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Over the last
fortnight, design house Pininfarina have been showing an innovative proposal at
the Paris International Motor Show, for two differing bodied cars to be
built on one chassis.
This project took
its place on a busy stand, that included the new Ferrari F430, a sportscar
designed by the Italian firm, that was receiving its 'World Premiere' at the
French show, the little Nido concept, which focused on safety issues, and the
Lotus Elise-based 'Enjoy', which will be their first ever self-branded vehicle,
when it goes into limited production next year to celebrate their 75th
Anniversary.
However, with its
series of eye-catching moving sections, centre stage went to the aforementioned
project, known as 'Double-Face'.
Developed by their recently acquired French subsidiary, Matra Automobile
Engineering, it focuses around the concept of offering significant future
cost-savings in the production of niche vehicles.
The idea is for a
multi-brand manufacturer to be able to produce a single chassis, which they
describe as having "common technical features so as to reduce the impact of
tooling costs on niche volumes".
This chassis could then be clothed
in individually styled bodies, for wholly differing applications.
In Paris, the Pininfarina 'Double-Face' idea was demonstrated with two body
finishes, one which was in sheet metal, while the second was constructed out of
composite materials.
The steel chassis, painted in metallic blue, was presented as a sporty
hatchback, while in complete contrast, the composite material chassis, in a mix
of red and grey colours, offered hints of off-road application, in the style of
a currently fashionable 'Crossover' vehicle.
Pininfarina's
visual presentation of the 'Double-Face' at the Paris Mondial de l'Automobile
involved large cutaway sections that overlapped each other. Sliding on rails,
the two different style bodies, moved out of the shadows at either side to
neatly fit over a centrally mounted chassis structure.
by Edd Ellison
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