Friday, February 4, 2011

Sbarro Autobau Sports Cars Concept

2010 Sbarro Autobau

It's also (supposedly) packin' Yes, it's totally non-conventional (hey, it's a Sbarro), and according to the Francais-only marketing material the Autobao is a tribute to Swiss racing stud Fredy Lienhard. Meet the Sbarro Autobau, a concept car we know almost nothing about but really enjoy looking at. Kinda like SEMA cars actually, but with European sensibility and sophistication.

 Star Trek meets George Barris design language, lower than your waist, nonsensical ingress/egress mechanisms, $5 afterthought interiors and colors pulled from the center of only the finest quaalude trips. You know what we're talking about. Some of us were just barely mastering our Big Wheels back in the 1970s, but we imagine most of the concepts at those Salon de Geneves all looked hairy and wild. The car was built as a piece of hate-art an homage to Swiss racing legend Fredy Lienhard. Wow, we thought we’d seen some weird, head-jerking concepts and sports cars in Geneva already, but this one takes the pie–probably the entire bakery.

 But even that waste of a good engine should be construed as indisputably wrong. The only thing right about the concept is the 550 hp Ferrari V12 engine fitted in back. Wrong, wrong and wronger. The up-swinging cockpit entry.

 The flaring nostrils. The flat windshield. The recessed front end looks like something out of a horror film, complete with what appear to the naked eye as limb-shearing saw blades. Designed by Frank Sbarro, the one-off concept is just wrong from every conceivable angle.

 While we mention the three-pointed front end, a la Speed Racer, it has also been compared with the Cylon Raider from Battlestar Galactica and the Pink Panther-mobile. Whether you love it or hate it, the Autobau is the only car of its kind at Geneva. Powered by a 500-horsepower 12-cylinder engine from Ferrari, the Sbarro Autobau is certain to tear up the pavement.  Swiss performance car and replica builder Sbarro introduced another new concept at the 2010 Geneva Motor Show this year.

2010 Sbarro Autobau
2010 Sbarro Autobau
2010 Sbarro Autobau

2010 Sbarro Autobau
2010 Sbarro Autobau
2010 Sbarro Autobau
2010 Sbarro Autobau
2010 Sbarro Autobau