After a two year absence from the international scene, Bertone returns with a bang by unveiling one of the most memorable cars of this year’s Geneva show – the Pandion concept, as a tribute to Alfa Romeo’s’ 100-year anniversary and also a proposal for the future look of the brand.
The first car penned by Mike Robinson in his new role as Design and Brand Director at Bertone, the Pandion is named after the Pandion Haliaetus, a scientific name for the Osprey sea hawk. And it’s this bird’s wings that inspired the Pandion’s most striking feature – those spectacular doors that open upwards to the air. They incorporate the car’s front and rear fenders and stand exactly 90 degrees straight from the centre of the rear wheels. In the event of a rollover, the doors are designed to fall off for easy exit, says Bertone.
Apparently, the bird’s face also influenced the Pandion’s front design, which its creator describes as looking like the “helmet of ancient warriors” while still recognisable as an Alfa. More interesting is the rear, which sports blades in various width and length intertwined randomly. Bertone designers call this “dematerialization”, which makes the car looks like it’s moving even when standing still. This randomness continues in the cabin that is nestled in “vines”. All very messy, but somehow very beautiful.
Motor shows are about eye candy (we’re not just talking about the ladies), and the dramatic Bertone Pandion is a very sweet example in a store full of increasingly predictable concept cars. Live and official images after the jump!
PS: If you’re wondering who is that old lady in the gallery, she’s Lili, widow of Nuccio Bertone, legendary designer and son of the company’s founder.
Bertone Pandion live images from Geneva
Bertone Pandion official images
Danny Tan loves driving as much as he loves a certain herbal meat soup, and sweet engine music as much as drum beats. He has been in the auto industry since 2006, previously filling the pages of two motoring magazines before joining this website. Enjoys detailing the experience more than the technical details.
really like a car i see in animation
Gracias Bertone and Alfa Romeo ,the Passion continues,
Look people this is a car , not the yankees stuff , recalls ,toyotas and holy baloney.
Hmm.. Sure cannot park in hotel and shopping complexes basements..
There are certain height limit.
Open the door.. BANG! Opps, there goes the door..
But quite beautiful.
if only all cars were this beautiful
you will get hell of problem to wash this car …..probably take a week to clean it hahahahaha
hmmm… this is something i would call "waste of money"
WOW!
this car cannot park on basement car park
So during a rollover the doors will fling themselves off and passengers can be flung into the air for maximum safety? Bertone must be struggling to answer questions no one is asking…. Everyone knows this thing will never get produced, why bother telling people about safety on a concept car that has no practical implications? Might as well say this car will never roll over as it'll remain static in bertone's "museum of impractical solutions for problems that never existed" forever?
Kinda nice design and it really arrange in a unique way.
Practicality for this design nearly none but as a design study its good.
Love the rear tail lamp.
Wonder how to open the door. by remote and powered door? Defenately not able to open the door under basement parking
Looks like from movie alien transportation.
i have to modify my house porch if i want to buy this..huhu… but thats if la…
NEW MEGATRON!
You don't need a car park in the basement when you drive this ,
C3PO said to R2D2:
" What do you mean I'm naked"….
"….my part is showing…!!!"
lovely design.. or should i say "mess" but as a muslim i wouldn't get it.. or any other alfa models just because of the logo "coat of arms". Crusaders of the Visconti family reperesenting a snake swallowing a Saracen (Muslim)..
Apart from that… awesome design.. cheers..
look like an alien…
Wow! A moving dust collector.
Paul really nail this right. good one on that, "A Beautiful Mess" this really define and describe the whole thing we saw here hahahaha. Its pretty messy and it looks pretty ok as well.
adds: also this looks like a 1:1 scale of a hotwheels cars XD
this car should be in the art museum
Maybe our Proton can work with Bertone on the future models.
The tail lamp is gorgeous and clever design, and the rear looks like a Transformer.
great styling exercise, its beautiful! very 'artsy'
ultimate expression of awesomeness…? i'd love to see this car goes around a track….even if it'll be rubbish….still… want to see it do a powerslide…
Mama Mia!!! It's juz a concept car jer!
wah really a beautiful mess !
especially the rear lights… =)
nice concept..
Cool taillights!! HAHA!! XD
1st before you guys decide to put on irrelevant comments, ask yourself why do people make concept cars?
What kinda thing do they want to acheive?
Base on your comments, it just shows that you know nothing about car design. Nothing Bro! With this kind of mentality you can just stuck up with what you have around you and will never go foward…so sad! its a sad sad situation.
Then you wondering how those big company came out with a new ideas you could never imagine before. Do your homeworks before you say something!
Omg I came.
xpensive!! just wait for the secondhand one.. alfa price go down so fast…
car or cart???
wow!!the front looks like a storm trooper helmet!!!coolness!!very star wars-y in my opinion~!
I want to order one now
Very nice organic design..
Car design at it best
I still like the Mazda FURAI
is this next 8c?
cool car!
i like the tails lamp!! and the door~fuyoh~lolz…like battleship….
nice… nice… the car's interior looks so fluid.
very very beautiful. praise them for their affords. ya, its not pratical especially when the back fender is hit, you cant open that door.
wondering how to knock/touch up the body when accident occurred.. especially the rear part.. what a mess..huhu..but personally it is pretty good design
The front looks like Storm Troopers helmet….
hiruma kecil
this is concept to show the idea of design cues for alfa's future model..so..there is no production for this car…and y u even bother to think about 2nd hand value…
if im not mistaken ure working with proton or maybe relate to proton,am i right?
ur comment just show how low is ur knowledge in ur fields…u should know the meaning of cncept and how the thing is working…pls dont give a irrelevant comment…buat malu engineer proton je..bukan ape…gelak org tgk ko bg comment ceni..lagila org kutuk proton…
mazda 3 mps,
this is not the nxt gen 8c..it still have a long way to go for the next gen 8c to debut…
this is another design proposal for the future design cues for alfa…other than bertone,pininfarina also participated to propose as well…
Now this is what I call art.
giler cun bontot die…cm selulit
the front looks exactly like the BMW M1 Concept…
it'll park fine in my basement carpark! gimme!!!