Lancia Bordo Concept

The Lancia Bordo Concept is a beautifully simple design proposal for a light weight Italian roadster. The concept was developed by Coventry University Transport Design graduate Thomas Gilbert. Key to the design of the Lancia Bordo is its simplicity. This was carefully managed by using a core feature line to characterise the car. Gilbert explains: “The car’s overall form is quite soft and organic, with this line being the only hard-sculpted feature of the body-side. My aim was for it to be striking through its simplicity and purity – free of visual ‘clutter’ so that it can be as bold and dramatic as possible.”

Personally I think the Bordo has stunning proportions, especially when viewed in profile. It’s low slung stance and almost non-existent overhangs are virtually textbook for a small sports car. While the minimalist design of the body panels makes a refreshing change from the more complicated and overly-styled appearance of some contemporary sports cars.

However one issue which Gilbert fails to explain regarding his concept is the lack of an obvious windscreen. That’s either because being a purely fictional concept he’s decided it looks better without the interrupting lines of a window. Or because the windscreen has been specially treated so from the outside it matches the paintwork, but when looking through it from the inside it’s transparent – kinda like a one-way mirror.

Gilbert says of the Lancia Bordo: “As a designer one of the things I enjoy most is taking automotive brands and approaching them in different ways, looking at their core values in a new light or re-interpreting their design cues. Bordo is a styling project which tries to imagine a shift in design direction for Lancia, a brand I’ve always been especially passionate about.”