2008 "Dream, cars of the future since 1950" exposition, Turin, December 23rd 2008

[LeonOfTheDead]

2006 Stola Molino's record car Replica

Commissioned by the Museo Casa Molino, Stola produced a full-scale model based on Carlo Molino's design.

[LeonOfTheDead]

2006 Stola Molino's record car Replica

A dream made reality
The story of Carlo Mollino's speed car is a dream in itself. It only existed in his head and in a few pencil drawings, and certainly never achieved the precision that the provisional and working tables fr the Bisiluro did, which were indispensable for discussions with his project partners, Mario Damonte and Enrino Nardi.
With the exhibition "Carlo Mollino, arabeschi" to be mounted at GAM in September 2006, Fabio and Napoleone Ferrari, the curators at the Museo Casa Mollino, handed ober to Stola - the historic car-body buildind firm founded in 1919 that today is more oriented towards providing highly professional services and technological plants - a scale model of the vehicle made during 1950s that belongs to the museum.
The aim was to produce a full-scale model of the design that had been halted during its embryonic stage. This principle was the same as the onen that, prompted Giorgetto Giugiaro and Italdesign to build in wood the model of Le Corbusier's "rational" car - the Auto maximum - that did not progress past the planning stage in 1928, and which today belongs to the Museo dell'Auto in Turin and exhibited at the entrance. As Mollino's model was not made properly in scale and had to be interpreted, the designers at Stola began with the size of the wheels to give the machine a plausible proportion (in the usual scale of 1:8).
The result is one of great originality because Stola utilised the most modern procedures to produce the model: they carried out the outlines and deduced the mathematics. In 5 weeks they passed from construction of the tubal metal chassis to filling it with polystyrene, applying an outer "skin" made from epowood (epoxy resin) 4 cm thick, and automatically milling the shape (using a sophisticated, multi-axis numerically controlled milling tool). After a little manual touching up and paint, the dream had come true

Lucid dreamer
It was how Carlo Mollino was defined, but his lucidity must be understood as an intimate, internal thought process, impenetrable and also whimsical, bored when he reached a peak and the mystery of the discipline tackled had been revealed. Among the many interests he showed, cars and races seem the most striking, almost a social event, because they put him in contact with scatter-brained patrons and dreams, real technicians and engineers, high quality coachbuilders, seasoned workshops and shrewd drivers.
Alongside the DAMOLNAR (Damonte, Mollino, Nardi) adventure of the famous Bisiluro, conceived and tested, the exploration work that has led to the posthumous reconstruction of a life-size version by Stola from a scale model (owned by Casa Molino) of this car conceived for records seems truly exceptional.
The request was made to Stola by the Casa Mollino museum in view of the exhibition "Carlo Mollino. Arabeschi" held succesfully at the GAM gallery of Turin in 2006.
A machine to fight time, space and the laws of nature was quite something else for Mollino compared to his previous contribution to the creation of racing car. The record-breaking had no steering or lights but if he had been able to built a full scale with chassis and engine, he could have gone out to test it in the dark of night, as he used to do for other (photographic) shots in the dark.
If he had achieved this, he alone would have driven and timed this expression of his much -loved hybrid - asphalt bends and spirals in the air or on snow - to reduce by a mile or a hundredth of a mile the enigmatic patch towards the solitary consecration in the absolute.

[LeonOfTheDead]

1992 Italdesign Columbus

Conceived as a "Caravella" for the Columbus celebrations in Genoa, it is proposed as a prestgious shuttle vehicle or travelling office

One-off model.

[LeonOfTheDead]

1992 Italdesign Columbus

[LeonOfTheDead]

1994 Fioravanti Sensiva

The supercar get fluent, elusive and sexy

Two seater sports saloon
Length: 4,12 m
Motor: electric

[LeonOfTheDead]

1994 Fioravanti Sensiva

[LeonOfTheDead]

1995 Pininfarina Argento Vivo

Technological materials, and Italian curves

Two seater roadster
Engine. 5 cylinder, 2.500 cc
One-off

Four additional units build on Mercedes-Benz mechanics.

[LeonOfTheDead]

1995 Pininfarina Argento Vivo

[LeonOfTheDead]

1998 Fioravanti F100

A vaguely biomorphic, aerodynamic wave

Two seater sports saloon
Length: 4.39 m
Engine: Ferrari F1 V10

[LeonOfTheDead]

1998 Fioravanti F100

[LeonOfTheDead]

1991 Italdesign Nazca M12

Gull wings on a polished body

Two seater sports saloon
Engine: V12, 5.000 cc
Top speed: 325 km/h

One-off model (even if I had to say I thought more cars have been built for the usual Sultan)

[LeonOfTheDead]

2001 Fioravanti Vola

The sports two seater offer a very original solution with its opening roof. The roof wheels and rests on the baggage compartement in a special housing without reducing the luggage capacity

[faksta]

That Stola is amazing. Thank you for the pictures!

[pdr]

1956 Morelli M-1000

This bears more than a slight resemblance to Buckminster Fuller's Dymaxion of the '30s. I'm not sure any exist, otherwise one (or more) would have been a great addition to this exhibit.

[LeonOfTheDead]

That Stola is amazing. Thank you for the pictures!

thanks, when I first saw it I thought it was from the Wipeout Fusion videogame.

This bears more than a slight resemblance to Buckminster Fuller's Dymaxion of the '30s. I'm not sure any exist, otherwise one (or more) would have been a great addition to this exhibit.

I agree, I would have like to see again the ALFA 40/60 HP Ricotti too, that was another great example: