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Lancia Stratos Zero: The Eternal Futurist
Gautam Sen
AVAILABLE WORLDWIDE
Click here for sample pages
Some have dubbed it the “most extraordinary concept car ever”. The Lancia Stratos Zero remains one of the greatest concept cars, with design ramifications that are so vast that it deserves a book for itself. Not only did it influence almost every Lamborghini since the Countach LP500, and give birth indirectly to the greatest rally weapon, the similarly named Lancia Stratos HF Rally, but its impact was far and wide at every level of design, automotive or otherwise. The use of LEDs, sequential indicators and flat digital screens – all commonplace today – were first suggested in this time machine. Even more astounding was the fact that the Stratos Zero was a drivable device unlike many other flights of fancy from then (or, for that matter, today).
No doubt the Stratos Zero is as impractical as most automotive concepts, but at the same time: how many concept cars are there that look even more sensational today than they did half a century ago?
Yes, a few may be named, but did they work? What lovechild, what bloodline did they leave behind? What ideas did they suggest that we could see today in everyday cars? Which other concept starred both in cinemas and art museums?
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ISBN:
978-1-956309-20-1
- Page count: 336
- Images and Illustrations: 463
- Page size: 219 x 304mm
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Translated text:
The 1970s were a golden age of automotive design—with Marcello Gandini, head of the Bertone studio, at the forefront. After a history of concept cars and profiles of Carrozzeria Bertone and Gandini, the focus turns to that study just 84 centimetres “tall,” which caused tectonic shockwaves in Turin in 1974. Its extreme wedge shape, the windscreen that hinged upward for entry, and features such as “sequential indicators” (only introduced much later, in 2012, on the Audi R8), a front LED strip, and a Tesla-style display all contributed to its impact.
The road-ready two-seater was unveiled as a Lancia Stratos Zero, as it housed a V4 engine from a Fulvia 1.6 in the rear. It is fascinating to read how critical the British press initially was. Motor magazine wrote of “the lie of the century,” referring to the almost reclining seating position, but also interpretable as “Lüge des Jahrhunderts.”
Its influence on the Lancia Stratos HF rally car and the Lamborghini Countach, the appearance of a replica in Moonwalker, and a photo spread featuring some of the finest images by leading photographers complete this homage to a sculpture that remains fascinating to this day.
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Author Biography
As a frequent concours judge, author and design consultant, as well as a
co-conspirator with prominent designers such as Marcello Gandini, Tom
Tjaarda, and Gérard Godfroy on several vehicle projects, Gautam Sen has
been the founder or editor of several Indian automotive magazines,
establishing the country’s first car magazine in 1986. Since 2015, a
Vice President with FIVA, Sen has authored several award-winning books: Marcello
Gandini: Maestro of Design, Ballot, The Bertone Collection, Tom
Tjaarda: Master of Proportions, Lamborghini: At the Cutting Edge of
Design, Bugatti: The Italian Decade, and Alfa Romeo SZ Coda Tronca: The
Art of Conservation, When Wedge had the Edge (all by Dalton Watson Fine Books) and others.
Gautam Sen is resident in Paris, France with his family.
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Amazing Book 
