Italdesign Asso di Picche In Movimento

Italdesign makes the virtual debut of Asso di Picche In Movimento, a digital design concept for an electric 2+2 coupé celebrating the fiftieth anniversary of the 1973 Asso di Picche prototype.

Joaquin Garcia, Head of Design at Italdesign said:

Fifty years later, the design of a car model continues to be the formal interpretation of the concept of movement

A tribute to the past, the result of a corporate choice, to remember the visionary scope of the original car and to demonstrate the ability of today’s company to transfer its heritage into the future, responding to the demands of an evolving and evolving sector and object continuous updates.

1973

Fifty years ago, Giorgetto Giugiaro and the working group from the Italdesign Centro Stile presented the Asso di Picche, Italian for “Ace of Spades,” at the Frankfurt Motor Show: a styling study for a sports, 2+2 coupé, built on an Audi 80 chassis and mechanics, with styling features inspired by the Alfa Romeo Caimano and Maserati Boomerang designs, created and developed by Italdesign in the two years prior to its launch at the request of the historic Karmann coachbuilder.

Despite being conceived to be ready for production, the Asso di Picche never made it.

Nevertheless, it was a vehicle of bold and original ideas that, with its tight, clean and modern lines, influenced and defined production-line models that would subsequently make names for themselves on the international automotive scene.

It is a model that is not at all well-known among the general public – said Joaquin Garcia, Head of Design at Italdesign.

Nonetheless, from a design standpoint, it is one of the most innovative and important ever created. It is a trim, aerodynamic, ‘propulsive’ and penetrating vehicle. A light body, with simple and clean design, interesting proportions, a horizontal flow expressed via straight and parallel lines, a very prominent C-pillar that was to become iconic over time, and a front bumper that, for the first time, instead of being treated as a purely functional accessory, was made part of the line of the body. Fifty years on – he concludes – an automobile’s design continues to be the formal interpretation of the concept of movement.

2023

Asso di Picche In Movimento (Italian for “In Motion”) is, in fact, the name chosen for the anniversary show-car 2.0 of the Asso di Picche. This interpretation translates the original model into the present, while preserving its essence and the simplicity of its design, simultaneously conferring a timeless nature.

Monolithic, pure and rational: distinctive personalities in motion

All design is the product of the aesthetic sense and design tools of its specific time. In the Seventies, the “tecnigrafo” limited the formal end product; today, digital tools allow car designers greater freedom when shaping their forms.

The car of the 1970s features a relationship between body and glass surfaces that favors the latter – said Joaquin Garcia. Today, the rationale of car design choices is also shaped by the concepts of safety and electrification. 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, emphasized 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. And – he added – in the process of modernizing the distinguishing features of the historic model, we merged the physical and the digital in a way that is typical of our times.

As an interpretation, therefore, it is well founded but nonetheless subjective, because Asso di Picche In Movimento is not a RestoMod; on the contrary, it is pursuing its own contemporary and rational stylistic independence. The vehicle decoded, elevated from a digital perspective, the purity of line of the Asso di Picche transformed into hedonistic, three-dimensional plasticity in pursuit of a futuristic aesthetics.

A 2+2 electric coupé, 3 doors, without a center pillar, built on a next-generation platform, 4662 mm long, 1230 mm high and 1945 mm wide, Asso di Picche In Movimento replaces the overlapping isosceles triangles of the original model with two shells: a vehicle body in aluminum and windows in polycarbonate combine to form one monolithic and seamless aerodynamic whole, enclosed by a single unbroken outline that unifies the roof, front end, and rear end, all the way down to the tail panel, wrapping around the passenger compartment. The top view highlights the visual continuity between the windshield, roof, and rear window: a single transparent expanse, a true architectural element that guarantees a bright interior and structural strength; underneath it, are concealed the cameras that replace side rear-view mirrors, which were absent on the first model. Designed to protect passengers from the sun, a part of the roof has been treated like a polarized lens and filters out 100% of UVA rays.

The luggage compartment lid, at the front of the vehicle, features a nod to the past: the Asso di Picche’s long air intake has been transformed into a contemporary functional element, which opens up to fit the electric charging connector. Under the lid, the luggage compartment will hold two medium-sized wheeled suitcases.

On the sides, the two generously sized classic doors are distinguished by their double-hinged mechanism, which allows the door first to slide forwards and then to rotate, thus reducing the volume of the doors themselves and making their opening easier. On the rear, together with a reflector and a centrally located extractor, we also find an active spoiler, chosen to contribute to the car’s aerodynamics.

The front and rear car lights are given the task of announcing the vehicle’s design identity, via fresh interpretations of the Italdesign logo. On the front, the letter “D” from the Italdesign pictogram, with its rounded curves, duplicates, splits and flips horizontally to embrace a rectangular center module and, thanks to DRL (Daytime Running Lights) technology, transforms into a distinctive illuminated symbol.

On the rear, it is the thirteen progressively distant bars that provide inspiration for the graphical arrangement of the taillights.

The unmistakable styling themes of the Asso di Picche, which return in the name and in the decoration on the C-pillar of the ’73 design, are taken back up and reinterpreted, with the spades suit incorporated into the O of “ASSO” (“ACE”).

Interiors in motion towards comprehensive sustainability

The distinctive features of the original model’s interior also warrant an analysis

The level of comfort of the original 2+2 compartment remains unchanged. This is not a “people carrier” but a coupé; it is very relaxing and pleasant for the two front passengers, who can enjoy bucket seats designed for comfort but with a technical allure, like in the original model, while comfort takes second place to aerodynamics in the rear of the vehicle for the two passengers seated behind.

The two cylindrical components that dominated the dashboard in the Asso di Picche, the location of the controls usually situated on the instrument panel and secondary control panels, were the product of radical and advanced research into layout. They have returned as a distinguishing element of the new Asso di Picche’s dashboard as well, and, with today’s high-tech approach, they have become an interface that extends for the entire length of the dashboard: a light, suspended, ultra-thin screen, which can be rolled up or unrolled as needed. Few basic features are constantly visible; this choice, combined with the presence of a built-in scent synthesizer and audio functions, contributes to an immersive experience in a passenger compartment that is purposely understated, less obvious and intrusive.

The steering wheel—the one component that, above all others, connects the driver with the vehicle in motion—is simple and clean: rectangular, with rounded corners, and built low to offer more functional space and increase visibility. One small cylindrical piece is responsible for its functionality.

The leather belts on the storage pockets inside the door panels of the original model were elegant and highly distinctive. The same belts return as distinguishing elements of the door panels of the Asso di Picche In Movimento, becoming functional and structural components, in that they merge with the armrests and transform into handles to open and close the doors.

Asso di Picche In Movimento manifests our vision as it applies to many of the contemporary topics being debated in the automotive sector and beyond: a concept of mobility that is more sustainable and aware, one that is also expressed through the simplification of the technology on board the vehicle, with the aim of achieving a more ‘human-centric’ experience, in keeping with the principle of digital detox; the elimination of animal-derived leather, which is replaced by new environmentally sustainable materials capable of evoking the pleasurable sensations of comfort and warmth further accentuated by a luxury tactile experience; and finally, the pleasure of challenging ourselves as a working team, making the most of our differences – Joaquin Garcia explained. At our Design Center, young and talented designers work side-by-side with the professionals who have helped to write the extraordinary history of this company. Projects like this one,” he concluded, “allow us to celebrate all our years of research and innovation, supported by successful partnerships, and to propel our heritage into the future, enjoying our most diverse professional experiences and specialized skills. We all share one single culture: that of design.