Who Designed What?

Dan Trnka commented about the influence of Alfas on contemporary automotive design. As an American designer, I can only agree with him. At Chrysler, eight of the forty staff designers currently own or have owned Alfas.

Dan references the roofline of the Viper coupe (Zagato influence, not Bertone) as an example. This was purely intentional as Bob Hubbach, the designer of the car, has been a longtime Alfa fanatic. Bob has owned a Giulietta Spider 750 and a Giulia Spider Veloce which he purchased new in Switzerland in 1965. While collecting his car in Switzerland, he actually sat in the TZ2 Canguro showcar which happened to stop by the dealership that day. It remains his favorite design to this day. He was also inspired by the 8C2900 when he designed the Chrysler Atlantic showcar.

Incidentally, Bob also did a famous painting of DeAdamach’s Tipo 33 winning at Watkins Glen in 1971.

When I designed the ’98 Intrepid, it was hard not to include Alfaesque cues. Look at the front end of the ES model and imagine an Alfa shield between the grille openings. See any Duetto in there?

There is however a big difference between influence and plagarism. Just as successful architects are influenced by classic architecture, so too are designers influenced by timeless automotive design. I would not say that the Intrepid, Viper or Atlantic look like Alfas. If they did, it would be a mistake. They look like Chrysler products. We always try to reach as far forward as possible with our products. It’s just that sometimes we need to look back in order to move forward. [Bob currently owns an '84 GTV6, a '91 164L 5 spd, and a '60 Giulietta Spider. RHH]