Ferrari Daytona
With its launch in 1966, the Lamborghini Miura saw the invention of a whole new class of automobile: the supercar. Until then, fast cars had engines either in the front or at the back. Miura was the first to borrow from motor racing and put it in the middle. And so was born the production-ready mid-engined supercar.
It launched just as Ferrari was getting ready to deliver a child of its own, the furiously fast but conventional-looking front-engined V12 Daytona. Miura’s blaze dimmed Daytona’s spotlight and it took years to grow a faithful following. But grow it did, and today few classic Ferraris garner the kind of praise – and prices – that a Daytona does. Never a marque to waste an opportunity, Ferrari has noted Daytona’s recent kudos trajectory and decided to make hay; cue the slightly awkwardly named 12 Cilindri (‘doh-dechi chillindri’), the company’s latest grand tourer, with not a little Daytona magic in the mix. As the nomenclature suggests, it features the marque’s legendary 12-cylinder petrol engine, something of a surprise given Europe’s steady march towards electric. Visually there’s an obvious link to the past – Daytona’s trademark long bonnet and substantial front overhang are there, as is the swooping waistline and covered headlights.
But if the exterior is yesteryear inspired, inside and under the skin it’s all 2024. All-wheel steering is a feature, and while there are no turbochargers or electric motors to force progress, space-age composite materials mean the power unit is a cutting-edge piece of artistry. Tomorrow predominates inside too; Daytona’s trademark leather pews have given way to part polyester Alcantara (for lightness and sustainability), and screens predominate, giant ones. Indeed, the last of the great holdouts has embraced a digital future. Past and present, living happily side by side. Forza Italia indeed.
Lancia Aurelia
Even in the pantheon of iconic cars, Lancia’s 1950’s Aurelia stands out. Not only is it one of the most beautiful cars ever made (designed by Felice Boano of Karmann Ghia fame), it also heralded the advent of a number of pioneering technologies, including the first production V6 engine. It swept the board at rallies across Europe, including Monte Carlo, piloted by the legendary Louis Chiron. It was feted for its exceptional handling and rapidly became the chosen car of the post-Mussolini La Dolce Vita jet-set crowd, cruising down to Fregene, celebrating a new age of wealth and opportunity.
The 2026 model has a lot to live up to then. It will be very different. Like that other Italian icon, the Fiat 500, it will be fully electric, a flagship of new Lancia, a company now under the giant Stellantis umbrella, which includes the equally historic Alfa Romeo marque, a close rival.
It will join Lancia’s first new-era car, the recently launched city runabout Ypsilon, and be based on the new Stellantis platform that also supports the upcoming Peugeot e-3008.
First reveals of the svelte SUV crossover are encouraging, although it appears to have more in common with its sister Alfa Romeo Stelvio than the original Aurelia. To assuage purist concerns, Lancia has reassured it will be radically design-forward, promising that the firm’s latest Pu+Ra design language (Pure and Radical) will drive all thinking.
Mercedes G580 with EQ Technology
As Lancia is Italy’s beloved motoring icon of yore, so the Geländewagen is Germany’s schärfster krieger, its fiercest warrior, as passionately defended as spätzle and the unrestricted autobahn. The iconic Mercedes-Benz was launched in 1979 in Toulon and was meant to compete with the Land-Rover Defender. It went on to become the de facto off-road workhorse of the German army as well as the rapidly growing European Union. Basic, simple, tough as nails, Mercedes-Benz engineers rebuffed various attempts to make it more sophisticated. The engineers lost that battle, ultimately, when the marketers reinvented it as the G-Class, more Range Rover than Defender. It’s underpinnings remained heavy duty but the luxurious detailing ramped up. The combination worked; today the G-Class, specifically the AMG G63, is the darling of the Chelsea/Brooklyn/Montmartre set, in love with its history as much as the square-jaw optics. And now Mercedes-Benz has gone one step further. G-Class has been electrified, the G580 with EQ Technology about as far from a Geländewagen as it’s possible to be. And it works. Four electric motors, one for each wheel, and a massive battery pack (from the EQS) make it a superb off-roader, even if the square proportions kill aerodynamics, significantly reducing range. It’s iconic but current, mad but sensible, weird but wonderful. Will it sell? Will it ever…
By Peter Frost
Images supplied
