Prototype Lancia Haizea

Lancia Haizea

The Geneva show, Switzerland, will be the ideal setting for the debut of a prototype by Argentine designer Hernán Charalambopoulos. The car, concept car for the Italian company Lancia, was named Haizea. The design process involved the European Institute of Design.

As already happened in the last two years, the European Institute of Design will present another work at the Swiss exhibition, the famous Geneva Motor Show. The institute based in Turin, Italy, continues to present its outstanding students as the Argentine Hernán Charalambopoulos. He is responsible for the daring lines of the Haizea. Charalambopoulos was a member of a work team in Lancia, prior to joining the European Institute of Design.

As far as design is concerned, they also stated that they had intended to maintain a certain familiarity of lines with current Fiat Group models.

The Haizea was drawn in an effort to impact due to its unusual appearance, although somewhat chaotic aerodynamically on its body exterior. The launched lines of the cab culminate semi-integrated into a short bonnet that stands out for its sharp and protruding edges to the front. I consider that there is not a completely uniform criterion between all the volumes of the vehicle, since the side of the car is very conventional for a front that is not so much so and a very unadventurous trunk...

In terms of operation, the Haizea has three engines: a standard internal combustion engine, located in the central position behind the passengers for the drive of the rear wheels. While the front wheels each have an electric motor, for which no specific power or performance data are known.

The Lancia Heizea is 4,690 millimeters long, 1,930 in width, and 1,420 in height. It is expected that its long wheelbase of 2,720 millimeters will be worth a good ride.

The European Institute of Design assured that the prototype was conceived, from the beginning of the design process, having premises such as active and passive safety. For this purpose, the chassis was equipped with a system that absorbs impacts with great efficiency.

© Adrián Blanco 2006 — Prohibited the total or partial reproduction of text and/or images without explicit written consent of the author. —