The futuristic car that also inspired Arnold Schwarzenegger in “Act of Force” was the star of “The Ice St. Moritz”, among the most beautiful cars in the world. Marcello Gandini’s concept was created starting from the road-going Lancia Stratos
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The Lancia Sibilo Bertone from the Lopresto Collection that paraded in the elegance contest seems to have glided straight from space to the snows of the Engadine The Ice St. Moritz. The prototype designed by Marcello Gandini captivated the public at the most awaited event in the famous Swiss ski resort, which brought vintage and racing cars from all over the world to the frozen lake. The latest evolution of the Lancia Stratos family, the Sibilo was born as a futuristic style experiment: the prototype, exhibited at the Turin Motor Show in 1978, is one of the last examples of the wedge-shaped line typical of the 1970s, of which Gandini was the greatest interpreter.
SPACE FORMS BY GANDINI
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The Lancia Sibilo continues to amaze with its futuristic shapes, released at the end of the 1970s by the Bertone style center in Caprie as a supercar prototype designed on the chassis of the Lancia Stratos. It was a concept with such revolutionary shapes that it could not be put into production, because it was too ahead of the times. The name, placed in the center of the tail between the two lights, was more than appropriate, indicating precisely the hissing sound of an object launched at very high speed in the air, just as the aerodynamics of the car promised to do. Based on a road-going version of the World Rally Championship-winning Lancia Stratos, the Sibilo with its characteristic chocolate brown paint was designed by the then head of design at Bertone, Marcello Gandini, who conceptually maintained the lines of the Stratos, while exaggerating its style me. The layout of the mechanics remained the same, but it had a 10 cm longer wheelbase: the most disruptive aspect, from a design point of view, concerned the monolithic line designed as a single piece, with even the windows hidden by a shaded brown paint . In Bertone’s view, the stylistic interventions on the glass surfaces were a fundamental element in the search for a new aesthetic for the car. The windscreen and side windows were flush-fitted, with the contact points carefully painted for smooth, uninterrupted surfaces, and the bumpers were also fully integrated, with a subtle movement effect, and an orange finish that echoed the volume. actual of the car. The hiss had a single windscreen wiper that ran horizontally across the flat windshield, with retractable headlights, and the sculptural effect of the shapes was only interrupted by the squared-off wheel arches that became an evolution of the road-going Stratos design. Like virtually all Bertone concept cars up to that date, the body was hand-beaten steel, and the unusual choice of polycarbonate for the side windows was the result of a “delay” in deliveries from Bertone’s glass supplier, which did not he had managed to send the materials in time for the presentation at the Turin Motor Show.
MINIMALIST INTERIORS
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Even the absolutely minimalist interior of the car amazed with a totally new approach to driving comfort. The steering wheel and instrumentation anticipated the lines and concepts of today’s racing cars: the grip on the steering wheel, for example, had been specially designed for the ergonomics of the hand, in order to give a feeling of greater comfort. All the basic functions of the car were grouped in the center of the dashboard, with the main information transmitted via a digital display angled towards the driver. The sci-fi lines of this prototype, brought by Corrado and Duccio Lopresto on the frozen lake of St. Moritz, were inspired by the car of the 1990 film “Atto di forza” by Paul Verhoeven, with Arnold Schwarzenegger. The Lancia Sibilo concept has arrived at The Ice St Moritz in original condition, apart from the repainting, with the precious Lancia mechanics preserved and maintained. “The engine comes from the Ferrari racing team, and is extremely valuable” – explains Corrado Lopresto. “When I bought it at an auction in Villa d’Este in 2006, they told me it was ready to be driven and I set off, but the wheels broke because they were made of wood and I had to remake them in aluminium”.
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#Lancia #Stratos #Bertones #Sibilo #Moritz