Carrozzeria designs : Pininfarina 1800
June 25, 2011
· 
Keith Adams · 
7 Comments
Ahead of its time
Pininfarina 1800 Berlina Aerodinamica stunned the world when it first appeared in 1967 at the Turin Motor Show. (Picture: Ian Nicholls)
This brilliant Pininfarina styling exercise was never considered for production. The running gear was pure BMC 1800, but the style was utterly unique for 1967.
This BMC-Pininfarina 1800 predates the Citroën CX by seven years – one wonders how BMC may have fared had they the courage to put this beauty into production – it would have certainly appealed in Europe and undoubtedly would have created a high-technology reputation for the (by then) struggling manufacturer.
There’s no doubt that had BMC had the foresight to produce this car, then things might have been somewhat different in the lead-up to the Leyland takeover of the following year. Styled by Italian coachbuilder Pininfarina, the Berlina Aerodinamica was as svelte and slippery as the standard Austin/Morris 1800 was frumpy and unappealing to contemporary motorists.
Unveiled at the 1967 Turin Motor Show, seven years before the introduction of the very similar-looking Citroen CX, and nine before the Rover SD1, the styling of this concept car was hugely influential.
There was never very much wrong with the production 1800 to drive thanks to keen dynamics and reasonable performance (especially in the later 2200cc guise) but it was brought down by its stark interior and rather challenging styling. Plenty of subsequent speculation from commentators has concluded that with this styling, the 1800 could have gone on to be a huge international hit – although we’re not so sure that buyers would have been ready to take the leap in the late 1960s – and the 1800 may well have benefited more from a less extreme restyle of its interior and exterior and the option of a column gearshift (something very popular in Europe at the time).
It was rather a similar story with the later 1100 version, which was a far more appealing proposition than the Allegro…
Not its best angle, but the styling of this car pre-dated the move towards fastback executive saloons by nearly a decade…
A hatchback rear end placed it at an advantage over the Citroen CX and Lancia Gamma
This kind of profile would become very familar in subsequent years…
Although this car was never produced as an 1800 replacement, it may have been a source of inspiration for the design of the Rover SD1, as this comparative analysis demonstrates.
Related posts:
- Carrozzeria designs : Pininfarina – other
- Carrozzeria designs : Pininfarina 1100
- Carrozzeria designs : Pininfarina Jaguar proposals
- Carrozzeria designs : Bertone
- Carrozzeria designs : Zagato
7 Responses
It would have been a bit polarizing for the time. However, with some minor tweaks, like a less bullet-shaped nose, it could have succeeded. Plus, it would not have been impossible to pull a neat coupe or even a sedan from this.
I think it would have been trend-setting… as the commentary correctly states the Pininfarina design pre-empted the competition by 7 years or so.
Another winner overlooked by BMC.
BMC (and its successors) never missed an opportunity to miss an opportunity. The 1800 was not a big seller, and it would well have been worth the risk of putting this version into production instead of the poorly styled Landcrab.
But they were blind to the possibilities, and seemed to be more concerned with saving money for instance by pointless door sharing. This model could also have been built instead of the Maxi- and not producing that car could have saved a small fortune which could have more than covered the extra costs of productionising this beauty. That said, it would have been a shame not to have had the CX- I doubt Citroen would have developed that model in the way they did had this gone into production- the CX would have looked far too ‘me too’ for that most idiosyncratic of manufacturers.
Needed nicer wheeltrims though…
This was another failed opportunity from BMC, but would of it sold or would have they had a similar experience as Ford had with the Sierra? BMC should have launched a facelifted version based on the Aussie X6′s if they could not stomach this, but they missed out on this as well. If they had they could have had a car to compete with the Cortina.
@4 daveh,
The launch of the Ford Sierra was problematic because the Cortina had been such a conservative car. It didn’t take Ford very long to re-capture sales for what was, in essense, a re-bodies Tina. Wheras BMC/BL in the 60s 70s was associated with more advanced designs (as well as some dinosaurs)- this could have served instead of the Princess and the Maxi. Not sure if it would have sold that much better- I suspect what scared buyers off those two cars was not advanced design but poor build and sometimes poor availability from strike-prone BL.
very similar to the opron design teams CX which pininfarina accused of copying.
BMC’s biggest problem was it was run by stick in the muds,the car above yet again shows what could have been and what eventually did happen-ECV,RDX etc. Stunning car stunning failure. Sad.
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