Great shame Guy Malleret didnt see the opportunity for what it was. Maketing bean counters have stopped this sort of thing from happening, mind you completely left designs now are purly display shells. More the pity Regards Graeme
antonio thats a wicket cool picture! many thanks for sharing hf ps i wonder if its the same Spanish industrialist that own the ital design porsche tapiro. some bastards set it on fire so ive read...
Fabulous car. When it was found by the German collector in Spain, the then owner had drilled holes and fitted little lights all over the car. I wonder if there are any photo's around of the car in that state. And even though Guigiaro and Gandini never worked at Bertone at the same time, I submit that the two quite strongly influenced each other. Many styling-cues that are characteristic of the one, can be found in cars ascribed to the other and vice versa. For instance, the belt-line in the design of Khamsin is pure Guigiaro, as is the shape of the windshield.
No, it was the second owner, a music composer, who also had the Tapiro. And the real story is that the Tapiro caught fire while his owner was driving it, possibly due to a broken fuel line. Antonio
Well, to call the former owner a "collector" is a little over-enthusiastic. He had the Boomerang and a Ghibli SS. That`s it...
The Boomerand (Chassis #117.081) was painted first in striking orange. Later the car was reainted in silver. The b&w-image shows the car in the Geneva Show (© ph.: Walter Bäumer collection, 2012). Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
The boomerang reminds me of another, equally ugly concept car, the Carabo: Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
MB....don't hold back. Please tell us what you really think. Q: Is your glass ever half full, or almost always EMPTY?
Honestly now, does everyone think the Boomerang as a beautiful car? I think not. So just because I expressed the obvious, I'm suddenly the "bad guy". If you look at my posting history, you'll find my posts about magnificent cars, like the A6GCS etc... so my glass is not half full or empty, just honest
Ugly, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder. At the risk of offending fellow Alfisti, that is ONE UGLY CAR!!! But not all bad, Suburu adopted that window-within-a-window concept. LOL
And so did Lamborghini and DeLorean. These concepts are built to showcase innovation in design. Both Carabo and Boomerang succeeded brilliantly. Admire them for what they are, the pure forms are art They vastly influenced forms that flooded the world for at least a decade. I'd say that is successful design.
Innovation is about creating something better or more effective, ideas that are accepted and finally used in practice. The above cars failed in all of the above, they didn't create something better, they never got produced (except as concepts), they never got accepted by the public and thus never used in practice. No "innovation". I think a more suitable description would be "inventions & concepts". They got created as ideas and concepts and thats about it.
I think your view is a little too harsh. Yes, both cars never made it -beside their prototype-status- to reality or had any significant influence. But they clearly represent the best decade of Italian design. Today there is no such Italian car-design anymore.
Not accepted? You seem to miss the point. Both cars carry many style-elements that were accepted by the millions in the seventies; edgy, straight designs, flush windows, integrated bumpers, instruments moving with steering-wheel position, even air-bags were thought of. Without Carabo, Countach would not have been. Without Boomerang even something as lowly as a VW Golf might not have been. Of course, these types of forms are currently not so much in vogue, and are therefor dismissed easilly. When they first appeared, however, they were stunning examples of what was possible, and form-wise heralded a new era of automotive design. If that's not innovation, I rest my case.
a few more photos of the red Boomerang: 1972 Maserati Boomerang (ItalDesign) - Ateliers http://www.carstyling.ru/resources/studios/1972_Italdesign_Maserati_Boomerang_23.jpg http://lh3.ggpht.com/_Tsf-t_mqSxc/TN0jjPklQxI/AAAAAAAApG0/sfeEe3O-NN0/s800/1972%20Maserati%20Boomerang%20ItalDesign_04.jpg
+1 the man has very little understanding of what a concept car is... those 2 concept cars spear headed a generation or two of wedge or folded paper design copied or emulated million times over. as i recall, the revolutionary vw golf was a direct descendant and heavily influenced by the boomerang
THE ONE-OF-A-KIND MASERATI BOOMERANG OFFERED AT BONHAMS 5/9/2015, The Chantilly Salehttps://www.bonhams.com/press_release/19393/
Imagine the collection?!!! . Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
