Carrozzeria Boano

The Carrozzeria Boano was an Italian car body manufacturer from Grugliasco near Turin , which dressed a number of sports cars between 1954 and 1957. Some of the bodies were designed by Boano himself, in other cases Boano only took on the technical implementation of a third-party design. The company is primarily associated with the Ferrari 250 GT , for which it manufactured numerous bodies. The company's successor is Carrozzeria Ellena .

Company history

The Carrozzeria Boano was founded in 1954 by Felice Mario Boano . Born in 1903, Boano had worked as a body designer for companies such as Vignale and Ghia since the 1930s . From 1944 to 1953 he ran the Carrozzeria Ghia, of which he was a partner at the time. After founding his own body shop, which he ran together with his son Gian Paolo Boano and Luciano Pollo, Boano initially dealt with bodies for Alfa Romeo and Abarth , which were mostly one-offs. From 1956 onwards, the company dealt primarily with Ferrari chassis. Boano produced most of the bodies for the Ferrari 250 GT that year and the following; In addition, individual pieces were also created on different chassis. In 1957 Boano became head of Fiat Centro Stile , for which he designed numerous bodies, including that of the Fiat 130 sedan . With Boano's move to Fiat, the Carrozzeria Boano stopped the production of Ferrari bodies. The production order was transferred to Carrozzeria Ellena, a body shop founded in 1954 by Boano's son-in-law Ezio Ellena. The Carrozzeria Ellena existed until 1966.

Vehicles of the Carrozzeria Boano

The most famous vehicle of the Carrozzeria Boano is the Ferrari 250 GT Coupé, which had a body designed by Pininfarina and is now considered a classic. In addition, numerous other vehicles were built, some of which were dressed in a sensational way.

Concise roof section: Ferrari 250 GT "Boano"

Built by Boano: Abarth 207

The Ferrari 250 GT Boano

In 1956, Mario Boano designed a convertible body for the Ferrari 250 GT. The vehicle was presented to the public at the Ferrari stand at the 1956 Geneva Motor Show.

In addition to Boano's Cabriolet, a coupé version of the 250 GT designed by Pininfarina was exhibited in Geneva. A special feature of the Pininfarina design was the high waistline, which contrasted with the very low roof. The tightly cut roof structure had a panoramic window behind the B-pillar . Pininfarina had made the exhibit herself; However, Pininfarina lacked the capacity for series production, which was required after positive public reactions. The order for series production of the Pininfarina coupé was then given to Carrozzeria Boano, which produced around 70 copies between 1956 and 1957. In terms of style, Boano adhered strictly to Pininfarina's design. Today the vehicles are mostly referred to as Ferrari 250 GT Boano.

After the Carrozzeria Boano had ceased operations in 1957, the Carrozzeria Ellena resumed production of the Pininfarina coupés at the end of 1957. The Ellena versions largely corresponded to the bodies built by Boano, but most of them had a higher roof; they also showed some technical modifications in detail. Ellena produced about 50 more copies of the 250 GT with Pininfarina body. From 1958 the production of the 250 GT coupés was relocated to Pininfarina.

Ferrari 410 Superamerica

Based on the Ferrari 410 Superamerica , Boano designed a coupé and a convertible. The vehicles remained unique.

Alfa Romeo

Boano designed and built a number of special bodies for Alfa Romeo vehicles. This included a sports car for the Argentine President Juan Peròn , which was based on a used 6C 3000 chassis and was dressed by Mario Boano with a coupé body reminiscent of the Disco Volante . The vehicle remained a one-off, but a very similar vehicle was made based on the Alfa 1900 SS and shown at the Turin Salon in 1955. This vehicle was also preserved.

A little later, Boano designed a two-door version of the Alfa Romeo 1900 called Primavera , which, based on the lines of the Ferrari 250 GT, also had a rear panoramic window. Boano produced numerous copies of this model between 1955 and 1957.

jaguar

In 1955, the French designer Raymond Loewy designed a two-seater notchback coupé based on the Jaguar XK 140 , the body of which had some futuristic elements. The front of the vehicle was pointed, the headlights were set back and sat in rounded tunnels. There was a noticeable scoop on the hood. The rear window was designed as a panoramic window and was separated from the roof part by a wide, chrome-plated roll bar. The car had no bumpers either at the rear or at the front. Boano manufactured the body on behalf of Loewy.

Lincoln

Gian Paolo Boano designed an Indianapolis concept vehicle for the American luxury brand Lincoln in 1955 , which was first exhibited in Turin and later in the United States of America. In some details, it influenced the design of the Lincoln Premiere, which was manufactured in series from 1956. The Indianapolis is said to have belonged to Errol Flynn in the 1960s .

literature

• Georg Amtmann and Halwart Schrader: Italian sports cars . Stuttgart 1999, ISBN 3-613-01988-4 .
• Frank Oleski, Hartmut Lehbrink: Series sports cars . Cologne (Könemann) 1993. ISBN 3-89508-000-4 .

Web links

Commons : Carrozzeria Boano  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• History of Carrozzeria Boano on www.coachbuild.com
• Story of Mario Felice Boano on www.conceptcarz.com
• Overview of the Ferrari 250 GT Boano models on www.conceptcarz.com
• Lincoln Indianapolis Exclusive Study (1955) by Gian Paolo Boano on www.conceptcarz.com

Individual evidence

1. ^ Description of the Carrozzeria Ellena on the website www.autopuzzles.com (accessed on December 2, 2010).
2. ↑ Amtmann, Schrader: Italian Sports Cars , p. 123.
3. ↑ The construction of larger factories in Grugliasco was not completed until 1958. See Laban: Ferrari, p. 35.
4. ↑ The exact details vary. They are between 63 (see company history on the website www.coachbuild.com , accessed on December 2, 2010) and "about 80" (Laban: Ferrari, p. 35.)
5. ↑ For the history of the model cf. Oleski, Lehbrink: Series sports car , p. 125.
6. ↑ The first eight Ellena models had the low roof of the Boano version; see. Company history on the website www.coachbuild.com , accessed on December 2, 2010.
7. ↑ Laban: Ferrari, p. 35.
8. ^ History of the model on the website www.velocetoday.com (accessed on December 2, 2010).
9. ↑ Archived copy ( memento of the original from March 2, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
10. ↑ http://www.flickr.com/photos/zerex59/12015312654/
11. ↑ Model history on the website www.alfisti-graz.net ( Memento of the original from May 9, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (accessed December 2, 2010). 
12. ↑ Image of the XK 140 Loewy in profile ( memento of the original from May 1, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
13. ↑ Classic & Sports Car, 5/2007, p. 110 with illustration
14. ^ History of Indianapolis and images on www.conceptcarz.com (accessed December 2, 2010).