bertone

Interview with Giovanna Scaglione: The Last Years

April 10, 2018 By pete

As told to Robert Little, Renzo Carbonaro, Vladimir Pajevic and Ulrich Zensen
Copyright: 8 November 2017 All World Rights Reserved
Republished with permissions with changes to suit the format of VeloceToday.com

Nuccio Bertone’s Final Words to the World’s Greatest Auto Designer

Nuccio Bertone wrote the following letter to Franco Scaglione on May 19, 1993, only thirty days before the great designer passed away on June 19th:

My Dear Scaglione,

It is a long time or better to say, I didn’t have any news of you since our collaboration ended.

I asked around if someone had any news about you, but always in vain. [Read more…] about Interview with Giovanna Scaglione: The Last Years

Interview with Giovanna Scaglione Part 10

April 3, 2018 By pete

Giovanna Takes Her First Stradale Ride with Teo Zeccoli

Giovanna Scaglione relates here experiences riding in the Stradale:

Every new car designed by my Babbo was a sister to me! When he designed the 33 Stradale and realized the car, I bothered my “Babbo” so much that, one day, fed-up and desperate, he asked our personal friend Teodoro Zecccoli, Autodelta test driver, to take me for a ride on the car. [Read more…] about Interview with Giovanna Scaglione Part 10

The Bertone Auction of 2011

March 20, 2018 By pete

By Roberto Motta, Pete Vack and RM Auctions
Photos courtesy Sotheby/RM Auctions

Updated from our archives, April 2011

As a consequence of the financial reorganization of Bertone, the liquidators of the Bertone Museum offered six of the most original, thought provoking and classic Italian concept cars ever made. These wonderful cars were auctioned by RM at the Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este in Cernobbio, Italy, 21st May, 2011. [Read more…] about The Bertone Auction of 2011

Interview with Giovanna Scaglione Part 9

March 20, 2018 By pete

Editor’s Note: This part of the Scaglione interview is very lengthy at 2500 words. However, we think that what is revealed here is of great interest and should be published at one time to encompass the entire story. We hope you will agree.

Part IX: The Stradale Project Encounters Unforeseen Difficulties

Two geniuses rarely co-exist together comfortably, and sure enough problems arose between Ing. Chiti, immersed in his racing world, and Scaglione, compelled to resolve the growing technical and assembly problems by himself. That silent war was flavored with numerous embittered letters that Scaglione sent without effects to all pertinent addresses. Years later, Scaglione would describe his time at Settimo Milanese as “the worst period of his life.” However, with proverbial Tuscan obstinacy, he finished the first Stradale prototype in a relatively short time, from January to September 1967. [Read more…] about Interview with Giovanna Scaglione Part 9

Interview with Giovanna Scaglione, Part 8

March 13, 2018 By pete

Part VIII: Near Crisis Creating the World’s Most Beautiful Automobile-the Alfa Romeo Stradale

From the moment of the first T-33 victory at the 1967 Fléron hillclimb in Belgium to support the growing success of Alfa Romeo racing cars on the circuits of the world, and to add contrast against other competing European “dream cars”, President Luraghi (CEO of Alfa Romeo S.p.A.) absolutely wanted to start small production of a high performance road car. [Read more…] about Interview with Giovanna Scaglione, Part 8

Interview with Giovanna Scaglione Part 7

March 6, 2018 By pete

Franco Scaglione, “My Father” His Life in the Words of His Daughter Giovanna

Part VII: Wool Threads and Scotch Tape…
“Aerodynamic Fluidity”

An internationally acclaimed graphic artist was once quoted as saying:
“I am going for a level of perfection that is only mine… Most of the pleasure is in getting the last little piece perfect.”

Such a quotation could easily have been applied to Franco Scaglione’s professional standards.
While not everyone will enjoy and appreciate all of his individual design accomplishments, his achievement in the reduction of coefficient of drag, the elimination of air friction or ‘slipperiness’ rates him in the pantheon of greatness…well beyond the achievements his contemporaries. [Read more…] about Interview with Giovanna Scaglione Part 7

Scaglione Part 5

February 20, 2018 By pete

Franco Scaglione, “My Father” His Life in the Words of His Daughter Giovanna

Part V: Franco Scaglione and the B.A.T.

Courtesy Centro Documentazione Storica Alfa Romeo

Instead of presenting a narrative based upon the writing of others who probably had no first or second hand knowledge of the true facts surrounding the creation of the Berlinetta Aerodinamica Tecnica series, we have chosen to simply reproduce the facsimile below which should serve to illuminate the B.A.T. process from the standpoint of Bertone. [Read more…] about Scaglione Part 5

Interview with Giovanna Scaglione Part 4

February 13, 2018 By pete

Franco Scaglione, “My Father” His Life in the Words of His Daughter Giovanna

Read Part 1
Read Part 2
Read Part 3

Part IV: Scaglione Achieves His Dreams with Bertone

Nuccio Bertone, who truly appreciated Scaglione’s work, was generally inclined to leave Scaglione completely alone to work through the young master’s ideas and fantasies, but Bertone always bore in mind the necessity to achieve economic success through the mass production of his line of cars. He impressed upon the young designer the need to convert his design ideals to big production numbers.

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Barn Find: Abarth 1500 Bertone by Scaglione

February 6, 2018 By pete

Story and photos by Rick Carey

This article originally appeared in VeloceToday in 2003.

I’ve always admired the work of Franco Scaglione. Anyone who could create the B.A.T.s on the tall-engined Alfa 1900 chassis, who displayed such sympathy for airflow and was willing to challenge convention with shape and curve rather than embellishment and accoutrement, was an exceptional talent. And full credit also to Nuccio Bertone who gave Scaglione free rein to reinvent extravagantly.

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Italian Coachbuilders: The Masters of Style

June 13, 2017 By pete

Cream of the crop: Italian design firms still produce wonders, such as the 2010 Alfa Romeo Pandion from Bertone, even if the lead designer was Mike Robinson, an American. The book Italian Coachbuilders includes current design firms as well as those active before WWI.

Review by Pete Vack, comments by Wallace Wyss
All photos from the book

Italian Coachbuilders: The Masters of Style
By Elvio Deganello
408 Pages
1300 Illustrations
10.5 x 11.5 hardbound with slipcover
Text in English and Italian
Publisher: Giorgio Nada
Cost: 70 Euro
Order here from the Publisher
Or at Amazon.com

The body stylists appearing in this book are: Accossato, Ala d’Oro, Allemano, Balbo, Bertone, Boano, Boneschi, Brianza, CA.SA.RO., Canta, Caprera, Castagna, Colli, Coggiola, Coriasco, Ellena, Eurostyle, Faina, Fantuzzi, Filacchione, Fissore, Fona, Fontana, Francis Lombardi, Frua, Garavini, Ghia, I.D.E.A., ItalDesign, Lotti, Maggiora, Mantelli, Marazzi, Mazzanti, Meteor, Michelotti, Monterosa, Montescani, Monviso, Morelli, Moretti, Motto, OSI, Ostuni, Pininfarina, Riva, Savio, Sala, Scaglietti, Scioneri, Siata, Sibona, Sports Cars, Stabilimenti Farina, Touring, Vignale, Viotti, Zagato.

We can’t recall when we were so thoroughly enthused about a book and relentless in our advice to purchase a copy. [Read more…] about Italian Coachbuilders: The Masters of Style

Steve McQueen’s Siata

October 25, 2016 By pete

McQueen’s 208-S. Photo by Tony Singer.

Surprised that Steve McQueen owned a Siata? That is interesting enough, but discovering that the young actor affixed a Ferrari badge to the 208S he bought might be even more surprising, and at the same time perhaps tells us about another side of the man himself. We must give thanks to Matt Stone for this information and presenting it in his book, “McQueen’s Machines”, and current owner Tony Singer, whose words constitute the bulk of the story below. In addition, collector Christophe Pund was kind enough to allow us to publish Michelotti’s original drawing of the Siata 208S, which is also supplied with the two volume Otto Vu set, authored by Tony Adriaensens. (read review). If you’d like to know more about Tony Singer, read about him here. Ed.

Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este, 2016

May 31, 2016 By pete

Lancia Astura series II berlinetta Castagna 1933 prize winner as best in show.

Story and photos by Alessandro Gerelli

The Concorso Villa d’Este was held on May 20-22. Saturday’s competitive event is held at the Villa d’Este, and on Sunday, all the cars are shown in the nearby Villa Erba; this day is open to the public.

While often confusing, the official definition is Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este, while Villa Erba is a location within the show.

The Concorso Villa d’Este has a very long history since 1929, but only recently a new class “Concept Cars and Prototypes” was included in the show.

This year I looked at the new creations of a make or of a coachbuilder, and compared them with their original or older cars in the same show.

Of course there are the pictures of the many other jewels shown in the crowded court of Villa Erba, where I took the following images on Sunday. [Read more…] about Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este, 2016