Obscure supercars of the 80's and 90's
Discussion
Swanny87 said:
crostonian said:
I always lusted after this as a teenager but think it looks awful now!
The Giugiaro Aztec;
That looks like it was designed for the film 'Demolition Man'.The Giugiaro Aztec;
Swanny87 said:
Matt UK said:
I''l plump for the Cizeta V16T, brought to my attention as a teenager player the first Gran Turismo series!
I wonder how easy it was to push it to the limit?Leins said:
XJR15
Here's the LM version to go along with it. 7.4 litres, 700bhp+ (supposedly 760)
Leins said:
Not quite a supercar maybe, but I love the idea of the Maserati Barchetta
Love the Barchetta too, the chassis design became the DeTomaso Guara
F1GTRUeno said:
2. Jiotto Caspita
Back in 1989, a fashion company called Wacoal backed the making of a supercar under the brand name Jiotto.
Wacoal is sort of a fashion company but I think a more accurate description would be that it is the biggest underwear company in Japan.Back in 1989, a fashion company called Wacoal backed the making of a supercar under the brand name Jiotto.
The 1980s did very strange things to corporate Japan. A company called Meitec that provides engineers on contract to help with tech R&D went and bought the Bugatti Royale Kellner Coupe in 1990... They kept a fleet of cars and I think that part of the incentive package available to the engineers was temporary use of cars in the fleet. Not any more unfortunately...
Still in Japan, the Dome Zero was unveiled in 1978 so nearly qualifies.
http://www.autoblog.com/2007/08/07/the-japanese-su...
In Scotland the Argyll Turbo GT finally went on sale in 1983.
http://www.aronline.co.uk/blogs/cars/argyll/turbo-...
Kodiak F1. Only 1 made it seems...
http://www.autoblog.com/2009/01/25/rare-kodiak-f1-...
F1GTRUeno said:
Love the Barchetta too, the chassis design became the DeTomaso Guara
Remember the Guara, but didn't know of that link between the two!Matt UK said:
I''l plump for the Cizeta V16T, brought to my attention as a teenager player the first Gran Turismo series!
While the Cizeta is linked to the late 80s history of Lamborghini, they were also working on a "Super Countach" back in 1986-7. From what I remember of this article, I don't believe this was a Diablo prototype, but instead a lightweight carbon supercar, probably with some Horacio Pagani input?
Swanny87 said:
Matt UK said:
I''l plump for the Cizeta V16T, brought to my attention as a teenager player the first Gran Turismo series!
Wiki: The Cizeta-Moroder V16T, now known as just the Cizeta V16T, is an Italian sports car (built from 1991 to 1995) created by automotive engineer Claudio Zampolli in a joint venture with music composer Giorgio Moroder and designed by the famed Marcello Gandini. It was the only product of the Cizeta company. It was developed by a group of ex-Lamborghini employees and initially introduced in 1988.
The Cizeta-Moroder name comes from the spelling in Italian of the initials of the designer Claudio Zampolli (that is where the name "Cizeta" comes from; Ci-Zeta is italian for the letters C-Z, Zampolli's initials) and Giorgio Moroder. The V16T signifies that its engine is a V16 unit mounted Transversely in the central rear position, just forward of the rear axle and behind the passenger seats. However, the engine was not a true V16. Rather, it was engineered from the ground up as two flat plane V8s sharing a single block, mounted transversely, with gearing between the two providing a single output from the center of the engine assembly to the longitudinal transmission.
The chassis was formed of an aluminum honeycomb structure, wrapped in a sleek body designed by Marcello Gandini, who had previously designed the Lamborghini Countach and some aerodynamic Maseratis. The shape of the V16T is actually an original design for the Lamborghini Diablo by Gandini when he was at Lamborghini. However, in 1987 when Chrysler obtained controlling interest in Lamborghini, their design team "softened" the edges and generally modified Gandini's original design, leaving Gandini famously unimpressed. Gandini then joined forces with Zampolli and they conceived the Cizeta based on Gandini's original design for the Diablo. Thus, in some ways, the car could be considered what the Diablo would have looked like had Chrysler not intervened. Zampolli is credited with most of the final rear design, while Gandini is responsible for the rest.
The car was viewed from the beginning as an exclusive sports car, easily capable of achieving a top speed of 328 km/h (204 mph) and required just 4 seconds to accelerate from 0 to 100 km/h (62 mph), while at the same time equipped with many luxury features.
In 1991, the list price for a Cizeta-Moroder was an estimated €250,000 or US$300,000. Although predictions for production foresaw one car per week, only 19 examples (including 1 prototype) were actually built from 1991 until the company's demise in 1995. Subsequently, 3 more cars were completed (two more coupes and one spyder) in 1999 and 2003. As of May 1, 2006, the car is still in production on a made to order basis, although now priced at $649,000, or $849,000 for the Spyder TTJ, exclusive of shipping, taxes and extras.
Moroder's involvement
At some point after the car's debut, Giorgio Moroder and Claudio Zampolli parted ways, losing Moroder's name and the car's novelty appeal. It is known that Giorgio Moroder designed the Logo for the car. The Cizeta is still associated with his name and remains symbolic of Moroder's hi-tech music and glamorous lifestyle. In addition, while the car debuted as the Cizeta-Moroder, all delivered cars were badged simply as Cizeta V16T.
I wonder how easy it was to push it to the limit?Wiki: The Cizeta-Moroder V16T, now known as just the Cizeta V16T, is an Italian sports car (built from 1991 to 1995) created by automotive engineer Claudio Zampolli in a joint venture with music composer Giorgio Moroder and designed by the famed Marcello Gandini. It was the only product of the Cizeta company. It was developed by a group of ex-Lamborghini employees and initially introduced in 1988.
The Cizeta-Moroder name comes from the spelling in Italian of the initials of the designer Claudio Zampolli (that is where the name "Cizeta" comes from; Ci-Zeta is italian for the letters C-Z, Zampolli's initials) and Giorgio Moroder. The V16T signifies that its engine is a V16 unit mounted Transversely in the central rear position, just forward of the rear axle and behind the passenger seats. However, the engine was not a true V16. Rather, it was engineered from the ground up as two flat plane V8s sharing a single block, mounted transversely, with gearing between the two providing a single output from the center of the engine assembly to the longitudinal transmission.
The chassis was formed of an aluminum honeycomb structure, wrapped in a sleek body designed by Marcello Gandini, who had previously designed the Lamborghini Countach and some aerodynamic Maseratis. The shape of the V16T is actually an original design for the Lamborghini Diablo by Gandini when he was at Lamborghini. However, in 1987 when Chrysler obtained controlling interest in Lamborghini, their design team "softened" the edges and generally modified Gandini's original design, leaving Gandini famously unimpressed. Gandini then joined forces with Zampolli and they conceived the Cizeta based on Gandini's original design for the Diablo. Thus, in some ways, the car could be considered what the Diablo would have looked like had Chrysler not intervened. Zampolli is credited with most of the final rear design, while Gandini is responsible for the rest.
The car was viewed from the beginning as an exclusive sports car, easily capable of achieving a top speed of 328 km/h (204 mph) and required just 4 seconds to accelerate from 0 to 100 km/h (62 mph), while at the same time equipped with many luxury features.
In 1991, the list price for a Cizeta-Moroder was an estimated €250,000 or US$300,000. Although predictions for production foresaw one car per week, only 19 examples (including 1 prototype) were actually built from 1991 until the company's demise in 1995. Subsequently, 3 more cars were completed (two more coupes and one spyder) in 1999 and 2003. As of May 1, 2006, the car is still in production on a made to order basis, although now priced at $649,000, or $849,000 for the Spyder TTJ, exclusive of shipping, taxes and extras.
Moroder's involvement
At some point after the car's debut, Giorgio Moroder and Claudio Zampolli parted ways, losing Moroder's name and the car's novelty appeal. It is known that Giorgio Moroder designed the Logo for the car. The Cizeta is still associated with his name and remains symbolic of Moroder's hi-tech music and glamorous lifestyle. In addition, while the car debuted as the Cizeta-Moroder, all delivered cars were badged simply as Cizeta V16T.
You might get careless but you'll never be safe...
HereBeMonsters said:
WTF was the Robert Jankel Design Tempest? And come to that the Vector Twin Turbo?
He was the guy who founded Panther, but IIRC sold it before they came up with the Kallista or SoloThe Tempest was a mad supercharged Corvette. However, I don't remember this car getting an awful lot of press coverage back then, in comparison to say the (also partly-British) ZR-1
When I was 8+ years old (1998 onwards) and still got books as Xmas / Birthday gifts, I had a lovely hardback of concept cars, and 90% of the cars posted so far were in it 
I remember the S2000 and Audi TT concepts being in it too!
If I ever win big on the lottery, I'm collecting as many of these as possible
I remember the S2000 and Audi TT concepts being in it too!
If I ever win big on the lottery, I'm collecting as many of these as possible
F1GTRUeno said:
Swanny87 said:
Matt UK said:
I''l plump for the Cizeta V16T, brought to my attention as a teenager player the first Gran Turismo series!
I wonder how easy it was to push it to the limit? Giorgio Moroder wrote the soundtrack. I was making a hilarious (actually not very funny) reference to the song 'Push It To The Limit' on that soundtrack.
Swanny87 said:
I guess you've never seen scarface? Giorgio Moroder wrote the soundtrack. I was making a hilarious (actually not very funny) reference to the song 'Push It To The Limit' on that soundtrack.
I've seen it once, a long time ago. Slightly before my time so Push It to the Limit is more relevant to me from GTA3. Giorgio Moroder wrote the soundtrack. I was making a hilarious (actually not very funny) reference to the song 'Push It To The Limit' on that soundtrack.Was aware that Moroder was a music industry man but had no idea he did the soundtrack for Scarface so it was lost on me, sorry
Anyways, another one that's pretty interesting. The Iso Grifo 90.
http://www.carguychronicles.com/2010/05/iso-rivolt...
They made a styling excercise in 1990 and a concept based on the C4 Corvette but it never went into production like so many of the other cars in this thread. Someones obviously a fan and made a few based on the C5 Corvette platform though. Good looking thing in a very late 80s/early 90s kinda way.
Petrolicious article here
http://www.petrolicious.com/resurrecting-the-iso-g...
ging84 said:
when i was a kid i remember an advert for something where they had some sort of sports car where the steering wheel and part of the dash would flip over so it could be either left or right hand drive
can't remember what the advert was for and have no idea if it was a real car
It wasn't a real car, I guess it might have been a concept of some kind that whoever the advert was for just used. It was an advert for something mundane like insurance or tea or something, I think. The concept was something to do with "in the future, things will be very different and stereotypes we have now will seem silly". The advert came in showing this sexy sleek, high-tech car while someone with a heavy Russian accent intoned about "the finest car in the World, made in Russia" or something like that. This was when Ladas were still available in the UK and widely regarded a joke car, hence the 'humour'. I remember thinking it was pretty cool, too.can't remember what the advert was for and have no idea if it was a real car
Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff