Luigi Colani: The unknown prototypes.
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Luigi Colani: The unknown prototypes.

Luigi : The unknown prototypes.

In the era of the Porsche 917, he saw into the future...

Little known designer, Luigi Colani is no less than the inventor of bio-design; a design concept that dates back to the 60's and is particularly in vogue today. In automobile design, the early intuitions of this designer were truly ahead of their time…

Paris 1952 - While studying aerodynamics at the Sorbonne, Luigi Colani was befriended by Charles Deutsch (1911-1980) an aerodynamics engineer already well known at the time for having designed several cars that raced at the 24 Hours of Le Mans (DB). In 1953, Colani was spotted by Simca and participated in the implementation of the first sports car in synthetic materials. Later, he designed the body of an Alfa Romeo, which broke the speed record at the Nürburgring.

Sassenberg 1970 – As well as putting his models to test on the Bonneville Salt Flats, the designer also planned to take over from his mentor at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. In 1970, his studies in aerodynamic design of car bodies where the air flow was channelled toward the centre of the vehicle, with two wings enclosing the flow. He invented the extractor ground effect, but too early for its effectiveness to be seriously considered by manufacturers ... The C112 prototypes and Le Mans Concept 1970 did not impress investors, nor the impressive Stingray of 1991. Yet today, Colani advises to brands like Volvo. So, in abandoning the "Le Mans" project in 1984, could Mazda have missed out on an early success in La Sarthe?

Julien HERGAULT

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