Autoblog

Last October, when Yamaha showed off its Tesseract concept, we had trouble deciding how to classify the vehicle other than as extremely awesome. We are left scratching our heads yet again as Swiss automobile and motorcycle customizing company Sbarro unleashes its Pendolauto concept. Like the Tesseract, the Pendolauto leans into turns like a motorcycle would, yet features four wheels, like a car or a quad. With most of the excitement of a motorcycle, the machine would certainly be a blast to ride, but perhaps a bit more stable due to the addition of the two extra contact patches. Piaggio has seen a great deal of success with its MP3 scooter, but that machine features three wheels and is classified as a motorcycle. Because the Tesseract and Pendolauto have four wheels, nothing quite like them will be available in the U.S. any time soon. Unfortunately, the powers-that-be have yet to understand that a machine like the Pendolauto can offer similar benefits as motorcycles while perhaps adding a few degrees of safety. Click one of the sources below for more pics.

[Source: Yahoo, Salon Auto]

Although the primary attraction at Sbarro's booth in Geneva was the Citroen-based Cruise Crosser, the vehicle that caught our attention was this student-developed Turbo S20 Barchetta concept car. A group of 20 Espera Sbarro design school students pooled their resources, and in cooperation with the French TV show "Turbo," built this one-off concept in close to three months.

Powered by a 300 HP, 5-liter V8 pulled from a Porsche 928, this mid-engine track car tips the scales at just over 2,500 pounds – not quite a lightweight, but considering the lump behind the driver, a noble feat indeed. The ponies are harnessed by a five-speed manual and power is sent to a set of 11x20 inch OZ Botticelli wheels, wrapped in 335/30/20 Michelin PS2s.

Whether or not the Turbo S20 will make it off the show floor and onto the track remains to be seen, but regardless, it's a testament to what focused minds can create, with limited funding.

When we first saw the Sbarro name on the list of manufacturers due to present during the second day of the Geneva show, it took us a few minutes to recall the name, beyond our bad experiences at the mall pizza joint. We don't remember the last time we saw one of their concepts, since the last one that stuck out was their 2001 Christelle that was, shall we say, not so aesthetically pleasing. After some digging, we came across their website which has vehicles that date as far back as 1960, with the latest concepts coming out in 2004.

Well, this year they're coming back big, orange and weirder than ever with the unveiling of the Sbarro Cruise Crosser, a six-wheeled truckish thing based off the Citroen C-Crosser/Mitsubishi Outlander. Little is known about this particular concept, but since Sbarro has a tendency to bring a few different cars to the show, we'll have to check it out and see what other oddities are on display.

[Source: Autoweek.nl]