1996 Ford Saetta - AllCarIndex

Ghia Saetta – Turin show debut for concept speedster

The Ghia Saetta is a new compact speedster concept car that makes its world debut at the Turin International Motor Show (25 April to 5 May -- press days 22 and 23 April).

Saetta, which means "as fast as lightning" in Italian, is designed to explore the idea of producing an exhilarating yet affordable, open-top two-seater.

Geometric design

From the top of Saetta's low profile windscreen, a central longitudinal roll-bar runs to the rear deck. This forms a dorsal spine that creates a strong and safe structure. The roll-bar flares into the bodywork in a sharply sculpted architectural shape.

Throughout its design, the Saetta explores the potential for using hard edges, geometric forms and straight lines. Called "New Edge", this form of automotive design is a fresh interpretation of the smoother, more rounded lines of traditional "Aero" design, which is seen in most of today's production vehicles. Both the Aero and New Edge design were created by Ford Corporate Design.

This innovative approach to design is evident in many of the details on the Saetta. These include the triangular shapes of the exhausts and front air scoops, plus the bold blocks of metallic blue paint work and matte aluminum that highlight the exterior surface. This exterior color split accentuates the speedster's graphic lines.

A particularly interesting interior feature is the fitting of removable, transparent plastic storage pockets to the fascia and door trims. The Saetta's cockpit can be fully enclosed when required, with Ghia proposing the use of either a hard top or an easily stored soft top.

Saetta's design is the work of an international design team. Led by Camilo Pardo from the United States, Nico Tonello from Italy designed the exterior, with Britain's Hugo Nightingale and Frenchman Raphael Bretecher creating the interior.

"With Saetta we have been exploring fresh ideas for using shapes and forms, whilst always bearing in mind the possibilities of production," said Filippo Sapino, managing director of Ford's Ghia design studio.

"Our speedster concept explodes the myth that it's necessary to put a soft radius on everything to create an aerodynamic form: bold and inventive interpretation opens up exciting new possibilities," stated Sapino.

SOURCE: Ford

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Ghia Saetta is a bold and iconoclastic roadster based on the Fiesta platform using carbon fiber exterior panels. Strongly shaped in Ford's "new edge" style, characterized by hard edges, geometric forms and straight lines, Ghia Saetta makes a very loud statement of sparks, bolts and shocks consistent with its name, "fast as lightning" in Italian.

While the basic shape consists of simple arcs, Ghia Saetta juxtaposes bold contrasting geometric forms that breathe busy life into its beetle-like form. Dark grey, silver and electric blue suggest the clouds, rain and lightning bolts of a summer's storm. Ghia Saetta isn't just a rolling canvas, either. It features a central spine arcing from the center of the windshield header to the deck where it terminates in an assembly that resembles a power pole gusset, a creative combination of artistic yet functional structural support.

The interior of Ghia Saetta is as taut and tense as its exterior, carrying through the brilliant contrasts of color and texture and repeating the exterior's triangular shapes.

Filippo Sapino, Ghia's managing director, explained the Ghia Saetta concept's shock value in these words, "Our speedster concept explodes the myth that it's necessary to put a soft radius on everything to create an aerodynamic form: bold and inventive interpretation opens up exciting new possibilities."

Ghia Saetta was created by an international team of young designers at Ghia led by Camilo Pardo. His next job was as Design Manager in Ford's Living Legends Design Studio in Dearborn where the first project under his management was the new GT40 concept.

Built on the Fiesta platform, Ghia Saetta has remote entry doors and 205/45R-16 tires with custom tread patterns. The wheels have plastic full wheel covers. The exterior is in good condition but the translucent finish electric blue inserts on the seats have surface cracked badly. The hood, decklid and exterior body of the car are carbon fiber, while the interior components are fiberglass. There are two removable plastic roof panels which accompany this lot, although it is thought they have never been fitted to the concept and their condition is poor.

This Ghia Saetta epitomizes the spirit and unique opportunities provided throughout this entire auction that Ford Motor Company has graciously and generously provided today. If you have attended a motor show, read the motoring magazines or watched the motoring programs on TV, you have no doubt had your breath taken away by the visual delights, futuristic concepts and dream machines created by Ford. Millions of spectators take the opportunity to view them close up and on occasion sit in or touch the models on offer and go away with a little magic in their heads. This is the real deal and it could indeed soon be yours to own! Ghia Saetta is a wakeup call, both literally and figuratively.

SOURCE: Christie’s