Italdesign unveils EV tribute to 1973 Audi concept
Giugiaro-designed Asso di Picche In Movimento marks 50th anniversary of forgotten Audi concept
The year is 1973 and legendary Italian designer Giorgetto Giugiaro has unveiled an Audi 80-based concept car, the Asso di Picche (meaning Ace of Spades), previewing what a four-seater sports coupe might look like from the German car giant. Unfortunately, the car never made it beyond a working prototype, but it would heavily influence the look of the Lancia Delta concept that would arrive at the end of the decade. Now, 50 years on from the car’s debut, Italdesign has decided to mark the occasion with a modern interpretation the little-known prototype.
The Asso di Picche In Movimento (just rolls off the tongue, doesn’t it?) takes the form of an electric 2+2 coupe, inspired by the bold looks of the ultra-cool original concept and bringing them up to modern standards. Styled by Giugiaro himself, the In Movimento concept features the designer’s signature ‘monolithic’ silhouette, with a single line joining the tip of the low nose to the tallest part of the concept right at the back of the vehicle. Italdesign loves exposed aluminium bodywork, and its latest concept is no exception, though that contrasts with a gloss black upper section that seamlessly integrates with a digital panel up front, housing the car’s headlights.
All that aluminium should make the In Movimento concept pretty light, as should the polycarbonate windows. In fact, the greenhouse is so vast that Italdesign has integrated a polarising filter at the top of the cabin to block out UV rays and, presumably, to stop the cabin from turning into a giant greenhouse on wheels. Meanwhile, there’s a neat call back to the original concept at the base of the windscreen. The original had a large, raised NACA duct, but as there’s less need for cooling on the new EV the device has been reimagined as the release catch for the front boot.
Moving inside, the In Movimento concept’s interior is so spartan and so futuristic that it just screams ‘mobility’. There’s not much going on here, other than a giant digital display that spans the width of the dashboard and can be rotated out of sight when not in use. Curiously, the cabin features a ‘scent synthesiser’ (whatever that means), which works in tandem with the audio system to create an ‘immersive experience’ for those inside the cabin. Strike that off your concept car bingo cards.
Joaquin Garcia, Head of Design at Italdesign, said: “The dimensions and structure of our anniversary vehicle’s monocoque are larger, to ensure they are more effective in handling a collision. This makes the shape more tapered and sculptural. The battery pack, being attached to the chassis platform, meant that the vehicle body had to increase in height in order to provide a suitable housing. The wheel arches, emphasised in the front but appearing attenuated in the rear, wrap around the upper sections of the wheels, which have been enlarged specifically to compensate for the broader vehicle body.”
The company is keeping tight lipped on battery specs and performance, but given that the car currently lives in the digital realm, it’s safe to assume that the In Movimento concept is very much intended as a design study. A cool one at that, and one that proves Mr Giugiaro has still got it.
The Isuzu Piazza was a Giugiaro design not chosen for the Mk2 Scirocco?
This means that we've only got another 7 years to wait before the 50th anniversary EV tribute to the Morris Ital?
Now there's something to look forward to!
Sort of misses the point that the Asso di Picche was a very geometric, linear series of wedges.
The Isuzu Piazza was a Giugiaro design not chosen for the Mk2 Scirocco?
The Asso di Picche or Ace of Spades was the Audi 80 (B1) based car as below by ItalDesign
However Asso di Picche wasn’t the only one in the series. There was the Asso di Picche meaning Ace of Spades (Audi basis, 1973), the Asso di Quadri meaning Ace of Diamonds (BMW basis, 1976), Asso di Fiori meaning Ace of Clubs (Isuzu, 1979). An Asso di Cuori meaning Ace of Hearts was intended, but never realized.
The first of the series, the Asso di Picche, was based on the B1 Audi 80 and commissioned by Karmann Coachworks, an independent factory in Osnabruck, Germany that contracted with manufacturers to build and sometimes design series production cars. Though both Karmann and ItalDesign are today owned by the Volkswagen Group, during the ’70s they were independent businesses seeking to drum up business from series manufacturers. And for VW, it likely worked because Wolfsburg would turn to Karmann for production of the Scirocco coupé and Golf Cabriolet models. Given that, it’s also worth noting the stylistic influence the Asso di Picche had on the Scirocco Mk1 in particular, and that the Asso Quadri had on the Scirocco Mk2.
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