The prototype, the result of a joint venture between the Lancia Style Centre, Studio Carcerano and Carrozzeria Maggiora, represents a meeting point between a quest for good looks and computerised and virtual technology. 

The car measures 4260 mm in length, 1920 mm in width and 1410 mm in height and from the outside features an essential purity of form that is a living embodiment of the slogan 'less is more'. This piece of modern art features great dynamism coupled with beautiful proportions. This stylistic feature, so typical of Lancia tradition, is permanently back in our brief since the advent of the Thesis flagship. 

The Granturismo thus offers us the sculpted quality of many models dating from the Fifties and Sixties without ever losing sight of Lancia's need for its own expressive language. The Granturismo also features HPE (High Performance Estate) architecture, a famous name from the Seventies. 

The Lancia Granturismo is built on Thesis mechanicals and equipped with a roomy, welcoming, fully glazed passenger compartment while a long bonnet gives visual emphasis to the front wheel drive layout. The front end is also a sporty take on the Lancia flagship's leader's distinctive physiognomy, as evidenced by a stylised grille set into a long bonnet and vertical headlights that underscore the wraparound wings. The surfaces extend stylishly over the car, slipping seamlessly from body to bumper. The HPE-shaped roof is apparently supported by a line of tension that passes through the rear pillars and counterbalances the forward slant of the other lines. The car's downward tapering surfaces and upright headlights seated on sturdy shoulders are reminiscent of cars such as the Aprilia and Ardea. These hugely appealing retro hints and motifs, survivors from a golden age of world motoring, have now been appropriated by Lancia's designers and made part of their new stylistic language. 
A smoothly-arched, declining line, reminiscent of the Dialogos, distinguishes the side and suggests the tension of a beast waiting to pounce. 

The Lancia Granturismo is a tangible expression of tradition and innovation, sportiness and style, emotion and practicality. The fact that this mixture of apparently contradictory features can be brought together to form one harmonious whole in this concept car is a tribute to the bedrock of form and essence now written permanently into Lancia's DNA. This complex task is made easier by a crack team of designers (Lancia Style Centre) and engineers (Studio Carcerano and Carrozzeria Maggiora) with superb knowledge of design, virtual modelling and prototype production. 

The Lancia Granturismo also offers a smooth and supple drive due to a self-adaptive interface, sky-hook suspension and dual frame floorpan: technological features designed to interpret and reflect the driver's own style 

>>> 27.11.2002  FIAT OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE "BRERA"

'Not a storm, but a flower unfolding'. These were the words Giorgetto Giugiaro used to define the Alfa Romeo Brera, the hugely attractive and gorgeously styled concept car that is currently guest of honour on the stand at Bologna. 

The prototype was introduced for the first time at the Geneva Motor Show earlier this year and received several international plaudits: 'Best of Show' from Autoweek magazine at the Geneva Motor Show; 'Best of Show' in the Prototype category at the Villa d'Este Style competition; 2 category prizes at the Bibendum Challenge 2002, one as 'one of the most elegant in the world'; and the title 'the most fascinating car' awarded at the Paris to Montecarlo Super Car Rally 2002. The Brera has also been nominated for the Automobilia 'Best looking car in the world' prize. An entirely respectable CV, therefore, for this generously-proportioned 2+2 made entirely out of carbon fibre. The car is 1894 mm wide, 4388 mm long and 1289 mm high, even through the strongly tapered front and rear give the model an impression of great compactness. An impression that does not detract in any way, however, from the elegance of the lines that flow smoothly front and back to the integral bumpers and converging wedge-shaped light clusters. 

The exterior shape is a succession of classic hints, an ideal place where traditional brand motifs are brought right up to date. A quick glance tells you all you want to know. The rear window, for example, looks like the legendary window on the Giulietta Sprint. The rear end also borrows distinctive traits from the Alfa 156 and 147. Further retro hints can be discerned at the front: the bonnet has a Fifties look, i.e. dominated by a shield embedded in the centre. The innovative door opening system is based on a patented joint: when rotated outward it propels the door forward. 

Inside, the Alfa Romeo Brera is a welcoming and highly sophisticated place to be. The aluminium components are made warm and comfortable by leather padding to protect occupants' knees and shoulders. The instruments and controls are separate, while a generous central tunnel divides the passenger seats to leave room for a high-tech steel structure. The visual impact is uninterrupted, not least because the ventilation outlets are in the door compartment instead of on the facia. The interior lighting is managed by an innovative sensor system that adjusts the darkness of the big upper window. Lastly, a Hi-Fi system with diffusion system (Picasound) by Pierre Piccaluga offers a sound performance 60% better than conventional systems.

Under the bonnet of the Alfa Romeo Brera beats the heart of a 4 litre engine with eight cylinders in a V (90°), that develops 400 bhp at 7000 rpm. The mighty power unit is located at the front in the middle and paired with a rear sequential 6-speed gearbox.