International Auto Design Alien

Time for an extraterrestrial international autopsy.

Brand-new British design consultancy*, 1986 Turin Motor Show in Italy, the traditional home of, well, whole-ass carrozzerias with names like Zagato, Bertone, and Pininfarina, all three of which you’d not want to meet in a dark alley at the same time — let alone on their turf, fired up on espresso, and dressed better than any of us today — now all under the warm glow of flattering Italian stage lighting.

Imagine how Italian hands flew with wild gestures after Very British reps from International Auto Design began to set up their booth and, after the speeches were through, one pull of the silk consummation sheet removed the innocence of all in attendance. 

*It’s not so much that other firms didn’t know about I.A.D., it had been founded a decade earlier in 1976. This was different — it was the company’s first in-house design.