Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login We w We were doin’ great till I got to the AMC thing........., then you lost me Good choice of some of Bertone’s work. Coolest. Car. Ever: Stratos Zero by Bertone
Always liked the Bravo. Still can't believe the way he indented the engine cover and bonnet with vents worked. Not in love with the rear wheel opening's. I always thought that made the rear wheel look unbalanced on all of the cars he did that way.
Haha, you'll notice I put a disclaimer down at the bottom of my post I've always had a soft spot for custom vans, but most would not end up on a "good design" list. I think the AM Van concept was a good package for such a thing. The two pix you posted of the Stratos Zero are great (I actually had one in my post originally, along with four more cars, but the forum would only let me include 10). I wonder what house / building that is in the 2nd pic? Modern architecture is something I'm really passionate about, and I like putting the car in that setting and drawing parallels (pun intended) to the lines & angles of the car with the same in the structure. Dang, that wheel/tire ratio on the Zero (especially the rears) looks so cool.
Totally agree about the vents. Not just that he did it, but that they are opposite on the bonnet (inward instead of louvered outward) vs. the engine cover. How the windshield flows into the side glass and even into the vents by the engine. Plus that line around the car, splitting the BRAVO logo?! So cool. I actually like the rear wheel arches, though, as I dig the "always in motion" effect they have on the car. And I've always liked that wheel design, too. I much prefer wheels with a good amount of depth to them, and I always thought that was a pretty nice design...my favorite use of it was (this slightly different version) on the Countach... Image Unavailable, Please Login
By the way, speaking of Bertone, at a local "Cruise Night" a few years ago, a guy brought his Lamborghini Espada, which I think looks much better in person than it ever has in pictures. The guy once had the opportunity to meet Lilli Bertone and she signed his car somewhere (I forget what part of the car, unfortunately). Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Lou, Happy to see that your selection for the Countach was the prototype; the original clean version. I remember the Bravo - sat in it during the LA Auto Show.
Wow, how cool is it that you got to sit in the Bravo?! Yes, my first car love was the Countach in Cannonball Run, but over the years, the original "clean" version as you put it has earned a very special place in my heart. It's such a beautiful combination of lines, curves and planes without the distraction of wheel arch flares, bumpers, wings, etc. The Cannonball Run Countach may have been the ultimate teenager's poster car at the time, but comparatively, the original Countach is fine art.
There's a little too much "retro" in this I think (and I know it's not anything Ford produced), but I like the idea of an old fashioned sedan. Sell it on being a great car; only reasonably useful electronics (stereo, GPS), good brakes, good suspension, comfortable interior, that sort of thing, and forget the interactive, adaptive, 700 function infotainment system and the 200 color mood lighting, then sell it at a reasonable price. Image Unavailable, Please Login
Actually, it's '66 Ford 500 all the way. Image Unavailable, Please Login And I have to say, I kind of like it. It's muscular, and it looks like an American sedan.
Not to spoil the party but I believe the yellow one of a kind prototype Countach in the picture was later crashed as in destroyed...
True. All the vents and appendages came along since the original design did not flow air as intended. None the less, still a far cleaner design. Better tail lights too.
Image Unavailable, Please Login 2003 Ford 500 Concept I knew I had seen it, just couldn’t remember where