IDEA Institute’s new show car ERA is a roadster designed for pure driving pleasure through the instinctive pencil strokes of the designer on a blank page.

Important occasions such as its 30th year of activity, the planned opening of a new IDEA Institute facility in Brazil and Turin’s year as World Design Capital, have prompted IDEA Institute to present ERA at the forthcoming Automotive News Europe Congress in Turin. The ERA concept will be making its official debut at the Automotive News Europe Congress on May 19 and 20.

ERA, the first in a series of models, represents a renewed IDEA Institute. The car is the fruit of the work of a team of young designers who apply their expertise to car styling projects as well as to the design of motorcycles and a wide range of industrial products. A highly skilled team of model and show car builders transformed the Designers’ renderings into a high quality show car.

ERA – passion, emotion and sheer beauty

IDEA Institute’s new show car ERA is a roadster designed for pure driving pleasure through the instinctive pencil strokes of the designer on a blank page. Its smooth curves come to life from taut yet harmonious lines which give the car its elegant yet powerful appearance. Its simple interior, composed of a visible tubular structure, expresses the car’s pure essential nature typical to sports cars.

IDEA Institute

IDEA Institute was founded in Moncalieri on the outskirts of Turin in North West Italy by the entrepreneur Franco Mantegazza in 1978. The company expanded rapidly to occupy six operating centres and to become a supplier of the whole range of new vehicle development activities: from styling to full scale model building, engineering, running prototype construction and manufacturing engineering.

IDEA Institute has worked with the world’s major vehicle manufacturers during its 30 years of activity; the company now has 12,000 square metre headquarters in Turin, branches in China, France and Rumania and an engineering team in India. Its design activities also include cooperation with manufacturers of a wide variety of products from motorcycles, to home appliances and furniture. With a workforce of over 400 employees and an average annual turnover of around 40 million euros, since 2000 IDEA Institute is part of the Swiss multinational Rieter Group.

IDEA Institute has designed such vehicles as the Fiat VSS (vehicle by subsystems); the Fiat Tipo; the Nissan Terrano II; the Daihatsu Move and numerous others. In more recent times, in addition to its major European customers, the company has designed cars for the fast moving Chinese market for such manufacturers as Changan and Hainan. IDEA Institute has also worked with Cagiva, Ducati, Telecom Italia, Hoover and Saporiti to name but a few.

Today, the company is going through a period of renewal and expansion with a branch to be opened in Brazil in 2008. Furthermore, the Turin-based Design Centre has undergone a phase of growth with an enlarged design team and the introduction of the latest computer aided styling tools. In addition to providing its customers with ever more dynamic styling services and reduced lead times, the Design Centre is working on the creation of a series of IDEA Institute show and concept cars for Motor Show appearances in the near future.