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Friday, November 18, 2011

THE ALFA ROMEO PANDION - FUTURISTIC CONCEPT CAR

   
I've been thinking of doing this article for a while, tied to an impressive concept car designed by a foreign company. There's an auto firm called Alfa Romeo Automobiles S.p.A. and it is based out of Italy [the same nation that produces the Ferrari sports cars]. And Alfa Romeo was founded back in 1910 in Milan and the company name was originally ALFA. Currently they are a division of Fiat Auto Group and they mostly sell vehicles within Europe.

Alfa Romeo have a reputation for building expensive sports cars. And their Pandion Concept Car that debuted back in 2010 left spectators in Geneva gawking at the fluent design and styling. If you recall the 2002 Tom Cruise movie, Minority Report - which was set in the future - then I'm sure you'll agree that the Pandion would have fit perfectly into the streets of that ultra-modern cityscape per its visual appeal. I'm still not sure what to call the doors on this one; looks like they're some sort of reversed flip-styled butterfly doors. And the rear of the Pandion has styling like no other car in the industry today...
[You may need to Click on the "Read More" link to view the rest of this blog article!]

 










Italy is a home for various ingenious independent auto designers. And Alfa Romeo actually got some assistance in the design of the Pandion from a fellow Italian firm called Bertone. Gruppo Bertone is an automobile company that specializes in car styling, coachbuilding and manufacturing. The Bertone styling is distinctive, with most cars having a strong "family resemblance" even if badged by different manufacturers. Bertone has styled cars for Alfa Romeo, Citroën, Ferrari, FiatLamborghini, Mercedes Benz, Opel and Volvo Cars among others. 

Additionally, Alfa Romeo has competed successfully in many different categories of motorsport, including Grand Prix motor racing, Formula One, sports-car racing, touring car racing and rallies. Their first racing car was made in 1913, three years after the foundation of the company, and Alfa Romeo won the inaugural world championship for the Grand Prix cars in 1925.

From those humble beginnings, the company gained a good name in motorsport, which gave a sporty image to the whole marque. Enzo Ferrari founded the Scuderia Ferrari racing team in 1929 as an Alfa Romeo racing team, before becoming independent in 1939. And their designs have evolved steadily since then.

The Pandion may look like a sports car fit for the pages of a sci fi comic book, but it is definitely real. Engine and performance specs are yet to be released for it. But I hope that Alfa adopts this vehicle's exterior and interior design themes as serious contenders for the styling of their future models.

A previous blog article with more "Real" concept cars was placed here [tied to the Frankfurt 2011 Auto Show]: HERE


And the comprehensive archive showing futuristic sci fi vehicles within this blog is placed HERE

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