The Global Reach Of Italian Auto Designers

Italy owns a wealth of brilliant industrial car designers among them Giovanni Michelotti, whose prolific designs extended beyond Italian borders.

Among them was the Triumph TR4 under the British banner and BMW 700 in Germany.

He was the first European to influence the Japanese car industry which was on the rise in the 1970s.

Ercole Spada also left an imprint on German automobiles through his work on BMW 5-series.

Volkswagen in particular was dependent on the creative minds of Marcello Gardini and Giorgetto Giugiaro.

Over the next few posts, I'll be expanding the roster of masters of automobile designers from Italy.

Journey Into A Fabric Factory

From the Sydney Morning Herald:

"A thick fog decends over the Piemonte countryside as I arrive in the Biellese Alps, the heart of Italy's famed textile-producing industry. I'm here to visit Vitale Barberis Canonico, the legendary producer of fabrics for Savile Row tailors with over 350 years of history...."

"...While the factory floors are filled with the most sophisticated fabric-making machinery, human nous and an expert eye are still indispensable.

Nowhere is this more so than in the checking of the cloth. Every metre of every fabric is run past a well-trained eye skilled at spotting a torn thread, a nub of unwanted yarn or a glitch in the pattern. If the flaw can be corrected it will be done by the equally skilled hands of those trained in the precision craft of re-weaving..."

Head Transplant Possible According To Italian Surgeon

"It sounds like the plot of a bad horror film, but doctors are gearing up to do the world’s first head transplant.

Italian surgeon Sergio Canavero wants to take the head from someone with an incurable illness and graft it on to a healthy body.

He claims the first operation could be done in just two years’ time."

How do you say Frankensteen in Italian?

The Innovative And Immortal Isotta-Fraschini TIPO 8A

Isotta-Fraschini TIPO 8A, designed by Giustino Cattaneo, was the first car with four-wheel brakes in 1910 as well as pioneers in overhead cams.



The bodywork, which is very unusual for Italian cars, was made Fleetwood Metal Body Company out of Pennsylvania according to Zumbrunn and Heseltine in the wonderful book 'Italian Auto Legends.'

Rudolph Valentino commissioned to have a TIPO 8A made with 7370 cc engine.

IF never really made it in the world of automobile finding remarkable success in marine and aeroplane engines.

Italian Scientists Make Discovery

"...With funding from the National Institute on Drug Abuse to probe the effects of methamphetamine on the “lipidome” (the complete lipid profile of representative organs and tissues) in rats that self-administer the drug, UCI’s Daniele Piomelli and his IIT colleagues found that its use caused abnormalities in cellular fat metabolism, triggering extreme inflammation marked by a considerable rise in the formation of ceramides, pro-inflammatory molecules that can foster cell aging and death."

Part Of Italian Automotive Heritage In Philadelphia Simeone Museum

Simeone Foundation Automotive Museum in Philadelphia:

"At one point in time, the Targa Florio, held in Sicily since 1906, was considered the most important road race in Europe. Le Mans, as a sports car race, did not start until 1923, and the Mille Miglia started in 1927. The Targa Florio race, which covered 277 miles throughout undeveloped, tortuous, and sometimes dangerous mountain roads, remained a dominant activity for road racing enthusiasts. Throughout its history, there were a variety of changes in the road course. The race always had the flavor of combining the speed and durability of the sports car itself, with the endurance and particularly cornering skills of the driver. When the FIA World Sports Car Championship was introduced in 1953, the Targa organizers applied for inclusion, which was granted in 1955."

Italian Eco-Architecture On Display

From Inhabitat.com:


"If Foster + Partners get their way, the Italian coastal town of Rimini will be as famous for its magnificent architecture as it is for its beaches. Earlier this month, the world renowned architectural firm unveiled a new development proposal for the Italian seafront to connect the town and waterfront. The project is sure to be a truly impressive attraction for tourists all around, and promises to enhance the green-minded plan of this favorite vacation spot."

Ferrari Introduces 488 GTB

Ferrari 488 GTB unveiled.

275 GTB from 1966 as a bonus.

Alfa Romeo Unveils 4C Spider

Alfa's 2015 4C Spider launched.

Photo: Car and Driver.

Startup Offers One-Click Travel Options

From Forbes:

"This has opened the door to a new generation of travel tech start-ups, like Go Euro, Route Happy and Hotel Tonight, aimed at making journeys and travel experiences as seamless as possible.

The entrepreneurs behind these ventures have invariably experienced travel frustrations of their own. In the case of Italian multimodal transportation start-up Waynaut, it was the daily commute from home to university of its founder and CEO Simone Lini that was the inspiration."

Broadband Speed Lags

You gotta take the good with bad sometimes in life.

And with Italy, there's plenty of both. Which makes it so interesting. Who wants a perfect society anyway? All that utopian splendor saps and stomps the energy out of creativity and life I say!

When it comes to average broadband speed, Italy lags...badly...next to its European peers according to Akamai's recent report.

Not sure why is so but despite recent improvements the country remains in the Dark Age so to speak.

Lamborghini Enters Smartphone Realm

Welcome to 2015!

I came across some boxes containing copy books from elementary school during the Holidays. One of them read at the top: October 12, 1982.

Amazing how time passes. How quickly we can be transported back to a time I somehow can't believe existed.

Anyway.

Lamborghini enters the Smartphone market under the Tonino Lamborghini Mobile name.

Price tag? Roughly $4000.

Italian App Focuses On Cervical Fitness

"Cervical fitness. With the use of technology on the rise, the cervical area of the body is not getting the exercise and movement for which it is designed creating a need for special medical interest created to work just with patients with neck pain.  Patients are given exercises to complete by physiotherapists and chiropractors, but either don’t rigidly follow these regimens or don’t follow them properly.  An Italian team has created an app they hope will change all that and rid the world of neck pain, too, and they’ve launched an IndieGoGo campaign to finish programing and distributing it."

More here. 

And Happy New Year to one and all!

What Does A Ferrari Army Look Like?

Well:

"...Aside from the opportunity to admire a stunning array of Prancing Horse cars designed specifically for the track, attendees  also witnessed an impressive gathering of Ferraris from all over the Middle East.
With a LaFerrari leading the way, the parade saw the Abu Dhabi track thronged by over 200 models of every age and representing most of the States in the area. Also flying at the event were many of the UAE’s flags in celebration of the 43rd anniversary of the UAE, adding an extra layer of significance to this meeting of Italian passion, technology and design in one of the world’s most economically important regions..."

The Legendary 1929 Alfa Romeo 6C 1750 SS