Home » This Gandini Supercar Concept Was Hidden In A Shed For Years

This Gandini Supercar Concept Was Hidden In A Shed For Years

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As you may recall, I went to a car design event in Munich last week, rather cleverly named Car Design Event. I was wined, I was dined, I was chauffeured in a Bentley Bentayga from the airport (surprisingly knobbly ride on the autobahn), and generally had an agreeable time all around mixing and meeting designers and auto journalists not as fabulous as me.

I also had the opportunity to get up close and personal with some gorgeous machinery, some being of it being stored or displayed for sale as part of Motor World, right next to where the event was held at the Drivers and Business Club. Some of it was concept models that a couple of manufacturers had bought along, especially for the occasion. I’ve already shown you some of the interesting cars in and around the venue, and now I’m going to give you a personal guided tour through some of the concepts.

Vidframe Min Top
Vidframe Min Bottom

It used to be if you saw a concept car at a big international motor show it would be behind a velvet rope or up on a stand so the filthy public was kept at arm’s length because they’re fragile models not built to withstand being poked, prodded, groped and generally destroyed by thousands of slack-jawed gawkers every day. These days manufacturers show off their priceless ideas at smaller events to create maximum buzz on social media usually without the public present, so they don’t have to worry about on-the-fly repairs using duct tape and superglue overnight.

Sometimes a model is never meant to be seen by the public. These could be exterior models used as part of the design process, or they could be proposals for something the studio has come up with that it wants to show off to the decision-makers. These models don’t have to be built to quite the same level of detail, but the general construction from handmade detail parts, fiberglass panels, and Perspex glazing remains the same. I got to see great examples of both, so let’s have a look.

Marcello Gandini Cizeta Propsal

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Ah, the eighties, the era of mobile phones that ran off a car battery and gently fried your brain with every outrageously expensive call, staggeringly inventive synthesizer-based music filling the still-analog (and free) radio airwaves, regular bouts of supercar one-upmanship, and cocaine for dessert. In the early eighties, ex-Lamborghini engineer (and I Can’t Drive 55 video star) Claudio Zampolli wanted to build his own supercar, so he commissioned wedge-meister Marcello Gandini to come up with a proposal. That car above was the result.

Zampolli didn’t like it and teamed up with Giorgio Moroder to help finance his dream for what became the Cizeta Moroder V16. After the whole thing imploded in bankruptcy, Zampolli hid this model in a custom-built shed so creditors wouldn’t find it. When I first saw the wedge I wasn’t 100% sure what I was looking at, so had to emergency message Autopian contributor and Italian car whisperer Andrea Petersen to confirm I was seeing what I thought I was seeing, and indeed, it was the Gandini model.

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Carved foam seats rise like tombstones from black-painted plywood. Spectacularly crude up close, but it gets the job done when viewed from an appropriate distance.
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Peeling tape and rotting wood … concept models are ephemeral things, meant to secure interest and funding and magazine photos, not withstand the test of time.
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Shrinking filler has cracked open the concept’s shell, and the panel gaps have widened with time.
Claudio Zampolli with Cizeta models he hid from authorities
Claudio Zampolli hid these models when Cizeta went bankrupt. Image credit: Car Design Event

Needless to say, over thirty years in a wooden shed in the Modena countryside haven’t been kind to the Gandini Cizeta proposal. It’s a bit cracked and forlorn, but shows how these static models used to be constructed. Like a bad diecast it only has the bare minimum of interior detail – you can see the tub is basically boarded over (although this is still common today as we will see). What this model also shows is the liberties you can take in fiberglass and plastic – that glazing would be hell to make in real glass even today.

Genesis X Speedium Giro Concept

Genesis X Speedium Giro Concept
Genesis X Speedium Giro Concept. Image credit Car Design Event.

This is a car that’s been seen before, but this version was a world premiere. While I do think the brand differentiation between Kia and Hyundai is a bit murky, there’s no question Genesis has come up with a compelling identity and is leveraging it extremely well across their range. Although I can do without the Pet Shop Boys branded peasant transportation mounted on the back, the Genesis X is very compelling, presented here in satin white and wheels that demonstrate the possibilities of parametric digital modeling.

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But I wouldn’t be me unless I had a nit to pick. I didn’t ask for this superpower, but I try to use it constructively. If you look closely at the rear light element, because the clear part has a sharp transition around the corner, the lit part appears broken. It’s not, it’s just how the light is refracting similar to how a pencil looks broken when you put it in a glass of water. Another smarty pants did tell me the name for this phenomena, but I don’t remember it because this reveal took place in the evening and there was free beer. Despite what you may think I’m not made of stone.

Mercedes Benz Concept One Eleven

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Harking back to the C111 series of experimental cars built in 1970, this is another concept we are familiar with, but it was my first time seeing it in the flesh. When I saw the flash of orange under the cover on Monday evening I knew exactly what was underneath, and was looking forward to a close-up look at some of the interior detail. Sadly, that didn’t happen because, well you can see for yourself.

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Yep, it’s another half-board interior. Disappointing. I don’t have much cause to get on my knees these days but in service to my loyal readers and because I’m a pain in the ass I did so around the back of this concept because I caught another mistruthin’ going on besides the lack of interior detail.

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Does that make this the first eight-wheeled Mercedes Benz?

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Kia PV1 & PV7

Kia PV7
Kia PV7. Image via Kia because I was a dipshit and didn’t get a shot of the exterior.

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The Kia Platform Beyond Vehicle idea is a push into the slightly nebulous mobility space but the basic idea is for a range of modular, AI-equipped EV commercial vehicles that be tailored to individual business needs. The PV1 and PV7 represent the top and tail of the range. The PV1 is a small, urban-focused last-mile vehicle, and the PV7 is a future EV delivery van, much like a Transit. All the PV vehicles use an adaptable internal storage system that is compatible with all models in the range.

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One of the reasons it’s much better to see cars in the flesh is that you notice details that you don’t necessarily see in press photos. I particularly liked the way the rear view cameras are integrated into the headlights on the PV7.

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We talk a lot about how using the driver as part of the crash structure has led to the death of cab-over commercial vehicles. So the question becomes how best to utilize the real estate in front and next to the driver. A chest of drawers allows you to store different coveralls so you can grind between Taskrabbit during the day and Uber Eats in the evening on your way to becoming a millionaire. Or just managing to pay the rent. There’s even a nineties early internet desktop for your five minutes of downtime between hustles.

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The Cool Cars Of Motor World: Bonus Round

Here’s a little photo dump of other cool things I saw.

Hyundai Staria
Hyundai Staria
Lancia Fulvia Zagato
Lancia Fulvia Zagato
Hanomag
Hanomag
Hyundai Ioniq 5N
Hyundai Ioniq 5N
BMW 1 Series
Proper German poverty spec 1-series
Citroen Ami
Citroen Ami
Toyota Land Cruiser
Toyota Land Cruiser
Fiat Panda 750
Fiat Panda 750. Somebody hold me.
White wheel balance weights on a black wheel
Who the fuck let this out of the workshop like this? White wheel balance weights on a black Bentley Bentayga wheel

Still no fast European Fords though. Sorry Matt.

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Rod Millington
Rod Millington
5 months ago

I chortled at the nineties desktop reference as that whole dash reminds me of the heyday of IT product beige.

Rod Millington
Rod Millington
5 months ago
Reply to  Adrian Clarke

I’m not sure if my dialup honed reflexes can keep up with that lack of latency.

Rod Millington
Rod Millington
5 months ago
Reply to  Adrian Clarke

Never heard of Headbangers Ball, we didn’t have it out here in the colonies. I will have to use late night Rage as my substitute.

I’ll tell mum to not pick up the phone so I don’t drop out.

Hugh Crawford
Hugh Crawford
5 months ago

The Mercedes has lettering on the back that says “one eleven” and not ein­hundert­elf or ein­ ­elf.?
Interesting.

Dingus
Dingus
5 months ago

Anytime I see one of Adrian’s pieces, I’m super happy because the level of detail, experience and snark makes for such a delightful read.

Now this time, he’s gone beyond and pleased me to no end with a wonderful little jab, referring to the bike on the back of the Genesis as “peasant transportation”. Thank you kind sir, thank you.

I once heard the phrase describing a bike as “the trifling conveyance of a child” and have been pleased ever since.

I blame GenX for taking the interests of their (our) childhood and dragging them into adulthood. In this process we’ve made simple hobbies wildly expensive or over complicated. This is why a $350 bike for a child is a piece of junk that falls apart after a season and now you have to spend $900 for something that will last a few years. My people, please stop playing with Legos and Star Wars toys. We are adults now and we can have adult interests like expensive watches, nice cars, fancy booze and well-made leather goods.

Last edited 5 months ago by Dingus
MAX FRESH OFF
MAX FRESH OFF
5 months ago
Reply to  Dingus

Gen Xer here chiming in on bikes. I hated riding my first bike as a kid because my parents bought me an cheap BSO (Bike Shaped Object). It was super heavy and we lived on a steep hill and it was no fun. Once I got my first proper bike from a shop I realized the false economy in purchasing a cheap bike. A decent bike will retain its value pretty much forever, I have restored 1980’s and 1960’s bikes that are still in use. If you need to buy your kid a bike and don’t have a lot of money, a used decent quality bike will be rideable for years after the cheap unrepairable one is rotting in a landfill.

Dest
Dest
4 months ago
Reply to  Dingus

My god I can’t think of anything more boring than what you just listed as the “adult” interests.

Andy Individual
Andy Individual
5 months ago

Plywood and plexiglass. Sigh. Now all the Tesla owners will brag they are driving concept cars.

Stef Schrader
Stef Schrader
5 months ago

Man, a manual 1er hatch was one of my forbidden fruit cars for years. The FWD 1ers can go to hell, but the ones before that? Hell yeah, buddy. Send it to me.

Greensoul
Greensoul
5 months ago

Uummmmmm, excuse me, but I still love the Pet Shop Boys, I’m so old and stuck in the 80s ha ha. What gets me is how they can do the lighting so well on these new concepts. Those Genesis concept lights looks so production. What was really laughable though, was the vaporware concept Jason covered for that Cybertruck wanna be competitor from that CA show he went to. On that mess, even the lighting was obvious home depot led stick on lighting strips. I think that was the event that made Jason’s heart thingy explode. They dared to mess with the king of tail lights with their stuck on home depot looking shit. It was too much for the Torch and damm near killed him. What bastards! For the love of God he’s restored VW’s for old ladies for free, look it up on you tube. I wanna know how many idiots lost money on that supposed new start up cybertruck killing company. Great article BTW

Andrea Petersen
Andrea Petersen
5 months ago

I have to see the Mercedes Concept One every time I open the Mercedes EPC at work and I can’t say I’m a fan. I like the color and that’s about it. It was much nicer to open my phone and see a message with a breathtaking Gandini wedge.

Stef Schrader
Stef Schrader
5 months ago

it’s SO GOOD

Andrea Petersen
Andrea Petersen
5 months ago
Reply to  Stef Schrader

The Cizeta-Moroder is a Very Good Wedge. The Merc is a Very Bad Blobbybean.

Stef Schrader
Stef Schrader
5 months ago

I, farting enthusiast, am here for the bean

Ariel E Jones
Ariel E Jones
5 months ago

Score one for me. When I saw the thumb nail, I thought to myself, “That thing looks like a Cizeta.” I guess it really did.

Knowonelse
Knowonelse
5 months ago

C’Mon Man! Thirty seconds with a black maker on those white lumps on the Bentayga would have fooled even Adrian. Well perhaps not unless they were the right -shade- of black.

Chronometric
Chronometric
5 months ago
Reply to  Adrian Clarke

I would have seen that in an instant and covered it with black gaffers tape.

Usernametaken
Usernametaken
5 months ago
Reply to  Adrian Clarke

I think it really highlights that not even the people who work at Bentley can raise up a brace of BMs for the toffs who buy these rolling monuments of bad taste

Citrus
Citrus
5 months ago

I’m trying to figure out what the end game was for the giant windshield on the Gandini model. It’s hard to judge something from bodged in and decaying plexiglass but it seems like it would be a really complicated piece of work for no clear benefit.

Uninformed Fucknugget
Uninformed Fucknugget
5 months ago
Reply to  Citrus

No clear benefit? For the windshield? There should be a joke here but I can’t see it through.

Slow Joe Crow
Slow Joe Crow
5 months ago

That Kia PV7 driver’s seat looks like fancy city bus. The way console walls of the seat and the passenger side storage looks straight out of Neoplan or Van Hool.
Otherwise it seems like a cool idea to have stuff normally done after market. The Cizeta concept is interesting history although it’s worth noting Giorgio Moroder came to his senses and bailed early, so production cars were simply branded Cizeta.

Mike F.
Mike F.
5 months ago

Gotta agree regarding the bicycle on the back of the Genesis. You’re supposedly trying to show off it’s sleek shape and cool lines and then you screw it all up with a bike. Why? It’s not like there are many cars you can’t put a bicycle on. Looks kinda like one of those nature things where the male insect is 1/100th the size of the female but he still has to get in there and hump her, anyway.

Loren
Loren
5 months ago

So did the powers-that-be at The Autopian get together and decide “Hey wait a minute, it actually -works- to let Adrian be an arrogant ass”?

I’m for it, shit cracks me up. I mean, with all due respect.

Chronometric
Chronometric
5 months ago
Reply to  Loren

Every wrestling show must have a heel.

Canopysaurus
Canopysaurus
5 months ago

I’m kinda digging that Hanomag.

William Sheldon
William Sheldon
5 months ago
Reply to  Canopysaurus

wooden wagon wheel compliance! dreamy ride! keep a spare wheelwright in the passenger seat on track day

BigThingsComin
BigThingsComin
5 months ago
Reply to  Canopysaurus

Is that the Beetle prototype?

Canopysaurus
Canopysaurus
5 months ago
Reply to  BigThingsComin

No VW roots, though it sure looks like it could’ve been a progenitor. It’s the Hanomag 2/10, Zweisitzer Limousine (two-seat limousine) that came out in 1925. The rounded front/rear gave it the nickname Kommissbrot because it looked like a loaf of Army bread. Up until that time, Hanomag was best known for its locomotives and tractors. They made cars up until WW II, then switched to military vehicles (trucks, armored personnel carriers, tractors, trailers). After the war, they went back to tractors and commercial trucks and trailers, but abandoned cars. The Hanomag 1.3, introduced in 1939, had unibody construction and was studied by Volvo and influenced their PV444 passengers car design.

Mr Sarcastic
Mr Sarcastic
5 months ago

I would have attended but my invitation was lost in the mail. Thank goodness we see the crowd that free beer attracts. Is it me but does the name of the vehicle sound like a disease and it’s cure? Side effects may include anal leakage. The cheap Home Depot plastic outside furniture in the van makes 1970s Interiors look plush. I would have loved it.
Oops this event interfered with the airing out of my castle in Prevanse anyhow.

Taco Shackleford
Taco Shackleford
5 months ago

Finding out about an unknown Gandini is awesome. By there’s a freaking Pagani Huayra Codalunga hiding in the background that I want to see more pics of.

Taco Shackleford
Taco Shackleford
5 months ago
Reply to  Adrian Clarke

Thanks!

EVDesigner
EVDesigner
5 months ago

Citroen Ami!

Urban Runabout
Urban Runabout
5 months ago
Reply to  EVDesigner

We were on Martinique last month – where someone had a small fleet of Ami’s and Fiat Topolinos available as beach buggy rentals for tourists.

I knew I should have snapped a photo -but I was sunburnt and had sand in my speedo…

Geoff Buchholz
Geoff Buchholz
5 months ago
Reply to  EVDesigner

I saw a few on the road while in France last week — and let me tell you, pictures do not do them justice. They make a Smart car look positively DECADENT.

Chronometric
Chronometric
5 months ago
Reply to  EVDesigner

I was watching the Monsieur Spade series on Amazon. Not Clive Owens’ best work but he drives a Citroen Ami, which is awesome.

StillNotATony
StillNotATony
5 months ago

Hyundai Staria is giving off BIG Olds Silhouette vibes.

You know, the Cadillac of minivans?

OttosPhotos
OttosPhotos
5 months ago

I saw a Staria in Asia last year. Love the look, too bad it’s not available in the US.

IRegertNothing, Esq.
IRegertNothing, Esq.
5 months ago

I love the idea of this guy hiding his mockup cars from creditors like a squirrel stashing acorns for the winter. I hope the next GTA edition includes this as one of their cars, preferably with a name that rips off both Lamborghini and Ferrari. Thank you for the cool and funny story.

Kendall Gray
Kendall Gray
5 months ago

Much as I love utility, I see lots of concepts for configurable cars and trucks. It could go to the beach! It could haul your furniture! bBut I rarely see them for sale. And when they do get to the market, I don’t know that they sell. Car, truck, van. Bigger or smaller, enclosed or convertible. Geared for speed or hauling. That’s what we seem stuck with.

Gilbert Wham
Gilbert Wham
5 months ago
Reply to  Adrian Clarke

Also, who are they keeping in the cryo pods? And why do they have to wear those weird his & hers pink outfits when they get reanimated?

Hangover Grenade
Hangover Grenade
5 months ago
Reply to  Kendall Gray

It’s like the Nissan Pulsar Sportback. Yeah, I guess you can change from a tiny coupe to a tiny wagon. But where do you keep the other roof? Just hanging in the garage?

No Kids, Just Bikes
No Kids, Just Bikes
5 months ago
Reply to  Adrian Clarke

Both my R107 and 996 hardtops have wheeled racks. But it takes two capable people to remove either one.

Mr Sarcastic
Mr Sarcastic
5 months ago
Reply to  Adrian Clarke

Hung mine from the rafters above where I parked the car. But now the plastic interior pieces make sense put in the van when needed put around the pool or on the patio when not needed.

Or has anyone experimented with inflatable car interiors?

Yes I know “Real men of Genius”

Last edited 5 months ago by Mr Sarcastic
Mike Harrell
Mike Harrell
5 months ago
Reply to  Mr Sarcastic

At least one example of the Quasar-Unipower City Car was built with colorless, transparent inflatable seats, even though it seems most were not:

https://d2uzer0pyv83wf.cloudfront.net/Pictures/1024×536/2/7/8/268278_cdn_cube14_655915.jpg

This was, in general, a topic of interest for Quasar Khanh:

https://somethingcurated.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/5-1.jpg

Last edited 5 months ago by Mike Harrell
Mr Sarcastic
Mr Sarcastic
5 months ago
Reply to  Mike Harrell

Man the combined knowledge of the members on this site is frigging incredible.

It’s almost as much as I have on my own. KIDDING

I take that back. Saw the pictures not sure what that was maybe a poor man’s pope mobile. Certainly not a car.

Last edited 5 months ago by Mr Sarcastic
Mike Harrell
Mike Harrell
5 months ago
Reply to  Mr Sarcastic

I think it qualifies as a car but admittedly I think this about a lot of things.

Apparently most of the fifteen-ish produced went to France but I’d like to know what happened to the one that was spotted in New Brunswick in the 1980s:

https://live.staticflickr.com/8202/8285223514_47a5814dbf_o.jpg

It looks like it might be fun.

Mr Sarcastic
Mr Sarcastic
5 months ago
Reply to  Mike Harrell

Masturbating is fun, I know I tried it, it isn’t a car. But your advice was true so great. I recently saw an article that for on campus purposes even skateboard theft qualifies as motor vehicle theft. When is enough enough? A crime against someone is a crime. Does it matter why? If you kill someone is it any different if it is for live or hate or money? I don’t think the victims family cares. But politics cares. WHY?THEY ARE USING YOU.

Patrick
Patrick
5 months ago
Reply to  Mike Harrell

While on the topic of concepts, to me Quasar makes me think Peugeot. (Late 80s? Early 90s??). I learned Quasar was a car before knowing it was Space-something. Still have that Matchbox at my folks’ place.

Also, I have to agree with Sarcastic, the knowledge on random car stuff is incredible here. Those inflatable seats in that square aquarium on wheels -wild!

Knowonelse
Knowonelse
5 months ago
Reply to  Mike Harrell

Smoking while sitting in an inflatable chair . . . this can’t go wrong, ever!

Urban Runabout
Urban Runabout
5 months ago
Reply to  Adrian Clarke

Some MB dealers did quite the trade in storing client’s SL hardtops – putting them on and removing them when required.

You can tell when such a car was treated that way – as they’re low-mileage, from certain zip codes and lack the gashes and dents that are found on many other examples.

The factory would even crate up hardtops and ship them to the US separately for clients who took European Delivery and wished to tour Europe topless.



Last edited 5 months ago by Urban Runabout
Chronometric
Chronometric
5 months ago
Reply to  Adrian Clarke

I have the official Mazda Miata hardtop storage pulley system in my garage. Works a treat.

IRegertNothing, Esq.
IRegertNothing, Esq.
5 months ago

I’ve seen people use a rack high on the garage wall, or an overhead winch/pulley system if the top is heavy.

Cerberus
Cerberus
5 months ago

It was a neat idea and it’s cool that they actually produced it even if just a little familiarity with the typical human should have resulted in that idea staying on the ideation sketch table. When you have something like a 300SL roadster with a hardtop, money makes it no problem to store properly and attach/remove, but a Pulsar owner is less likely to have the space to store and, besides, how often is someone going to switch the heavy, awkward things out? I frequently see people driving around with empty noise-making, fuel-using removable roof racks they’re too lazy to remove and those take about a minute to take off, maybe 5 to reinstall and doesn’t require a second person.

TOSSABL
TOSSABL
5 months ago

This is quickly becoming pertinent to me: I stored the top on the car through the winter, and I don’t have a garage….

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