Italdesign Giugiaro Brivido Hybrid Gullwing Sports Car Debuts At Geneva

[jetboy]

I wasn't aware of VW's ownership of Italdesign.

So you think if this was ever realized it would be a Lambo or Porsche?

[BoxerFanatic]

Originally Posted by jetboy

I wasn't aware of VW's ownership of Italdesign.

So you think if this was ever realized it would be a Lambo or Porsche?

Yeah, they bought out Giorgetto Giugiaro and his family a year or two ago. I think they still have a small stake, but VW now owns most of ItalDesign.

If it were realized, I am not sure. Not Porsche, though, their design is fairly set for them, and if they were to do a coupe, it would probably just be a shortened panamera, but 991 is really slotting into that Grand Tourer role that 928 originally was in, as 991 has gone with a less spartan interior, longer wheelbase, and wider front track.

Audi, possibly, but it would probably have to replace the A5, as it certainly isn't the same as the more compact Quattro Sport concept from last year, and Audi does go with chunkier more monolithic designs. Plus it might interfere with the already well received A7.

Lamborghini... doubtful, unless they revive their GT line, but they seem not to want to step on Porsches and Audi's toes with that, and they are going all in with their geometric/cubist styling language.

I can see it getting 'normalized' with traditionally hinged doors, and possibly replacing the Passat CC, and perhaps bridging the pricing gap between the current Passat, and the rumored successor to the Phaeton, sort of like a transverse-engined, haldex-AWD, less expensive VW cousin to the aforementioned Audi A7.

It would be interesting to see if the 3-side door, asymmetrical layout of the Hyundai Veloster, and the Pininfarina Cambiano concept car, and the previous Mazda Kabura concept car, actually gets adopted more widely, with coupe-like driver focus on one-side, and sedan-like passenger accommodation on the other.

Either that, or Brivido may just stay in the no-man's land of un-realized concept cars.

[jetboy]

I just can't see these lines in a VW. It's way too italian.

If Lambo can make SUVs, why can't they make GTs?

[BoxerFanatic]

Originally Posted by jetboy

I just can't see these lines in a VW. It's way too italian.

If Lambo can make SUVs, why can't they make GTs?

Lamborghini originated building Grand Touring coupes, when Enzo Ferrari snubbed Ferruccio Lamborghini. Lamborghini decided to compete with him.

Super-cars came later, after Miura was such a gestalt shift in the market.

The thing is, that the Audi branch of VW Auto Group owns Lamborghini, and Audi sells passenger sedans and GT coupes like S5 and RS5.

Porsche is now under VW AG, and sells GT coupes in the 911 lineup, as well as the Panamera sedan.

Bentley sells a car actually NAMED GT, that also is in Lambo's price point neighborhood.

Audi, Porsche, and Bentley serve to confine Lamborghini to building Supercars, and they build Supercars well, and have a long reputation for it, with exclusively low volume. I think they are going to stick with it.

There is rumors for a Estoque sedan and SUV based on it, probably platform based on the Bentley, who is also trying to get into a CUV/SUV. It is going to be a challenge to carve out enough customers at that level to support multiple name-plates within a company, not including all the external competitors like Maserati and Aston Martin, and BMW-owned Rolls Royce, and Mercedes Benz's higher end.

Lamborghini trying to build a GT coupe or sedan sleeker than Estoque, in the idiom of what the Brivido is, would step on Bentley GT, Audi RS5 and S7, and Porsche 991 and Panamera toes.

And BTW... Past VWs have had ItalDesign looks, like the original Golf/Rabbit, and the first generation Scirocco. One might even include Corrado in that a bit. A new Passat CC successor with fresh Giugiaro styling might not be as unlikely as you think.

Plus, I am not sure that VW is getting such good feedback on their utterly bland new Golf, Jetta, and Passat, in terms of design. They are quite boring looking.

[jetboy]

GG has styled a lot of VW cars but they still look distinctly different from his Maserati, Alfa and countless other cars.

The Brivido looks italian like Golf doesn't

While it might break into several of VW group's established GTs, they don't have a GT in this class that looks italian . In this segment, a customer is not going to buy a Bentley instead of a Maserati, they will buy a Bentley for it's interior, exterior and badge. Or a Maserati for the same reasons. I'm not sure they would pit them against eachother.

Now that spring is coming, some really nice cars start to park outside my office building. This week's "catch" are a Bentley coupè, 911 Turbo, Panamera Diesel, BMW M3, a nice Camaro and a mere S6. I found them all interesting but not attractive. Brivido I find attractive.

[BoxerFanatic]

Another VW concept, very Giugiaro-esque, and probably designed by ID now under VW's umbrella.

XL1 high efficiency car. Very narrow. unfortunately, very slow. (32 seconds 0-50mph), Very light. (<1800lbs).
But evidently, news today is that it is winter durability testing, likely for production.
http://www.autoblog.com/2012/03/19/g...-testing-on-t/

I want a mold of that body, including the butterfly McLaren F1-style doors, widened, and put on a custom tube chassis, with a twin-turbocharged SVX engine behind the driver, driving the rear wheels. Or rear-engined, and driving all four wheels, like a Carrera 4.

Widened out, with the roof blacked out, that would look so much like a new SVX....

Something with a little bit of this styling, combined with Brivido size and scope... with one driver's side door, and a shorter front passenger door, with another passenger side door just behind it. (3-side-door, like Pininfarina Cambiano), with an Audi A7 or Aston Rapide, or BMW X6-double-opening fastback hatch, with AWD and an automated gearbox, would make for an awesome GT coupe.