The Alfa Romeo Carabo was a milestone in Supercar design. Originally penned by Marcello Gandini, from Bertone, the car was called "Carabo," meaning beetle. The concept car was shown in October 1968, at Porte de Versailles in Paris, to a stunned crowd. It was built on the Chassis of the mid-engined V8 Alfa Romeo Tipo 33 and was an experimental design. The Lamborghini Miura, also previously designed by Gandini, had suffered from front-end lift at high speeds, so the Carabo was an exercise in focusing on an aerodynamic solution. The car also featured upward hinging doors, which later inspired the Lamborghini Countach.
At the November 1968 Turin Salon, a 33 Stradale concept by Bertone signalled a genuinely new direction for supercar design. With its daring wedge shape featuring a frameless windscreen, scissor doors and slatted rear bodywork, the Carabo was named after the bright green beetle that inspired Bertone’s choice of colour. Reflective VHR-Glaverbel safety glass was chosen on account of its strength and lightness. This was one of the great concept cars, a bold but functionally valid vision of the future.
Bertone’s concept car never saw production, but its radical wedge shape and dramatic scissor doors were a major influence on supercars to come, most obviously the ’74 Countach and the big Lamborghinis that have succeeded it – right up to today’s Murcielago
Пороговый 1968 год создал своего Жука — уже не фольксвагеновский Beetle, а Carabo («жужелицу») от Гандини. Сплошные плоские грани и острые углы. Посадка — полулежачая, двери — «гильотины», фары — спрятаны, приборы — по углам салона. Carabo на шасси Alfa Romeo 33 Нуччо Бертоне считал одним из лучших автомобилей, рожденных в его ателье.
Источник: Lotusespritturbo.com; www.qv500.com; The forgotten supercars (Ben Oliver) - www.carmagazine.co.uk; «Выставка мечты» (Сергей ЗНАЕМСКИЙ) - Газета АВТОРЕВЮ, 2009 год / №1 (418)