Nardi-Giannini 750 Bisiluro By Carlo Mollino

Found on http://megadeluxe.com/vintage-deluxe/bisiluro-by-carlo-mollino-domus#more-5457

Made for the 1955 Le Mans.

Regarding the design of "things that move", history gives us quite a catalogue of proposals to improve the breed by echoing a form across some sort of bridging element. With names like "twinpod", "twin-boom", "twin-fuselage", "doublehull", or "catamaran", the designer's fascination with mirroring a good idea has been around ever since the Garden of Eden, when God decided two breasts looked seriously cooler than one.

looking at the images of the Bisiluro racing at Le Mans in 1955 one finds a closer visual connection to modern motorcycle sidecar racers than to aeroplanes. (It was not the last four-wheeled race car to work this asymmetry scheme either. A notable composition was the Smokey Yunick sidecar racer attempt at Indy in 1964) http://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2009/12/greatest-innovation-in-bumpers-ever.html

That the lightweight racer was literally sucked off the course by a passing Jaguar must have been doubly frustrating for the team. Car Design-wise, the Bisiluro fits into a category I would call "Non-Car Cars", those purposeful objects that stir the imaginations of Car Designers by allowing them to incorporate a new proportion, perspective, form, structure or detail into their concept of a "Car" without having to carry all the functional and cultural baggage of being "automobiles". 

description is just part of the write up at http://www.domusweb.it/en/design/2011/09/12/the-asymmetric-racer.html This article was originally published in Domus 950/September 2011

sweeping curves of a 1939 Alfa Romeo 6C 2500 super sport Tipo 256, took 2nd in class at 1997 Pebble Beach

 

 

Car and Driver magazine, I had no idea they were so informative! And so many infographics!

I've recently covered a couple informative pieces about the car companies going away from stick shifts, and not having an option if you don't like the automatic transmission http://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2013/01/stupidest-thieves-of-week-could-not.html
http://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2012/08/stick-shift-vs-automatic.html

I can't find the link about the Ferrari no longer offering a stick in some model, American destination cars I suppose, because only 8 of 3000 were ordered with a stick last year... if I remember correctly, and I often don't

Such a rare car, this 1929 Bianchi, is even cooler than most rare cars due to it's impeccable ostrich leather interior

a small and beautiful semaphore on the A pillar.. the creases in the chrome are very good ideas, and they made for incredibly well placed reflections

P Bloch Automobiles, Gunten Thunerseo (sp?) ... I think is the car seller tag.

There is a good website for fans of French and Italian car enthusiasts

http://www.velocetoday.com/

Scaglietti Corvette

The Lancia Stratos Zero, one of the wedge concept cars of the 1968-1970 school of tiny flat angles.

coincidence that the above poster was what I just found last week? http://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2012/12/i-found-great-tumblr-today-perfectly.html

the others of this same school of design were the Ferrari Modulo, the Ferrari 512S, and the Alfa Romeo Carabo

above incredible photo from an incredible website: http://mi24.livejournal.com/556875.html

1957 Fiat Eden Rock (or Marina) built on a Multipla chassis by PininFarina because the Fiat founding family wanted a go-fer car for their French resort villa

The car was commissioned by the family that founded Fiat, the Agnelli family. They also had the largest holdings on the Italian stock exchange. They owned a remarkable French villa, one famous for once having been owned by kings, and entered the car in the 1957 Paris auto show... and I guess that is where the Cord and Doheny family saw it and bought it, because they had it at their vacation resort, Lake Arrowhead California by 1959. 

The special 600 was called the "Eden Roc" as the promontory overlooking Cap d'Antibes along the coastline of Cote d'Azur where the Villa Leopolda is, in the town of Villefranche-sur-Mer. The little Fiat was used to shuttle guests around the 20-acre villa and town.

 In the late '60s, this car was taken to the Lingotto in Turin and replaced the Fiat 1900 Cabriolet Boano used by Prof. Valletta to lead guests to visit the factory. http://www.alfabb.com/bb/forums/other-italian-cars/160958-funny-fiat.html

The French resort was Villa Leopolda, owned by King Leopold of Belgium, and King Albert after him. It was used in the Hitchcock movie "To Catch A aThief" that starred grace Kelly, later Princess of Monaco. 

Most recently, according to Wikipedia, it's owned by the Russian billionaire, and he bought it for the world record price of 370 Euro http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Villa_Leopolda

 The Doheny family connection is interesting, as their former mansion, Graystone, is the site of the Beverly Hills concours I went a couple weeks ago. Doheny was an oil magnate, and married the daughter of the Cord Automobile company founder. Cord company holding included American Airways, Checker Cabs, Cord and Auburn automobile companies