Italdesign Aztec

Vehicle Overview

The Italdesign Aztec is the first prototype of the trio formed together with the Aspid and Asgard to celebrate 20 years of Italdesign. The Italdesign Aztec is a sports car introduced by Giugiaro at the 1988 Turin Motor Show, to celebrate the twentieth anniversary of the establishment of his company. The two-seater is unique because the driver and passenger are separated, requiring the two parties to communicate electronically. It incorporates a speedster body style with partial visor sections which are removable and open in a gull-wing arrangement. It was fitted with a turbocharged Audi engine, and uses a four-wheel-drive system derived from the Lancia Delta HF Integrale. Only 18 of 50 cars were ever built, with production outsourced to Carrozzeria Savio. The Aztec’s Audi-sourced five-cylinder DOHC engine produces 200 PS (147 kW; 197 hp), although the car carried a prominent “250 HP” badge on the flank. Many cars were indeed fitted with boosted engines producing closer to that number. The car incorporated futuristic styling cues with many features ahead of its time. The car had control panels on both sides of the car at the aluminium body panels at the rear and upon entering certain codes into the panel, information and about the car’s performance status along with certain functions of the car (i.e., an extra set of lights, hydraulic jack, removable screw driver, a fire extinguisher, a compressor for inflating tires and a flashlight) could be accessed via a voice message. Inside of the car, the car was wrapped in a leather interior and there was a separate instrument cluster for the passenger shaped like a steering wheel displaying vital information about the car and containing damper controls and communication controls along with engine timing controls. The car also incorporated a satellite navigation system located in the centre of the dashboard (positioned more towards the driver). The design of the Aztec is inspired by the space technology rather than the organic technologies used in that era while the LeMans inspired wing mirrors gave a nod to the aspects of motorsport. The car incorporated an adequate luggage compartment in order to carry the normal luggage of the occupants while being true to its futuristic theme. A carbon fibre rear wing optimised for downforce and roll-bars for safety of the occupants were also installed. Price at the time was DM 500.000.