Enrico Fumia, renown for styling the Lancia's Y and Lybra models as well as the Maserati 3200GT and the Alfa Romeo GTV and 164 models, has created a new scale model proposal - the Lancia J - which pays tribute to the marque on the important occasion of its 100th anniversary. As usual for Fumia, the design of the Lancia J is controversial: a combination of pushing forward new ideas and utilising his favoured approaches such as a symmetrical approach to styling.

The Turin based Fumia Design Associati is led by Enico Fumia, who cut his teeth under the direction of Nuccio Bertone, and who as well as this string of well-received production models has also created several groundbreaking concept cars such as the Audi Quartz (1981). Other non-production projects include the Fiat Strada 105TC-based Alfa "Brio" showcar (Geneva 1983) and further back in 1966 when he was resident at Bertone, the Grifo d'Oro. More recent projects include the one-off F90, based on the Ferrari Testarossa chassis (1988) which was created for a Japanese enthusiast. He has a more recent tradition of focusing on the growing need for solutions to city transportation requirements: his trio small car concepts - Xstile, Xport and Xsmall - were shown at the Turin Motor Show in 2000, while another small 'city car' proposal, CityCat Jod-Jod was shown in Bologna in 2004. Last year he created WOW16, another very small car proposal built for burgeoning Chinese carmaker Chery, and shown at the Shanghai Motor Show. Aside from cars he has created innovative automotive solutions to the actioning of folding roofs, concealed rear wiper arms and blades (patented by Lancia for the Y and Lybra models) as well as a string of non automotive products, including golf clubs and revolutionary air-conditioning systems.
 

Now Fumia presents his own individual tribute to Lancia's 100th anniversary, with a scale model that cements his long standing relationship with the Fiat Auto-owned brand, the Lancia J. His idea has focused around a new flagship saloon, a successor to the Lancia Thesis model which has struggled to find an appreciative audience in the marketplace during the five years it has been in production. Fumia's concept is an unusual design but aims to reflect a luxurious, comfortable and practical saloon, which reflects Lancia's brand values with its retrospective touches and its call on a long heritage.

The Lancia J model instinctively explores one of the designers underlying individual trends, a call for symmetry in a car's overall design, distinct traits seen in recent years in his symmetrical 'Xstile' and 'Xport' city car designs. Now Fumia has evolved this original train of thinking and adapted it to the requirements of a large executive saloon. His use of symmetry allows the incorporation of rear doors which are hinged at the C-pillar to be a natural overall feature of the car, while the removal of the B-pillar is a twist on Lancia's thinking in recent years - it was was a feature of the luxurious and innovative 'Diagalos' concept car, shown in 1998, which partially evolved into the Thesis, and which without the hindrance of the centre pillar explored the 'living room' concept to the full. Many of the ideas tested on "technology showcase" Diagalos were then incorporated into the production Thesis, not least the overall form.

The overall shape of the car arches sharply upwards with this feature impressed on by the high centre. The quirky styling of the Lancia J is complemented by some edgy touches, such as the undulating front and rear bumpers which chase round into similar flowing sill mouldings. These lines in turn are drawn from the shape of the prominent front Lancia radiator grille while the overall theme of design symmetry continues with features such as the narrow headlights and tail lights with curve to pointed edges, the door drop-glass and exterior opening handles, the front and rear screen, and the positioning of the front foglights and rear exhaust tailpipe exits. Bowing to a recent but now very established Lancia tradition, Fumia also envisions a bi-colore version.