Maserati Pininfarina Birdcage ConceptWhen Pininfarina S.p.A, one of Italy’s if not Europe’s leading companies specializing in car design and coachbuilding, decided to mark her 75th anniversary, it had a very large choice of automobile manufactures to choose from. During the time that the company had been in operation, it had worked in collaboration with all the leading luxury and performance car makers not just in Italy and not even in Europe, but also in the United Kingdom and North America.
However there seemed to be only one natural choice and that was Turin based Maserati with whom Pininfarina had enjoyed a special working relationship almost from when both of these backbones of the performance car industry were established, The companies had recently experienced considerable commercial success with their recent collaboration with the Quattroporte, and it seemed both logical and fitting that Pininfarina would choose Maserati to produce their 2005 concept car. A return to the tradition of concept cars produced by the cream of Italian performance car makers dating back to the mid nineteen fifties and onwards.
The Birdcage 75th was the manifestation of Pininfarina’s dream to produce a road car combining ultimate performance, exquisite style, and compatibility of use that would be taken to previously unimagined extremes. They conceived the Birdcage to be a natural extension of Maserati’s brand image and design heritage. To implement the two company’s cooperation in the Birdcage 75 concept, they made use of some of Motorola technologies to make their vision of seamless mobility a reality.
Based on the road racing chassis of the Maserati MC12, the Birdcage 75th design philosophy was driven by the partners’ goal to break away from traditional styling solutions prevalent in the market at that time. Their desire to create a visual experience that was previously unknown led them to produce an integrated design for the car’s interior as well as its exterior design of the car that was extremely innovative.
Pininfarina’s aerodynamic forms that were most effectively and frequently applied in race car design are the teardrop and the inverted wing and this is the concept on which was born the Birdcage 75th. A teardrop shaped central volume designed to encapsulate both the passenger cell and the engine meant for an extremely efficient frontal area. Suspended within a vast inverted wing form, this central cell maintains the car in an exceptionally low profile with an eye to aiding the flow of air both above and below the vehicle.
Seamlessly divided in two, the upper portion of the floating central cell is transparent, not only grants the driver and passenger unsurpassable visibility, but also allows all of the Maserati mechanicals, from pushrod suspension to the beautifully crafted carbon fiber inlet trumpets of its V12 engine to be visible. At the same time the lower portion serves as an aerodynamic skirt.
Great care was taken by Maserati and Pininfarina to ensure that the many exterior features that the car would offer did not detract from the Birdcage’s streamlined simplicity. The nose of the Birdcage, similar to that of the Quattroporte’s, culminates in the large oval radiator grille, adorned by a large chrome Maserati trident emblem, feeds the central mounted radiator and brake ducts. The grille is flanked by low horizontal headlamps, featuring the world’s first homologated LED technology headlamps.
Characterizing the Birdcage’s rear is its imposingly deep diffuser, complemented on the upper surface by a pair of active aero panels. These panels which rise and fall according to signals, produce the necessary levels of downforce to provide stability at a variety of speed levels. When raised, the wings reveal engine bay cooling outlets, which also serve to lower air pressure underneath the wing surface, and thus aid in creating more downforce. Again the ultra-thin tail lamps utilize the latest LED technology. Never forgetting the Maserati tradition, the Birdcage’s exhausts are finished in chrome. Another reminder is the car’s alloy wheels, measuring an impressive twenty inches. The wheels were specially commissioned to provide a hint of the Maserati Tridente logo.
powering the Birdcage is a V12 3000 engine developing 320 Horse Power at 8,200 rpm. Power is given to the wheels through a mechanically driven set of six sequential gears. Both front and rear suspensions are articulated quadrilateral single-calibrated shock absorbers with a push-rod layout and co-axial coil springs.
Braking is done through a Brembo system containing four self-ventilated and drilled discs, 380mm diameter on the front and 335 mm on the rear engine.
The 2005 Maserati Pininfarina Birdcage 75th Concept car was something a little bit special, succeeding to achieve all that the two companies had hoped for. A celebration of rich past and an even richer future. The Birdcage’s meter low and undulating design exterior portrays a natural but purposeful fluidity, giving an appearance that liquid mercury had been poured over the car’s shape such is the quality of the car’s body work.
The Birdcage 75th (in celebration of Pininfarina 75th anniversary and in cooperation wvth Motorola) is a concept of a road car where everything - style, performance. use and conception of the car - is extreme so as to get the maximum
impact on the collective Imagination.
The Birdcage 75th. in homage to the spieir of the dream car era, is based on the road racing chassis of the Maserati MC12 and seeks to capture the ultimate expression of speed. sensuality and elegance to create a functional and dynamic automotive sculpture.
However there seemed to be only one natural choice and that was Turin based Maserati with whom Pininfarina had enjoyed a special working relationship almost from when both of these backbones of the performance car industry were established, The companies had recently experienced considerable commercial success with their recent collaboration with the Quattroporte, and it seemed both logical and fitting that Pininfarina would choose Maserati to produce their 2005 concept car. A return to the tradition of concept cars produced by the cream of Italian performance car makers dating back to the mid nineteen fifties and onwards.
The Birdcage 75th was the manifestation of Pininfarina’s dream to produce a road car combining ultimate performance, exquisite style, and compatibility of use that would be taken to previously unimagined extremes. They conceived the Birdcage to be a natural extension of Maserati’s brand image and design heritage. To implement the two company’s cooperation in the Birdcage 75 concept, they made use of some of Motorola technologies to make their vision of seamless mobility a reality.
Based on the road racing chassis of the Maserati MC12, the Birdcage 75th design philosophy was driven by the partners’ goal to break away from traditional styling solutions prevalent in the market at that time. Their desire to create a visual experience that was previously unknown led them to produce an integrated design for the car’s interior as well as its exterior design of the car that was extremely innovative.
Pininfarina’s aerodynamic forms that were most effectively and frequently applied in race car design are the teardrop and the inverted wing and this is the concept on which was born the Birdcage 75th. A teardrop shaped central volume designed to encapsulate both the passenger cell and the engine meant for an extremely efficient frontal area. Suspended within a vast inverted wing form, this central cell maintains the car in an exceptionally low profile with an eye to aiding the flow of air both above and below the vehicle.
Seamlessly divided in two, the upper portion of the floating central cell is transparent, not only grants the driver and passenger unsurpassable visibility, but also allows all of the Maserati mechanicals, from pushrod suspension to the beautifully crafted carbon fiber inlet trumpets of its V12 engine to be visible. At the same time the lower portion serves as an aerodynamic skirt.
Great care was taken by Maserati and Pininfarina to ensure that the many exterior features that the car would offer did not detract from the Birdcage’s streamlined simplicity. The nose of the Birdcage, similar to that of the Quattroporte’s, culminates in the large oval radiator grille, adorned by a large chrome Maserati trident emblem, feeds the central mounted radiator and brake ducts. The grille is flanked by low horizontal headlamps, featuring the world’s first homologated LED technology headlamps.
Characterizing the Birdcage’s rear is its imposingly deep diffuser, complemented on the upper surface by a pair of active aero panels. These panels which rise and fall according to signals, produce the necessary levels of downforce to provide stability at a variety of speed levels. When raised, the wings reveal engine bay cooling outlets, which also serve to lower air pressure underneath the wing surface, and thus aid in creating more downforce. Again the ultra-thin tail lamps utilize the latest LED technology. Never forgetting the Maserati tradition, the Birdcage’s exhausts are finished in chrome. Another reminder is the car’s alloy wheels, measuring an impressive twenty inches. The wheels were specially commissioned to provide a hint of the Maserati Tridente logo.
powering the Birdcage is a V12 3000 engine developing 320 Horse Power at 8,200 rpm. Power is given to the wheels through a mechanically driven set of six sequential gears. Both front and rear suspensions are articulated quadrilateral single-calibrated shock absorbers with a push-rod layout and co-axial coil springs.
Braking is done through a Brembo system containing four self-ventilated and drilled discs, 380mm diameter on the front and 335 mm on the rear engine.
The 2005 Maserati Pininfarina Birdcage 75th Concept car was something a little bit special, succeeding to achieve all that the two companies had hoped for. A celebration of rich past and an even richer future. The Birdcage’s meter low and undulating design exterior portrays a natural but purposeful fluidity, giving an appearance that liquid mercury had been poured over the car’s shape such is the quality of the car’s body work.
The Birdcage 75th (in celebration of Pininfarina 75th anniversary and in cooperation wvth Motorola) is a concept of a road car where everything - style, performance. use and conception of the car - is extreme so as to get the maximum
impact on the collective Imagination.
The Birdcage 75th. in homage to the spieir of the dream car era, is based on the road racing chassis of the Maserati MC12 and seeks to capture the ultimate expression of speed. sensuality and elegance to create a functional and dynamic automotive sculpture.
