Page 47 - Marcello Gandini Maestro of Design Revisited

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DALTON WATSON FINE BOOKS
(THIS PAGE) The third proposal was the best of the lot in combining better aesthetics with equal attention to airflow. A different
perspective shows a really attractive and distinctive design. MARCELLO GANDINI ARCHIVES
Subsequently, Dallara was busy developing a host of
competitive machinery, from the Iso-Marlboro IR (for
Williams) to a number of Lancias, starting with the
Stratos HF, and then the Beta Montecarlo Turbo, the
Rallye 037, the LC1 and the LC2, and eventually a series
of single-seaters for F1 (Scuderia Italia) and Indycar. By
the beginning of the new millennium, Dallara had become
the numero uno amongst race car makers in the world,
a highly reputed name synonymous with motorsport
success. Thus, it was only natural that Giampaolo Dallara
wanted to make a street-legal sports car that would
bear his name, and his hallmark for efficiency, lightness,
brilliant dynamics, and an innovative chassis. And who
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the front axle line. A pure windscreen-less barchetta, with
no obvious weather protection, the design assumed the
use of helmets, with only a subtle windjammer diverting
the air over the head. Rollover protection was by way
of a pair of roll hoops located immediately behind the
headrests.
better to skin that chassis than his associate of yore,
Marcello Gandini.
The remit was for a light, compact barchetta, a bare-
boned bolide with minimal concession to comfort and
luxury, and maximum attention to aerodynamic efficiency
and technical functionalities: not just function over form,
but where the form is fully functional.
Marcello Gandini produced two similar proposals, both
assuming the location of the powertrain at the front (with
rear wheel drive), but more like mid-front, in being aft of
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The most important differentiator between the proposals
was the air flow canalization: large intakes below the
bumper line channeled air onto the inside of the wheels
to cool the brakes, and then flowed out on to the
indented rocker panels, and behind the rear wheels, once
again for cooling the brakes and feeding cool air into the
pair of radiators located behind the seats. In many ways
the design reflected the experience Gandini had had
conceptualizing the Maserati Chubasco.
Whether and how the airflow worked for cleaving
through the air, maintaining downforce and cooling all
the elements efficiently was never tested as the project
did not go beyond the drawings. More than a decade
later, Giampaolo Dallara went on to launch the Dallara
Stradale, a car that could have been a Maserati or a
Ferrari or any number of mid-engine sports cars from the
last two decades.
DALTON WATSO