Giorgetto Giugiaro marks 50 years of design with the 2005 Ferrari GG50 concept, Giugiaro decided to sculpture a Ferrari to the memory of that great adventure and enjoy it with his family. Giorgetto Giugiaro fashioned and commissioned a project that spilled into stretching horizons, in that he became concurrently – for the first time ever –supplier and customer of the new car.
The idea of creating a Ferrari to mark 50 years of activity in the world of car design took shape in September 2004 at the Paris Motorshow, where Giorgetto Giugiaro talked about this flight of fantasy directly with the President and CEO of Ferrari Luca di Montezemolo who cued the model around which the vehicle concept should be developed: the 612 Scaglietti 12 cylinders four-seater coupe.
Although being 3.5 inches shorter than the Scaglietti, the Ferrari GG50 appears instantly to be even more compact than the series-production car as a result of the subtly rounded nose and tail angles. “In bird’s view, all cars look like a rectangleâ€, explains Giugiaro. “As a consequence, the dimensions are perceived optically as being the same as the maximum lengthâ€.
In the GG50, however, Giugiaro rounded to an extreme the loop between the cowl and the front wheelhouse, applying the same treatment to the rear. “When viewed three-quarterwise, this also enhances the look of the car optically, making the car appear leaner and bolder. In a nutshell, rather than having a fender lip that clearly defines the bodyside edge, a seamless line flows toward the centerpoint where the two extremities meetâ€.
From a structural architecture standpoint, the GG50 relinquishes the Scaglietti’s third compartment for a nimbler tail, an instantly recognizable fastback.
A very bold statement of performance and design is the general impression perceived. A compact coupe, ready to bite the grit, with the rear seats so well concealed as to be perceived as a classic two-seater. The bodyside is immaculate. The air intake – providing cool air for front brake system cooling – meanders along almost in parallel with the ground line and creates a bas-relief that fades into the rear.
As for the more stunning Ferrari cars, the belt line arches in correspondence to the rear wheel highlighting the generous wheelhouse’s taut muscle. The boldly tapered rear profile gains form and shape from the side view, in that emerging from the tail-end mirror are the dual tail lamps, which, of course, are round.
Whilst the GG50’s exterior drew breath from a universal chalkboard, its interior was fashioned as the mock-up progressed.
In addition to retaining as mentioned earlier the wheelbase, also retained was the interior appearance of the Scaglietti. However, when working on the fullsize mock-up, Giugiaro and his son Fabrizio, decided to eliminate the closed-in feeling back in there by sloping the rear window at the side.
“Getting in and out of a 2+2 coupe is never an easy feat, because access is directly proportional to the door’s length, which cannot be stretched to the infinite. Indeed, the GG50 door’s structural frame mesmerizes the Scaglietti’s door framework. However, enhanced headroom has been gained by sloping the rear window, thereby making it much easier to get in and out of the car than expected. Just try getting in and out of the car and you’ll see how easy all this can beâ€, explains Giugiaro.
One other thought of mind went to the driver’s right hand. Used by tradition to change gear, drivers do not use their right hand as much as before due to the F1 gear change fitted on the steering wheel.
As such, repositioned to the right-hand side of the dashboard are certain commands and controls once found by tradition on the left-hand side, such as the lights and, not least, the handbrake, in this exercise, electric.