Japanese carmaker Suzuki and Istituto Europeo di Design (IED) in Torino unveiled an all-electric gorgeous roadster concept that they named Misano.
Designed by a group of 24 students of the Master in Transportation Design at IED Torino, Misano is the answer to the Japanese company’s question: a style model that intertwines Japanese philosophy and automotive design embodying pure passion, style and fun, like the very best of Italian tradition.
Suzuki asked the young designers to work on a brief entitled La Dolce Vita X Way of Life. This steered their research down a double track; the depth of the values embodied by the payoff of Suzuki brand and, at the same time, the grandeur evoked by the title of Fellini’s masterpiece, a universal symbol of a life marked by pleasure and sophistication.
The intense design project began last autumn, involving all of the students in a singular creative process that followed the dynamics of a design center. The concept was developed to honor the authenticity of the tradition and the application of avant-garde technology, aimed at compact and functional vehicles, and to instil the desire for emotion embodied by the protagonists of the classic Italian motion picture, speeding along in their sporty, elegant convertibles.
The Misano name pays homage to Suzuki’s dedication in the most selective motorcycling competitions and the victories won on the Italian racetrack. Designed to bring a young audience passionate about riding through life on two wheels closer to the automotive world of Suzuki, it offers a driving experience that marries lifestyle and sportsmanship.
Misano (length 4000 mm – width 1750 mm – height 1000 mm – wheelbase 2600 mm – axle spacing 1500 mm) is a sporty and compact vehicle, an experimental reinterpretation of the classic barchetta. The innovative asymmetric design features two tandem seats atop four wheels. In the search for elegance and purity, the smooth contours of the exterior envelop the visible cockpit.
The lack of roof reveals the off-center driving and passenger seats which leave the right section empty, allowing space for a battery pack and a sideways boot. Misano radiates sportiness not only in the bold front design, with its distinctive arrow-shaped headlights, and in the aerodynamic form of the rear, which guides the air flow through two wedge wire meshes, but above all in its driving experience. Protected only by a small windshield, the driver controls the vehicle not with a steering wheel but with a clearly motorcycle-inspired control stick.
“Thanks to the collaboration between IED and the brand Suzuki, a new concept vehicle was created looking both at the compact car and motorcycle Suzuki’s manufacturing,” Suzuki Design Center Director Kimihiko Nakada said. “Misano is a thesis born out of the passion of young designers and developed as a project in a design center to offer the next generation a new lifestyle experience.”
The Misano will be displayed to the public at Mauto, the Italian national automotive museum in Turin, on June 15 and 16, this year.
