9 revealed at the 1971 Turin Motor Show. A forgotten scandal involving Alejandro De Tomaso, Ghia, Bertone, and a daring act of automotive espionage.
Discover the history of the Fiat 1100 TV Trasformabile, the Italian Corvette that blended American-inspired design with European charm. Explore its evolution, design features, and legacy as one of Fiat’s most stylish classic spiders.
The Alfa Romeo Giulia Coupé never happened – but what if it did? Imagine a world where Alfa Romeo handed the Giulia chassis to legendary Italian coachbuilders to create stunning coupés, just like the one-off Giulia SWB by Zagato. What would Bertone, Ghia, and Vignale have crafted? With the help of AI, we explored this alternate reality, drawing inspiration from iconic designs of the past. Discover our vision of these timeless masterpieces.
It’s true: In the ’80s, Ford aimed to make a sultry-looking supercar with better grip and handling than anything else on the road, including the Ferrari Testarossa and Lamborghini Countach. It would have best-in-class ride quality, easy-to-live-with practicality, and a price tag comparable to a Chevrolet Corvette or Porsche 944. And it came close to reality … before being dropped in favor of an SUV. This is the story of the GN34.
Alfa Romeo’s 1900 had already proven itself as a jack-of-all-trades—comfortable enough for family road trips yet eager to show its claws on the racetrack. But not everyone was satisfied. Enthusiasts craved more power, while purists bemoaned the lack of a proper floor-mounted gearshift. And then there were the coachbuilding connoisseurs—those who longed for a coupé, a cabriolet, or a bare chassis they could hand over to Italy’s finest carrozzerie for a tailor-made masterpiece.
Turin has long been a global epicenter of automotive design, a city where innovation and artistry have shaped the industry for over a century. From the early 1900s, beneath the iconic Mole Antonelliana, timeless vehicles have been crafted, making Turin the undisputed heart of Italian car design. Today, this legacy continues within the newly established “Vehicle Valley” of Piedmont.
