09 May 01
Vola means 'I fly' in Italian, which is a fine name for a rapid sports car. Using an Alfa Spider platform as a base, but widening the track a little, Leonardo Fiorovanti has created a striking sports car concept with a revolutionary, and indeed revolving, roof.
This is a glass panel which curves down and under at the back to follow the line of a pair of side hinges behind the occupants' heads. The front edge lifts right up and over until it rests on the boot-lid, upon which the former 'rear window' section, now inverted, becomes a draught shield. As well as being very easy to operate, the system needs no storage space, so the boot can be capacious.
Matt-finish translucent plastics form rear rails which double as mounts for ski-carriers and as the home for direction-indicator LEDs, and the same idea reappears in the strakes that spear through the front wheel-arches. More of the same material frames the headlights, some air-vents above the front wheels and the housings for two tiny cameras which take the place of door mirrors. Inside, the instrument cluster contains clear plastic circles, lit by LED segments, suspended in a clear plastic cowl.
'I was born in Milan, and Alfa Romeo had its 90th anniversary last year, so Alfa is very important to me,' says Fiorovanti. Describing the Vola's typically Alfa face, with a main grille flanked by 'whiskers', he continues: 'I have tried to make a very neat front view with no gimmicks, just a simple interpretation of the Alfa trilobation.'
