English
Italian
Caimano: The Alfa Romeo the Jetsons Would Love to Drive
Words Carlo Brema / Foto Stellantis Archive
Turin Motor Show 1971. An unmissable appointment for manufacturers and designers, as demonstrated by the inspired pencil of Giorgetto Giugiaro, who brings together with the Alfasud sedan a futuristic vision of a small sports car with sharp edges. It’s called Caimano (cayman, but it’s not a Porsche) and although it borrows the Alfasud platform, suitably shortened and with an inclined steering column, it seems to come from those science fiction movies that project the human being towards a mobility now ready to fly, even for the home to work commute.
There are no doors, but getting on board happens by turning the large transparent dome hinged at the curb, a feature which, together with the small side openings, increases the luminosity of the passenger compartment made up of two large leather tub seats and a dashboard of cylindrical shape that is controlled by two particular graduated cylinders, another extremely innovative solution which unfortunately never found application on mass-produced models. The Caimano is immediately recognizable not only for its edges, but for a rear roll-bar adjustable in four different positions, no surprise it acts as a spoiler.
Obviously it is clear that Giugiaro’s inspiration could enjoy free rein, given that it was clear that the Caimano had no ambition to be produced, but only to show the world what could be pulled out of the pencil the precise moment in which you don’t have to make compromises or limits imposed by production needs. The engine is a 1,286 cc with 86 horsepower and moves the Caimano with discrete ease, letting us imagine how the Jetsons family – obviously without their children, given the only two seats – would love to use the large load platform behind the seats and leave for their holidays darting in a world that not even today, after more than half a century, seems to have equaled the stylistic avant-garde look of the Caimano.
Related tags to article
