Italian coachbuilder Pininfarina has spent nearly a century meticulously crafting some of the world’s most coveted automobiles, from the Alfa Romeo Giulietta Spider and a plethora of classic Ferraris to the new 1,900-horsepower Battista EV. But the new Pininfarina Teorema concept looks past its fabled history and current electrification goals to glimpse at an autonomous future.
This glistening gold concept is the Turin firm’s first vehicle designed entirely in digital space using a combination of Virtual and Augmented Reality, according to Carscoops.
The development actually began with the interior, which features a 1+2+2 layout with a solo driver’s seat up front. Instead of side doors, occupants enter through the rear with the roof opened upwards and forward. The floor lights up when triggered by footsteps thanks to a system devised by Italian furniture company Poltrana Frau.
Without any traditional controls like pedals or a steering wheel, the driver is left in charge of choosing between three modes—”Autonomy” orients them toward the other passengers for conversation, “Drive” faces them out of the front windshield, and “Rest” folds the passenger seats down to create benches/beds.
Flanking either side of the cabin is Intelligent Glass by Continental Engineering, which is embedded with Augmented Reality technology to superimpose images on the outside world.
The ultra-sleek exterior is marked by a continuous, gradually sloping line that extends from the front, over the glass cabin bubble and all the way to the rear. The huge front grille is surrounded by LED lights, as well as an overhanging body-matched fender and what appears to be an even larger splitter.
Out back is what Carscoops aptly describes as a Kamm tail—a retro, chopped-off feature that slopes downward, echoing the aforementioned fender’s design.
A gut instinct says the Teorema will remain in the digital world where it was developed. But given the next-century ambitions of Pininfarina and its newly formed offshoot Automobili Pininfarina, anything is possible.
