Sunday, January 13, 2008

Red And Rare!

Ferrari Conciso Concept

Red and rare. Save for a few vegetarians among us, that's how we like our steaks, and that's how we like our Ferraris. But some are so rare, even the bloodlust-driven connoisseurs among us don't know what to do with it. Take this one-off Ferrari Conciso. It's absolute carpaccio. But nobody seems to be biting.

The Conciso was built by German studio Michalak Design based on the mechanicals of a 1989 Ferrari 328 GTS (s/n 80962). As the name implies, the idea was to trim the chassis down to its bare essentials. The car has no doors and little in the way of a windshield to speak of. The driver and passenger hop over the sides like an F1 driver, hunker down into the racing buckets, buckle the competition harnesses and strap on the helmets, stored in special compartments inside the cabin.

The concept was shown at the 1993 Frankfurt show and in Geneva the following year, and was awarded second place in the Eurosign Design Awards behind the Bertone Blitz electric vehicle concept and ahead of the Italdesign Nazca C2. The design theme would later pop up in subsequent concept cars like the 1996 Ford Indigo and 2000 Pininfarina Rossa. Although Michalak was ready to take orders to produce additional copies of the Conciso, only one was reported to have been built. That single vehicle is now available for sale on eBay, but with one day to go and a starting bid of $160,000, the Conciso has yet to receive a single bid. Perhaps the market for custom Ferraris that look like droopy-eyed platypuses isn't so strong right now. If you missed the auction and have the mint, get in touch with Mechanic Import.

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