Franco Scaglione's 1953 BAT 5
Letter From The Editor: Who Thinks of These Things?
February 4, 2003
What kind of wild imagination allowed Roger Vivier to think women would look great in stiletto heels when he designed the world’s first pair in 1954? His vision, unconstrained by concerns for pain and practicality, altered the presentation of the female pedal extremity forever, and his contribution is one for which many of us are eternally grateful.
Similarly, cars like Lamborghini’s Miura or Bizzarrini’s GT Strada 5300 pose ergonomic challenges, while at the same time stimulating boundless visual excitement. In the universe of automotive couture, those stylists south of the Alps—most notably the Italians—have historically pushed the limits of reason, turning the oft ridiculous into the sublime. Unfettered by common sense and tradition, urged by willing clients or mere spontaneous speculation, the most revolutionary among them have influenced every other category of commercial design, fashion and entertainment with their wild offerings.
This Italian predilection for the unusual was at work long before the advent of internal combustion. The Renaissance, born in Italy then spreading northward, embraced novel approaches to traditional problems of architecture and design (among others), and if Leonardo had created an automobile, I suspect it would have not only bettered its contemporaries in its beauty and proportion, but would have vacuumed your carpet and pressed your shirts in the bargain.
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