Found on http://megadeluxe.com/vintage-deluxe/bisiluro-by-carlo-mollino-domus#more-5457
Made for the 1955 Le Mans.
Regarding the design of "things that move", history gives us quite a catalogue of proposals to improve the breed by echoing a form across some sort of bridging element. With names like "twinpod", "twin-boom", "twin-fuselage", "doublehull", or "catamaran", the designer's fascination with mirroring a good idea has been around ever since the Garden of Eden, when God decided two breasts looked seriously cooler than one.
looking at the images of the Bisiluro racing at Le Mans in 1955 one finds a closer visual connection to modern motorcycle sidecar racers than to aeroplanes. (It was not the last four-wheeled race car to work this asymmetry scheme either. A notable composition was the Smokey Yunick sidecar racer attempt at Indy in 1964) http://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2009/12/greatest-innovation-in-bumpers-ever.html
That the lightweight racer was literally sucked off the course by a passing Jaguar must have been doubly frustrating for the team. Car Design-wise, the Bisiluro fits into a category I would call "Non-Car Cars", those purposeful objects that stir the imaginations of Car Designers by allowing them to incorporate a new proportion, perspective, form, structure or detail into their concept of a "Car" without having to carry all the functional and cultural baggage of being "automobiles".
description is just part of the write up at http://www.domusweb.it/en/design/2011/09/12/the-asymmetric-racer.html This article was originally published in Domus 950/September 2011
Interesting looking car. Not sure how safe I'd feel in it though! And the insurance would be a nightmare!
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