The 23 years old designer Ross McSherry is the winner of the 2006 edition of "Stile Italiano Giovani" Design Competition.

In this exclusive article he speaks about the development process of this luxury coupé.

It is a really impressive project, as Lorenza Pininfarina pointed out: "The power of semplicity, typical expression of the Italian style.

"Today the automobile style is generally characterised by a redundant number of decorations and complicated lines; in this situation, our appreciation is intended to underline the courage demonstrated by a young Englishman in proposing simple and balanced solutions framed in a functional context.

"The design of the general layout and the model add value and maturity to the project."

The concept behind the project

The initial brief for the project was to develop a ‘range topper’ Alfa Romeo based upon the forthcoming Maserati Quattroporte platform.

It looks to create an ‘ultimate’ Alfa, making a bold statement about the future of the company and the brand’s identity, whilst considering the company’s rich heritage, its tradition and how people perceive the brand.

Alfa Romeo is one of the few brands that are capable of creating truly timeless designs that have strong emotional appeal.

The company has recently been repositioned in the Fiat brand portfolio to be grouped with Maserati for future product-developments.

The proposal takes this into account, building on Alfa Romeo’s strong heritage to offer a refined, elegant solution that will compliment the Maserati-sourced platform.

The concept’s closest market competitors are the Mercedes Benz CLS or BMW 6-Series, both luxury coupes that are technically excellent but lack the spirit and emotion that can be offered by an Italian company.

Design Influences

1949 Alfa Romeo 6C 2500 Villa d’Este The Villa d’Este takes its name from the Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este, one of the greatest celebrations of automotive excellence.

Visual cues from the 1949 Alfa Romeo 6C 2500 Villa d’Este are evident in the nose and shoulder line, however this project is more than just an styling exercise – it looks to create a subtle, evocative flagship model inspired by traditional coachbuilding and the rare vehicles only found at a concours d’elegance.

The bonnet lines are reminiscent of Italian designs of the Fifties, creating a sculptural appearance that is such an integral part of the brand.

All of the feature lines on the car correspond with each other, starting at the nose giving the appearance of tensed muscles along with a sense of agility.

The bonnet is hinged from the centre, creating an unusual aesthetic for today’s marketplace, whilst making a visual link back to its’ main influence, the Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este.

The grille gives a contemporary twist to a traditional Alfa Romeo graphic –a smoked acrylic ‘shield’ that has etched detailing comes to life when the car is started, giving a soft glow that gently illuminates the Alfa Romeo script and horizontal bars.

The grille is complimented by sculpted lower bumper inlets that encourage the eye to move towards the wheels and doors, thus making the vehicle appear lower, sportier and more ‘flowing’.

Interior design

The interior design is kept clean and elegant - any unnecessary dials and buttons are removed in favour of a pop-up touch screen. All surfaces are clear of ‘decoration’ to emphasise the feeling of space and luxury.

Traditional Mediterranean / Italian materials are used in a contemporary way, a single run of olive wood links the front and back, reassuring the user of the vehicles’ solidity and Italian background.

The choice of leather detailing has been inspired by another great Italian marque, Panerai - famous for their use of high quality unusual leathers as watch straps.

Body and Chassis

The steel monocoque is based around the existing LM139 platform as used in the Maserati Quattroporte, allowing for Alfa Romeo to produce a luxury-sector vehicle for minimal initial expenditure.

The transaxle 4.2L V8 gives the car a spacious cabin, long bonnet and sporty handling with near-perfect weight distribution.

The majority of the body panels are made of high-tensile steel, which are thinner and cheaper than the aluminium equivalent. The bonnet and boot use aluminium panels to improve weight distribution. The large front and rear polypropylene bumpers also help to cut down weight whilst providing a ‘cushioned’ front to meet pedestrian-safety regulations.

Development process

The initial phase of the project consisted of concept sketching, developing a few concepts to decide what the next Alfa should be.

"As I often find, I kept going back to the initial key sketch (in this case, an incomplete front view) in preference to later concepts."

"From here I set the platform restrictions using Alias Studiotools, allowing me to work on a concept that could target its’ German competitors (BMW 6-Series, Mercedes CLS) in both packaging and styling."

Clay Model

An approximate package drawing was drawn over the 3D model in Adobe Illustrator to allow me to start a ¼ scale clay model (as the wheelbase and basic proportions had been set, the clay makes resolving surfaces and details a lot quicker).

The clay model progressed quickly, although it became clear that the initial design of the rear ¾ did not flow properly with the rest of the car.

Sketching over photos of the clay speeds up the refinement of surfacing and feature lines, as I can concentrate purely on the design without spending extra time to draw a proportionally accurate sketch from scratch first.

Once the clay neared completion, it was ‘dressed’ (shut lines and details roughed in with styling tape), before casting.

The cast (made from GRP) required nearly 3 weeks of work to fully resolve all imperfections in the surfaces and feature lines. After this point, it was masked and sprayed (in a semi-pearlescent Alfa blue), and the wheels made.

Finishing touches include a laser-etched acrylic grille and anodised aluminium badges, machined exhausts and acrylic front / rear lights.

About Ross McSherry

Ross McSherry is currently graduating with BA(Hons) in Automotive Design at Coventry University.

In 2005 he worked as project manager for a team of 6 working on a European funded Electric vehicle prototype for EVS22 conference in Yokohama, Japan.

He has also worked in a collaborative project with Ford Europe as a lead interior designer and has work experiences in graphic design.

More informations about Ross McSherry and his work are available on his official website.

(Image and text courtesy: Ross McSherry)