Bellissima! Fumia Design presents Lancia J as birthday present
The Lancia Thesis is a comfortable and elegant car, but never became a sales success due to its odd styling. At least that's what Enrico Fumia figures, and as a designer of numerous Lancias and Alfa Romeos, he should know. His solution is the Lancia J, an equally unusual design, though arguably more fluid and elegant than the flagship Thesis sedan that it aims to supersede.
Fumia designed the Lancia J to celebrate the carmaker's landmark centenary. The car features some interesting styling elements, such as rear-hinged "suicide" doors in the back, CLS-style coupe-like styling, and most uniquely, chrome-trimmed front and rear bumpers that curve and dip to form intriguingly elegant lines. The concept was drawn up in a two-tone paintjob, a longstanding staple of Lancia's flagship model.
The Lancia J is still an entirely quirky design, unmistakably Lancia through and through. It just might be the perfect model for the marque's renaissance, and if Lancia decides to build it, this car could become the conveyance of choice for Italian businessmen, politicians and cardinals.
More images after the jump, including concept sketches and a live shot of the scale model.
[Source: Info Motori]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Riker 10:45AM (10/19/2006)
Looks better in the model than on paper... but I still can't handle the squiggle-zag line around the bottom of the car. Straighten that out a bit on the sides and it'd be leaps and bounds better...
Reply
Ken 12:58PM (10/19/2006)
Yuk, people get paid to come up wth crap like this?
Reply
Mondo 11:02AM (10/19/2006)
It's not so much that it's unusually but that it's just ugly. I have to agree with the squiggly line comment, that has to go. And, I'm not even sure a golf bag would fit in that trunk. They have a ways to go to make this any kind of practical reality.
Reply
Arvind 11:09AM (10/19/2006)
i think I designed cars like this when i was still learning to color in between the lines. 6 year olds design nicer cars. I don't know why this article dotes on this design so much, it sucks
Reply
Corey W. 11:11AM (10/19/2006)
WTF!!!
Reply
smooth sailin 11:12AM (10/19/2006)
I've heard of flame-surfacing in car design.Is squiggle-surfacing next?
Reply
Juan 11:17AM (10/19/2006)
Yeah, you could call that "fluid."
Personally, I don't dig the "sagging layer cake" school of design.
Reply
Eric B 11:20AM (10/19/2006)
If this thing ends up in a creek, you'll never find it.
Reply
Sergio X1/9 11:23AM (10/19/2006)
More photoes: http://www.virtualcar.it/?p=861
Reply
Blake 1:14PM (10/19/2006)
That's really gross.
Reply
Clarence 11:59AM (10/19/2006)
Well, I drove my Lancia to the carnival and took pictures of it in front of the distortion mirrors. See, Dad, how fat I look!
Reply
Kansei 12:08PM (10/19/2006)
worst design I've seen since the aztek.
Reply
KC 12:17PM (10/19/2006)
Considering it's stark resemblance to a slug I would not imagine this to be the fastest of automobiles if it ever gets built.
Does it leave a trail of ooze behind it as it inches down the street like it's biological slug bretherin?
Reply
Richard Warren 3:58PM (10/19/2006)
Other than the wave shaped rocker panel line I like the car. Color will have a lot to do with how good or bad this car might look. The curves at the front and rear match other body lines and fit the overall design. If the car has an interior and drives like the Thesis it will be a very nice vehicle.
Lots of folks ask for something different, someone delivers it and then folks don't like it. I happen to think the Chrysler 300 is just your basic box, not that attractive, but other folks like it a lot.
It's a Lancia, it's different, should be a very nice car.
Reply
John 12:50PM (10/19/2006)
Help me! I'm mellllting....
Reply
Edsel 12:52PM (10/19/2006)
OMG, It's been Bangled all over!
Reply
Kurt Svendsen 1:22PM (10/19/2006)
This cannot be any uglier. Its "fluid" shape reminds me of a ripe diaper.
Reply
Mr_Oak 12:56PM (10/19/2006)
UGH!! Didn't know that Salvador Dali was into automotive design. This thing reminds of that painting he did of the drooping clocks.
Reply
Howard Kerr 2:06PM (10/19/2006)
Except for the weird squiggle line that circles the bottom of this car, it is for all intents and purposes a retro design. I borrows heavily on the styling of Lancia's B series sedans produced in the early-mid fifties. And you thought Americans made bad retro-styled cars.
Reply
J P 1:34AM (10/20/2006)
behold, the Amoeba LX-V6.
Reply