English
Italian
When Automotive Becomes Art: Studiotorino Moncenisio
STUDIOTORINO MONCENISIO
WHEN AUTOMOTIVE BECOMES ART
Words: Alessandro Marrone
Photography: Giorgia Rossi
Danny Kaye said, “Life is a huge great big canvas, and you should throw all the paint on it you can” – yep the colors, the seemingly obvious matter that symbolizes a multitude of meanings, a series of nuances that direct our path to a state of grace that compliments all the five senses. Colors are those moments that we immortalize in our memory, those sparks that make us feel vivid – you have to color your own life so that you can really admire it and there is nothing better than creating something special , creating it from nothing after having idealized, studied, and seen it so, step by step, into a process that is incredibly successful in shaping our dreams, our beautiful colors. This is what comes to mind as soon as I approach the Studiotorino Moncenisio, a unique specimen created by the same Turin atelier and based on the Porsche Cayman S 981. A sports car made unique thanks to targeted aesthetic interventions, but which transcends all possible description thanks to an evolutionary path that has seen it born and evolved like a muddy clay work into the hands of its creators. Car as a form of art, but also as a pleasure object, because a Porsche also wants to be driven and in that sense you could not find anyone better than Alfredo Stola and Maria Paola Ariusso and the way they use their cars – from the most beautiful and challenging Alpine passes, through the enchanting coastal roads, without forgetting the extraordinary adventure accomplished a few years ago, crossing the ice of the Arctic Circle, without blinking, without hesitation, demonstrating that something incredibly beautiful can also be functional.
There is something special in those who are not content with the world around them – they look at it with different eyes than everyone else, they study it, catching the lightest shades and at the very moment when they focus on something, they are already making their mind speeding, looking for a possible evolution, a characterization that can make personal and unique the image just captured by their pupils. Probably this is how the Moncenisio was born, in honor of one of the most evocative Alpine passes in the world and just an hour from Turin: the Cayman S lines are still under its new dress, but even the most distracted would note that much has changed and that every detail has a story to tell. Every single of these details is a color enriching a majestic canvas. We meet Maria Paola on a sunny morning that seems to open the doors to Spring and with her the inevitable Magnum, a beautiful specimen of Boston Terrier, as curious as excited about the next ride with his mommy. The Moncenisio is parked between other cars and stands out thanks to that Celeste Moncenisio, which Glasurit engineers have been able to turn into reality. It is the ideal color to represent the water of the lake (Lake Moncenisio, precisely) and the same sky above the mountains; contrasting it, we find a particular dark green in the passenger compartment and on most of the dashboard. It is not easy to describe a work of art and never as in this case I am overwhelmed by the amount of ideas and anecdotes that lie behind each of them. Where the new front bumper design may look like an update to the original one, in the lateral and back areas is where we find the most obvious aesthetic changes, with the disappearance of the large original rear glass, in favor of a panel that makes the tail more muscular and particular, interrupted only by a small rectangular glass that facilitates reverse maneuvers. Yes, because the Moncenisio was not born to get dust in some museums, but to get the enormous 20-inch decomposable rims made of aluminum forging dirty. I don’t wanna sound monotonous, but my heart desperately needs to miss some of the stories behind each single piece – and then, opening the back cover, I come across a show I’ve never seen before. Dozens of signatures, from all those who took part in this project, kept it as a definitive seal for a car that struck into my heart as a glowing arrow. The symbol of an outstanding teamwork, embossed in the very car.
We start taking pictures, changing angles, changing the landscape, which this time seems to play a marginal role almost to deface behind so much exclusivity – then it’s time for some dynamic shots and the 6-cylinder reminds you that, with the right precautions due to the importance and rarity of the vehicle, it is able to let you have plenty of fun. I find myself at the wheel in a very familiar ambient for a Porsche guy, but starting the engine is something more special this time. As my left hand turns the key and the engine comes to life, I realize that I’m going to tick “driving a one-off” on my personal list of those things to do before dying! Hands on the steering wheel, a look at the mirrors, and as I start to move I reckon I’m living the most sensational feeling of the whole day. If it seems to be sitting on a “random Porsche”, just move your sight to the central mirror and immediately notice the different shape of the back, overlapping the Studiotorino logo and above the commemorative badge that Alfredo has dedicated to his father. Here I realize that I am driving something emotional, something alive, a tribute to the most important values that we have and know: life, in all of its forms. Those made of colors, memories, emotions and those made of the purest and most simple driving pleasure that an all-round sports car is able to give us. I cruise through an isolated and silent road, interrupted only by the breathe of the Moncenisio, but this time it would not have been possible to run – it was not the case to speed up the limiter or anything else because what beauty is able to offer is letting us live moments as if they slow down, almost as if our subconscious tried to make them last longer than they really are part of our present, which in a moment becomes an image imprinted in our mind, something we have to keep it jealously and look at it whenever we want.
There is no moment in which I’m not hungry to walk its sinuous lines with my eyes, to imagine the stylistic and realization process behind a similar creature and then I am captured by the fascinating stories told by Maria Paola. It’s in a moment like this that you understand the value of knowledge and you realize that there is always to learn, not to mention that the simple fact of having at our disposal the founders of Studiotorino is a great honor and at the same time an opportunity which allows Auto Class to tell a piece of Italy in such a difficult time for the whole world. A part of Italy made of thinkers, creators and visionaries, made of a round-the-clock collaboration with dozens of companies – from small ones to bigger ones – all engaged in the name of excellence. The Moncenisio is today’s driving partner across the beautiful Langhe, crossing the beautiful Barolo countryside and embodying perfection in front of expanses neat rows still stripped off, as well as in front of a town hall, found a few days before by pure chance. I like to play with colors, with lines and we are facilitated by a subject which has so much desire to perform, at least as much as its desire to be driven – all under the careful look of Magnum, patient and always alert about what is happening around his favorite ride. That thin gray paint stripe that seems wanting to stretch the rear lights, those squarer side skirts, the more solid and compact look – there are so many facets of a car that is just it. What do I mean? I mean that if any production sports car can be seen under various lights, a unique specimen is exclusively what it really wants to communicate, regardless of the observer. This is where Studiotorino raises the power of the car’s meaning, just like a luxurious dress sewn for the most important night of your life. It is in this very moment that I realize that the most special things and moments are the rarest ones, those that make us live moments that cannot absolutely be part of our daily life, just because maintaining that status of grace implies that they are lived in the right doses. What is important is getting prepared, being psychologically responsive to the situation, trying to make it at our best, seizing the most nuances possible and transferring those colors, those beautiful colors, to the canvas of our lives.
Related tags to article
