2024 ItalDesign Quintessenza

QUINTESSENZA® BY ITALDESIGN

- World premiere of Italdesign’s Quintessenza at Auto China 2024 in Beijing

- Quintessenza: the embodiment of the relationship between humans and nature in its many forms

- Italdesign China solidifies its market presence: Arne Heinrichs is the new General Manager

Moncalieri, April 25, 2024

Design philosophy

The quintessential relationship between humans and nature in its many forms.

The design philosophy of Italdesign’s Quintessenza is rooted in a human-centric approach. The Italdesign Quintessenza project revolves around humans as the central figures, serving as both creators and users. As creators, humans are responsible for the show car’s design, development and construction. As users, they utilize the Quintessenza to connect with the various elements of nature: water, earth, fire and air. In this conceptual yet very tangible journey, humans emerge as the stars of their own world and determine how to interact with it.

Drawing on more than five decades of Italdesign heritage, the Quintessenza’s design approach was inspired by the concepts of flexibility, freedom, sportiness, and duality in concept and architecture.

The design is created by humans for humans. The vehicle embodies an Italian design that serves as a universal, boundless form of expression, a design that seamlessly blends technology and human-machine interaction and incorporates elements of nature into the project while also connecting the car’s occupants with the outside world.

The Quintessenza caters to the desires and requirements of free-spirited, youthful individuals seeking a vehicle for urban travel with their families but who also like to get away to deepen their connection with the natural world and its elements. Positioned to serve a global market, this multi-role vehicle falls within the performance pick-up and sport activity vehicle category.

The Quintessenza is also evidence of Italdesign’s new design philosophy, based on a modern interpretation of the concepts that have inspired the company for over 55 years. Italdesign has consistently embraced the principles of “beautiful and functional”, a human-centric approach, combining Italian style with universal appeal, and daily driver capabilities. These concepts are masterfully brought to life by Italdesign in the Quintessenza through a modern and boundless lens.

Exterior

Italdesign’s Quintessenza has two souls. It embodies both the dynamic prowess of a GT and the versatile adaptability of a pick-up truck, establishing the foundation for a potential groundbreaking architectural concept that has yet to be witnessed in the global automotive industry.

The challenge was to reimagine the proportions and style traits of the automotive world’s well-established architecture and seamlessly integrate them into a style that was fluid and dynamic but also realistic and functional.

The design of the exterior establishes a distinct yet balanced conceptual separation between the front and rear of the Quintessenza, capitalizing on the vehicle's large size and on proper proportions. This emphasizes its dual nature as a sports car with off-road and load-bearing capabilities.

The front takes the sporty approach of an Italian GT supercar while also providing ample seating for 4 passengers. Its lines are muscular, yet tight and fluid at the same time. The rear design expresses functionality and usability, features commonly found in pick-up trucks and off-road vehicles.

In this dual vehicle architecture, the two design approaches seamlessly merge together, evident in the proportions, the generous overhangs (especially in the rear), and in the unambiguous lines and volumes, which are sporty but definitely practical.

The nose of the car displays an aggressive and significantly sporty character. The clearly muscular design continues on the fenders and on the front bumper, which integrates active aerodynamic systems. In fact, a large double-rod-supported splitter with an active aerodynamic function extends from the bottom of the bumper. The splitter stays in a neutral raised position during off-road or low-speed driving and progressively lowers during high-speed sports driving to maximize downforce and simultaneously increase the airflow to help cooling.

In a contrast color and made from natural fiber composite laminate elements, the two front fenders exude a strength and muscular presence that is rarely seen in traditional GT models, despite their inclusion of aerodynamic features typical of sporty racing-inspired designs. The three-quarter view reveals upper furrowed fender profiles that end at the turn signals and optimize side aerodynamics.

The large bonnet contains the entire aerodynamic flow control system (for flows coming from the front), the cabin ventilation system, and a spacious luggage compartment in line with EV architecture standards.

A defining feature of the front of the vehicle is its bar headlight assembly incorporating both horizontal and vertical headlight arrangement and DRL function.

Vertical welcome lights can also be seen on the front trunk lid. Together as a whole, they allude to the four natural elements, with the Italdesign logo illuminated at the center as a fifth visual element. Outlined by the front trunk lid, the two front headlight assemblies feature a horizontal bar design, strongly inspired by the 13 vertical lines of the Italdesign logo, and include DRL function in addition to serving as turn signals. The fenders also house the low- and high-beam headlights in the front, consisting of two vertically-arranged bulbs.

The strong muscularity of the top of the sides of the front trunk lid, a trademark of GT models, and the prominent front fenders with overhang, create a connection with the car's rear, which leaves behind the sporty attitude in favor of flexible practicality.

With a wheelbase of 3240 mm, the generous sides offer large, electrically-powered scissor doors. The doors are hinged to the A-pillar and run along the entire length of the sides to the C-pillar.

A striking sill defines the lower part of the side and seamlessly connects the front and rear fenders, which frame 24-inch wheels featuring rims specially-designed for the Quintessenza and all-terrain tires.

On the top part, a large glazed surface made of light sensitive glass adds a distinctive aesthetic to the Quintessenza. It extends from the windshield to the rear hard top and creates the impression of being immersed in the scenery, also thanks to the backward position of the front cross member.

The C-pillars give the rear of the car a strong sporty and aerodynamic connotation, running contrary to the conventional square body design of classic pickup trucks. The view from above highlights this fierce design, revealing the unique shape and generous size of the removable hard top.

The theme of the four elements found on the front (with the fifth element—the Italdesign logo—in the center) is also referenced in the rear of the vehicle. In fact, a large lightbar extends across the width of the car’s rear, taking inspiration from the vertical bars on the Italdesign logo. The text part of the logo is set in the middle. The blinkers are at the two ends of the lightbar. The two vertical elements of the reverse and brake rear welcome lights can be seen in the center of the rear trunk lid and lower part of the bumper. The brake lights are on the back of the two fenders and arranged like the low- and high-beam headlights, with two vertical bulbs on each side for the brake and rear fog light function.

The large, partially-glazed hard top is fitted at the level of the C-pillars. It covers the rear trunk, follows the contours of the rear wheel wells and ends at the large tailgate, giving the car a very sporty style. Similar to the solutions on Targa sports cars, the hard top is completely removable in one piece and is replaced by a soft top if needed.

The rear of the car has a large electrically-powered tailgate hinged to the base of the bumper, giving easy access to the load bed and to the two back seats, which can be rotated 180 degrees to provide rear-facing panoramic view for a premium

“stargazing” experience and feeling of connection with nature and the outside world.

Two aerodynamic fins that integrate the ADAS systems are present on the upper back of the roof, at the level of the C-pillars. They map the surrounding environment when the satellite signal is poor and offer multifunction lights indicating the car’s driving mode and braking when the hard top is removed.

Interior

The interior is defined by simple lines and clean surfaces. Similar to the exterior, the design is driven by a human-centric approach, usability, maximized efficiency, and the “never lost” concept, so that you always have a clear indication of where you are headed in any driving circumstance.

Inside the vehicle, the floating central dashboard extends through the door panels all the way to the back of the cabin and is defined by three horizontal panels encircling the cabin.

The dashboard’s main panel, which proceeds along the internal belt line, is made of marble-based fabric and integrates air conditioning and HMI controls. To accentuate the sleek design of the surfaces, these controls are hidden under the fabric and become visible only when in use through a projection system.

In the top panel, there is a floating “bridge” suspended right below the windshield that provides supporting information such as compass, dynamic functions, and warnings. The bottom panel integrates a projection system—this, too, hidden discreetly under the fabric—for display of the navigation maps. The bottom part of the dashboard’s horizontal panel hosts the door opening controls. The air conditioning vents are housed in the dashboard's bottom panel and also provide ambient scenting to create a 360-degree, multi-sensory experience.

The style of the materials and the colors were chosen to seamlessly blend with the style of the door panels and the paneling in the rear cabin.

With a clearly sports configuration, the steering wheel incorporates the main car controls, including AI, selector, mode, vehicle info, and more.

The vehicle interface system is found on the top part of the steering column. Numerous smartphone models can be placed horizontally in this dock, serving as the driver’s interface and displaying standard dashboard information like driving mode, speed, turn signals, battery level, date, and time, among other indicators about how the car is operating.

The driver can customize this information through the smartphone settings. Depending on whose smartphone you install on the Quintessenza, the customization options are virtually endless.

Nearly all on-board features can be customized by users via their smartphones. The Quintessenza is updated with the driver’s specific driving and usage preferences once the smartphone is linked to the car.

The smartphone app created by Italdesign is unique to the Quintessenza and includes all of the vehicle’s controls as well as the option to customize the driving experience, change the interior lighting, choose your preferred audio track and scent, and communicate with a Quintessenza store to purchase accessories made especially for the car.

A large and dynamic console occupies the central part of the cabin, joining the four seats. Innovative haptic technology embedded in the upholstery integrates a number of vehicle controls into the front area of the console. These consist of the infotainment system’s volume control as well as a few other controls inside the car, such as the ones that govern the sensory experience and the various interior lighting settings. A large conventional organizer and a refrigerated compartment with enough room for a bottle of wine and two glasses are located on the back of the console.

The electrically-powered console slides along the length of the vehicle to be easily accessed by the four seats, whether these are in the standard driving position or the two back seats are turned for rear-facing view.

The two back seats are one of the main concept features of the Quintessenza. Thanks to their sporty symmetrical design on the longitudinal axis, they can be electrically and independently folded toward the back of the vehicle to allow passengers to fully enjoy the natural surroundings during a stop on a road trip in nature. With the hard top off and the back seats turned, travelers can create an open-air stargazing or camping experience while enjoying a glass of bubbly Alta Langa wine.

The two ends of the seats adapt dynamically to comfort modes, reclining all the way to chaise-longe position for stargazing in total comfort. The presence of a waterfall light enhances the experience.

When the two back seats are facing the rear of the vehicle, the central console slides automatically back to give access to the organizer and mini-bar.

UX - UI

Drawing inspiration from the “never lost” concept, the UX-UI concept in the Quintessenza enables seamless integration of its occupants with the external environment. This means the driver has control over the operation of the vehicle at all times, including—and this is crucial—the navigation system. A concept that essentially envelops passengers with a continuous projection that starts at the dashboard’s central panel and extends to the side panels and the rear compartment keeps them informed about the location of the vehicle and its destination.

Thanks to the presettings on the smartphone and the vehicle's own localization system, the precise location of the POIs, stylized graphics of the environment, and navigation information can all be displayed by the vehicle through a variety of internal projection systems tucked under the upholstery.

Always in alignment with the “never lost” concept, a dynamic compass is constantly visible inside the cabin with the point of arrival, shifting between screens depending on the vehicle’s direction to let passengers track the final destination.

Italdesign China

As of February 16th, 2024, Arne Heinrichs is the General Manager of Italdesign China, the company’s subsidiary set up in Shanghai in 2022, as a new step in Italdesign’s growth and expansion strategy, however he still maintains his roles of Italdesign Chief Financial Officer and General Manager Finance.

“It’s a holistic role, which I am truly excited to cover”, commented Arne Heinrichs. “With our highly skilled team in Shanghai, we are focusing on making a meaningful difference in our customers’ business. We are working hard to create an added value for them. We will continue to work towards meeting the strategic goals we set for the Chinese market and to embrace continuous learning and new competences to stay ahead and properly thrive. So far we have started long-term strategic collaborations in the traditional design activities for projects ranging from car to commercial vehicles, stretching to industrial design. It is now the time to promote and leverage our expertise in engineering, prototyping, limited/ultra-limited series production and in the full range of services we are able to offer, from homologation and validation to legal responsibility for product release through to the assistance during the start of series production. All this, supported by the global Italdesign organization counting more than 1,200 professionals based in Italy, Spain, Germany and in the US”. He concluded: “We will face great challenges in the dragon year of 2024, and we are eager and passionate to tackle them”.

ITALDESIGN QUINTESSENZA – TECH SHEET

DIMENSIONS

Length 5561 mm

Height 1580 mm

Width (front/rear) 2200 mm

Wheelbase 3240 mm

Front overhang 1003 mm

Rear overhang 1318 mm

Number of passengers 2+2

Body Lightweight Aluminum structure

Ground height Adjustable 200-280 mm

POWERTRAIN (ESTIMATED VALUES)