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With the
Birdcage 75th, based on the Maserati heritage and on its
most advanced mechanicals and realized in collaboration with
Motorola, Pininfarina revives the storied theme of the true
dream car now proposed in a synthesis of the vision of the
three companies: exclusive design, sports DNA and
technological innovation.
Pininfarina’s prosperous collaboration with Maserati, marked
by the great international success of the Quattroporte, is
celebrated with this rolling hi-tech sculpture that evokes a
new future context, imaginary but possible, while
simultaneously paying homage to the strong and distinctive
brand characteristics of the Tridente.
In celebration
of Pininfarina’s 75th anniversary, Birdcage 75th returns to
the storied tradition of extreme sports prototypes which
highlighted the Italian renaissance of car design, born in
the Fifties and prolonged in the Sixties and early
Seventies.
This period of optimism and boundless creativity produced
some of the world’s most astounding and beautiful
automobiles. Never before had our love affair with speed and
beauty been so abundantly expressed. Boldly challenging our
aesthetic ideals, these prototypes were exercises in
creativity and passion, unconstrained by the regulations and
the limitations of today’s context and considerations. They
were true dream cars that evoked images and sentiments of a
utopian future.
Beginning with
the Maserati A6 GCS of 1954, whose clean-lined design and
harmonious proportions made it one of the most memorable
projects from that period, Pininfarina embarked on a
prolific period of extreme sports prototypes based on the
era’s state of the art racing car mechanicals. In 1965 the
stunning Ferrari Dino Berlinetta Speciale made its debut,
while in 1967 the Dino competizione combined voluptuous
beauty with some of the world’s first studies on moveable
aero devices.
The following year brought about the aero study of the Alfa
Romeo 33 and the sensual Ferrari P5, which demonstrated a
future vision of Le Mans prototypes. 1969 bore three
radically different prototypes, the Abarth 2000, the sinuous
Alfa Romeo 33 Prototipo Speciale and the extreme wedge study
of the 512s which stood less than 1 meter tall.
Finally, in 1970 arrived what many consider the preeminent
dream car of the era, the audacious Ferrari Modulo. A
radical research vehicle which abandoned traditional styling
and construction techniques in favor of extreme geometric
simplicity. Originally shown at Geneva, Turin and the Osaka
World Fair, the excited and shocked public was forced to
question its very context. How and where did this vehicle
come about? Where would this vehicle take us? Effectively,
the Modulo represented the ultimate manifestation of the
dream car spirit, for it succeeded in transporting its
viewer to another time and place.
For 2005, in
celebration of its 75th anniversary, Pininfarina has chosen
to rekindle this creative spirit. The Birdcage 75th is a
concept of a road car where everything – style, performance,
use and conception of the car – is extreme so as to get the
maximum impact on the collective imagination. The car is a
futuristic extension of the Maserati brand, and at the same
time it serves to reinforce the Tridente’s potent design
heritage, and continues its grand tradition of advanced
technology enveloped in sporting elegance. Integrating some
Motorola technologies make the Seamless Mobility vision
real, or the fluidity of the technologies as a subsequent
stage of the Internet revolution.
Concept
The Birdcage
75th, in homage to the spirit of the dream car era, is based
on the road racing chassis of the Maserati MC12 and seeks to
capture the ultimate expression of speed, sensuality and
elegance – to create a functional and dynamic automotive
sculpture. The contrast struck between its organic fluidity
and the severe tension of its mechanicals, creates a
dynamism seldom realized.
The clear goal
of breaking away from traditional styling solutions and
creating a coherent and unique visual experience, led to a
particularly innovative integration of the exterior and
interior design and construction. Rather than pen the
exterior in a traditional manner, and thereafter by
consequence approach the design of the interior, the
Birdcage 75th was designed as an integrated singular object.
THE DESIGN
CHALLENGE
While the main
goal of the Birdcage 75th was to push new stylistic
boundaries and techniques, the Maserati’s over 700
horsepower V12 engine signified that the design concept had
to be true to certain race car ideals. Without limiting the
project’s creative potential, the design began with the
study of the mechanicals themselves, and how they themselves
could relate, and thus communicate with the impending
exterior design to create a coherent and seamless object.
The first
necessity became to envelope the mechanicals in the most
efficient manner possible. As research has shown, the
aerodynamic forms most effectively and frequently applied in
race car design are the teardrop and the inverted wing form.
With this in mind, the concept of the Birdcage 75th was
born. Upon studying the mechanicals, one can see the chassis
is naturally blessed by its delta shaped plan view as the
small and efficient passenger cell tapers rearward to
embrace the engine and drivetrain. So, the concept became
clear, a teardrop central volume would encapsulate the
passenger cell and the mechanicals creating an extremely
streamlined and efficient frontal area. In turn, this
central cell is suspended within a vast inverted wing form
which maintains an exceptionally low profile to aid in the
air flow above and under the vehicle.
The floating
central cell is seamlessly divided into two halves, the
upper portion being transparent, and the lower portion
serving as a structural aerodynamic skirt. The large
transparent area of the upper surface not only grants its
occupants outstanding visibility, but allows all of the
Maserati mechanicals, from its pushrod suspension to the
beautifully crafted carbon fibre inlet trumpets of its V12
engine to be showcased and appreciated.
Staying true to
its race car roots, the exterior surfaces are kept as low
and uncluttered as possible only to ebb and flow into the
four independently pronounced fenders which house the
massive alloy wheels. The alloy wheels, which measure an
impressive 20’’ (front) and 22’’ (rear) in diameter
respectively, are specifically designed to recall the
Tridente’s logo, and as on the racing cars, are attached via
a single center locking wheel nut. The low undulating
exterior has a natural but purposeful fluidity, appearing as
if mercury was merely poured over the mechanics. The result
is a powerful yet elegant form which, at a mere meter tall,
gives the impression of movement even at a standstill.
Not
incidentally, the resulting geometry of volumes is a
futuristic extension of the great Maserati race cars of
yesteryear, whose bodies stemmed from a simple extruded
fuselage onto which the independent fenders were grafted.
It is therefore
no coincidence the name of the prototype directly recalls
the legendary Birdcage Tipo 63. Nicknamed the birdcage due
to the radically triangulated tube construction of its
chassis, these cars were truly unique in that the chassis
and mechanicals were left in view under unusually large
transparent front wind screens.
The central engine initially mounted was a 4-cylinder 260 HP
model later replaced by the V12 3000 developing 320 HP at
8,200 rpm, based on the 350S prototype and the 250F T2 Grand
Prix. Over and above fourth place in the Le Mans 24-Hour
event, the Tipo 63 also achieved excellent results in 1961
with Walt Hangsen in American races, winning at
Bridgehampton, New York and the Elkhart Lake 500-mile in
Wisconsin.
To further
underline the Maserati heritage, great care was taken in the
rich jewel-like details which contrast the elegant
simplicity of its streamlined form.
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