Gloria Concept (Italy, 2013)

The Gloria concept that shows at Geneva on March 5, 2013. Inspiration for the car comes from making the classic Alfa Romeo Duetto into a four-door coupe.

While Alfa Romeo built the concept, the actual design comes from 20 Master in Transportation Design students at the European Design Institute of Turin. The students worked with the Alfa Romeo Style Centre to make the car.

The specific inspiration for the concept comes from the 1966 film The Graduate in which Dustin Hoffman receives a Duetto as a college graduation present. The car played a prominent in the film and increased its popularity in the US. The Gloria is meant to have a similar appeal in the US and Asia.

The Gloria is 4.7m long, 1.92m wide, 1.32m high and has a 2.9m wheelbase, which makes it about 200mm shorter and 100mm narrower than a Mercedes CLS or Audi A7. Power for the concept comes from the new biturbo V6 and biturbo V8 from the Maserati Quattroporte.

From the single image that Alfa Romeo released, the design is made from two arches - one for the hood and one for the passenger compartment. The hood features leather closures near the windshield that are inspired by early sports cars.

The design process began with the students sketching cars and creating 1:4 clay, scale models. After a final design was selected, the Alfa Romeo Style Centre provided help to the students and created a 1:1 model of the car in clay for them.

“We asked the students in the Master program to give us their completely independent interpretation of a new Alfa Romeo saloon. During development, we commented, discussed and guided the projects in order to get the most from their spontaneous expressions of creativity. The result was stimulating and marked by professional and creative excellence," said Lorenzo Ramaciotti, Head of Fiat & Chrysler Design.