Dorifutography

“More than 30 years of being a manufacturer of the world's best and most exclusive Gran Turismo cars,” a 1978 Dutch magazine writes, addressing its message towards Ferrari. And the 400i GT is a testament to that. Last week, I got to experience one of my favourite Ferrari’s of all time, the 1981 Ferrari 400i GT, and blimey, did it live up to my expectations. The 80’s were renowned for being the decade of ‘Boxy car designs,’ and Ferrari, well-known for its beautiful curves and smooth lines, decided to go all out with the boxy-look! For the untrained eye, the silhouette of this car merely resembled the 1989 Honda Accord Coupe (CA6). During the review of this car, many people stopped by to praise its design, while some people were confused as to what this car was and why this ‘Honda Accord’ sported Ferrari badges, or why this Ferrari was so boxy.  You see, the predecessor to the 365 GT4 2+2, 400 and 412 was the 1967-71 Ferrari 365 GT 2+2; and the successor to the trio was the 1992-97 F...

After publishing the last article ‘Coachbuilt Concepts: Gruppo Bertone in the 60’s’, it was such a good read! (I read it again myself actually.) And now I’m writing the follow up of that one, as it would be a sin not to! So, here’s to one of my favourite decades in Gruppo Bertone’s portfolio of gorgeousness! 1970: 1. Bertone Shake Starting off with something like this is one hell of an introduction to Bertone’s 70’s wedge designs. It’s a beach buggy, and just like the more famous Meyers Manx, which was built upon a Volkswagen Beetle chassis, the Shake was built upon the Simca 1200 S chassis, featuring the same French engine, and its styling taking cues from the 1969 Autobianchi Runabout (like its powerboat appearance and C-Pillar set headlights). When it was presented at the 1970 Paris Motor Show, it received an all round positive audience, especially with the younger generation! 2. BMW 2200 TI Garmisch Saying the new vertical kidney grills of BMW aren’t true to its history is a fa...

As a connoisseur of everything obscure, my first reaction to learning about this thing only was described by one word, ‘WEIRD’. Upon learning that my close friend recently bought one, I jumped at the chance to see it. In person, it really captures what I once thought was weird, odd lines, odd seating and odd glass window to body ratio. Though we see the car as a Renault, it used to actually be a collaboration project of Matra, conceived under Philippe Guédon, head of the division, who “believed that the children of Espace owners remained loyal to the car even after they had grown up and left home. As a result, the renowne d estate w as gaining a generation of new drivers.”  This oddness was stylized by Patrick Le Quément , ex-Renault chief designer, responsible for cars such as the Twingo, Mégane and Mégane II, Scénic, the 1994-1998 Espace, the 1994 Kangoo and the 1994 Laguna. Alongside the reveal of the Avantime in 2002 was the Vel Satis, also designed by Le Quément . Le Quément ...

  How to make a car cool? Grab a standard economy car and chuck a crazy engine, an oddball bodykit and sell it to the masses. That’s the French, and that’s what makes them have such a large cult following. The story with the car I’m writing about today is no different. To most people, this Renault resembles just a normal Clio II, but to you and me, this is a masterpiece of a car! But before we get into it, we can’t miss the reason why it was created. You see, Renault loves their one-model race series. In my Sport Spider article, I did mention the Sport Spider Trophy race series. Now, the successor to that race series was the Clio V6 Trophy series, in which the prototype to this road going Clio V6 was used. But despite its name, barely anything was shared between the standard road car and this version. The exterior of the vehicle had very unique styling, looking like someone had just molded wider guards on both the front and rear fenders. The wider stance made the car more stable i...