Stratos Zero Moment of Zen

I love the Lancia Stratos Zero Prototipo. Designed by Marcello Gandini at Bertone, it's still probably one of the most futuristic cars ever designed. Here's a great abstract view of it that you don't see very often.

Lancia Stratos Prototipo by Stile Bertone: Where is the future we were promised??

I don't think car design ever really surpassed the extremes to which the styling houses of Italy went in the early 70s with their space-age wedge designs. And perhaps the most extreme example of that archetype was the Lancia Stratos Zero by Marcello Gandini, which actually did lead to the renowned Stratos production car.  This clip is really cool because I had never seen any footage of this earth-bound spacecraft in motion before-- and the synth music just makes it even better! Those of you know me personally know that this video is so right up my alley!

Dome P2: Japan's late 70s Dream Machine

When I was a kid, I had a really cool motorized "pushback" toy based on this car. I didn't really know anything about it until I recently bought a book about concept cars and saw these photos. I did some web research and found out that my little pushback toy had more to do with this car than I had thought.  But I'll get to that in a moment.  The story begins with the Dome-Zero, which was a concept car program started in 1976 and unveiled at the 1978 Geneva Motor Show.  In creating this car, Dome (when written in Japanese, it means "A Child's Dream") was trying to attract attention and funding to their company which was primarily concerned with racing car development.  By creating a sleek, wedge-like body to rival those coming out of the hallowed studios of Italy, the Osaka-based team figured they could make the world take notice during a period in which Japan was not known for leading-edge car design.  According to the company's website, a crack team of the best car designers and engineers in Japan were assembled and spent the following 2 years working on the Dome-Zero night and day.  The men rented rooms near the workspace and rarely visited them other than for bathing.  The website seems to take a particularly perverse pride in mentioning that while 4 of these workaholics were married at the outset of the project, all of their wives had left them by the time the prototype was complete!

As a reward for the team's sacrifices, the car received sensational press coverage, which only increased with the debut of the P2 in Los Angeles the following year. Hailed as "Japan's Countach" and featured on covers of magazines in many countries, the Dome-Zero and P2 really caught the imagination of the motoring press.  As a result of this tsunami of coverage, Dome was approached by a toy manufacturer that wanted to make miniatures of the cars. As they were negotiating this deal, another toy company approached them.  Then a model company.  Soon, Dome was making enough money in royalties by licensing their designs to toymakers that they were able to build a new headquarters in Kyoto and fund a racing effort at Le Mans! After years of trying to deal with Japanese bureaucracy in putting the Zero and the P2, into road-legal production, the company refocused itself on racing, which it continues to this day. 

So it turns out that my little toy car that I loved so much as a kid (it had flip-up scissor doors and flip up headlights too!) was actually tiny part of the great story of this interesting car. I had never before heard of a car company that thrived thanks to model cars and toys, but it's a business model I can definitely get behind!  Aside from the history, there is another reason I decided to write about the Dome P2:  It is so cool looking! While the exterior is a great expression of late 70's wedge design, and looks futuristic even today, I was really blown away by how contemporary the interior still looks! The hexagonal, faceted language used by the designers ties in perfectly to a lot of what is going on right now in today's new furniture design and car interiors. In particular, the color scheme as well as the steering wheel and shift lever still seem fresh and unique despite being 32 years old! If you'd like more info on Dome and its history, click here to visit their website. I included some pics below showing two examples of Dome-Zero merchandise.