“Fare l'automobile” is an inside story on car designing, a profession that combines high technology and extraordinary craftsmanship. Both features are essential in every automobile design centre, where the car’s body takes shape thanks to the knowing hands of designers, model makers, metalworkers and upholsterers.
The volume collects 14 extraordinary interviews with famous Italian (by birth or training) car designers, who have made this profession great and contributed to the success of all of the best car brands, from Mercedes to Audi, from Lamborghini to Ferrari, from Fiat to Maserati and Toyota: a rare and unique collection of visions, opinions, suggestions on the great themes that revolve around this fascinating profession.
The book provides a historical overview spanning from the 1920s, when Italian coachbuilders - the great men who inspired today’s car designers - developed their know-how, up to the birth of modern-day automobile industry, with its state-of-the-art Design Centres.
Great attention is dedicated to the main aspects of car designing, including its many contradictions and increasingly complex limitations: rules and regulations, market demand, pollution issues, alternative fuels and environmental protection. What emerges is a great passion for modelling, which is when ideas begin to take shape. The book also analyses tomorrow’s scenarios, beyond current trends. Training is also discussed, with special reference to what car companies and design centre directors look for in a young car designer.
Interviews with: Chris Bangle, Elvio D’Aprile, Walter de Silva, Wolfgang Egger, Simona Falcinella, Marcello Gandini, Roberto Giolito, Giorgetto Giugiaro, Flavio Manzoni, Filippo Perini, Roberto Piatti, Lorenzo Ramaciotti, Michael Robinson, Valeria Vigevani.
