Eurostyle

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Eurostyle Costruzione Carrozzerie e Automobili
legal form Corporation
founding 1968
resolution 1973
Reason for dissolution insolvency
Seat Turin , Italy
Branch Body shop

Eurostyle Costruzione Carrozzerie e Automobili (short: Eurostyle ) was a short-lived Italian manufacturer of automobile bodies from Turin , who primarily produced exhibits. Limited series production was carried out in only one case. Eurostyle did not create its own designs, but simply implemented the creations of various designers by hand.

Company history

Porsche 914 from Eurostyle
LMX 2300 HCS

Eurostyle was founded in 1968 by Mario Gatto and Gino Marega.

In its debut year, the company produced the Eurostyle 1600 , an exhibit based on the Fiat 125 with a hatchback body. The following year, Eurostyle created the Porsche 914 station wagon with pop-up headlights and a hatchback, which followed a design by Albrecht Graf von Goertz and varied the theme of the Ferrari 250 GT SWB Breadvan . The 914 station wagon was shown at the Turin Motor Show in 1970. Series production was not planned. In 1970, Eurostyle finally built the NSU Nergal .

The only model that Eurostyle produced in series was the LMX 2300 HCS sports car conceived by LMX Automobile and designed by Franco Scaglione . From 1968 to 1972 or 1973, depending on the source, between 20 and 50 vehicles of the coupé with plastic bodies were built. Following the bankruptcy of LMX took SAMAS the project and sold again about 20 of these vehicles, which are now the name Sirex LMS had. These were probably cars that Eurostyle had already completed in 1973.

Eurostyle ceased operations together with LMX in the course of 1973.

Details of the vehicles built by Eurostyle

  • Eurostyle Fiat Hidalgo 1000 (1968) : It was a low and very sporty coupé based on the Fiat 850 , intended as an alternative to the 850 coupé of the second series. Its engine was bored out to 1.0 liter. A special visual feature was an original, polarizing long front with rectangular, relatively close together headlights and a large acrylic glass cover between the fenders. The public premiere took place at the Turin Motor Show in 1968. It may have remained a one-off.
  • Eurostyle Fiat 125 City (1968) : It was a hatchback coupé with 2 + 2 seats, large windows and a sporty character based on the angular four-door Fiat 125 ; the windshield was also from him. A special visual feature was again an original, polarizing front with rectangular, relatively close together headlights under aerodynamically curved acrylic glass covers. The public premiere also took place at the Turin Motor Show in 1968. It may also remain a one-off.
  • LMX 2300 HCS (1968):
  • Eurostyle Fiat 1000 Coupé (1969) : Conceptually, it was very similar to the Hidalgo 1000 from the previous year. The entire front was new, now with large round headlights under oval acrylic glass covers, and fashionable sills, each with a row of nine large round holes to seemingly save weight. The rear was also new with smaller side windows, side cooling air inlets in front of the rear wheel arches and exhaust air openings in the wide C-pillars. The public premiere took place at the Turin Motor Show in 1969. It also probably remained a one-off. It is unclear whether it was completely rebuilt or was created by converting and repainting the Hidalgo 1000.
  • Eurostyle Fiat 125 Coupé (1969) : Conceptually, it was very similar to the 125 City from the previous year. The entire front was also new here, now with a slightly downward sloping radiator grille, slightly recessed headlights without covers and a circumferential bumper similar to the LMX 2300 HCS. The public premiere also took place at the Turin Motor Show in 1969. It also probably remained a one-off. Here, too, it is unclear whether it was completely rebuilt or a result of the renovation and repainting of the 125 City.
  • Eurostyle VW-Porsche 914 or 914/6 Coupé (1970) : It was a sporty two-seater shooting break with a deep, pointed front and pop-up headlights . The technical basis was the mid-engine sports car VW-Porsche 914 and 914/6, which had been presented shortly before. A special feature was a combi-like rear, whereby the rear window was moved far inward between the C-pillars and was firmly mounted. This enabled access to the rear trunk via a conventional trunk lid. The space above the mid-engine could also be used as storage space and was accessible via two flaps on the side, which were covered by black plastic slats and operated electrically. For easy access to the engine - a criticism of the standard VW-Porsche - the entire rear panel could be swiveled up to the rear. The interior, however, remained unchanged, as did the wheel / tire combination with Fuchs rims . The concept and vehicle design came from the German designer Albrecht Graf von Goertz on behalf of Eurostyle. The public premiere took place at the Turin Motor Show in 1970. He created two copies, one each with a yellow and a silver paint finish.
The hope of convincing Porsche of small series production was not fulfilled. Graf von Goertz used one of the two vehicles with a Porsche six-cylinder engine, now painted light green, for several years with regular road approval for private purposes. With a mileage of 17,208, he donated it to the German Auto Museum Schloss Langenburg , where it is part of the display collection.
  • Eurostyle NSU Nergal (1970) : It was an angular hatchback coupé with pop-up headlights designed by Aldo Sessano , which is considered the stylistic forerunner of the Seat 1200 Sport Coupé . The two-door four-seater was created with the support of Glasurit Italiana, a subsidiary of the German paint manufacturer Glasurit , based on an NSU 1200 .

literature

  • Alessandro Sannia: Enciclopedia dei carrozzieri italiani. Società Editrice Il Cammello, Torino, 2017, ISBN 978-8896796412 .

Web links

Commons : Eurostyle  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Brian Long: Porsche 914 And 914-6: The Definitive History of the Road and Competition Cars , Veloce Publishing Ltd, 2006, ISBN 9781845840143 , p. 171.
  2. ↑ The Eurostyle Fiat Hidalgo 1000 on the coachbuild.com web portal , accessed on November 20, 2017 (English).
  3. ↑ The Eurostyle Fiat Hidalgo 1000 on the archivioprototipi.it web portal , accessed on November 20, 2017 (Italian).
  4. ↑ a b c d e The Eurostyle models on the oldtimer.400.pl web portal , accessed on November 20, 2017 (Polish).
  5. ↑ a b The Eurostyle Fiat 125 City and the Eurostyle Fiat 125 Coupé on the coachbuild.com web portal , accessed on November 20, 2017 (English).
  6. ↑ The Eurostyle Fiat 125 City on the archivioprototipi.it web portal , accessed on November 20, 2017 (Italian).
  7. ↑ The Eurostyle Fiat 1000 Coupé on the coachbuild.com web portal , accessed on November 20, 2017 (English).
  8. ↑ The Eurostyle VW-Porsche 914 or 914/6 Coupé on the coachbuild.com web portal , accessed on November 20, 2017 (English).
  9. ↑ The Eurostyle VW-Porsche 914 or 914/6 Coupé on the archivioprototipi.it web portal , accessed on November 20, 2017 (Italian).
  10. ↑ Tobias Aichele: Porsche rarities - prototypes and rarities that never went into series production . GeraMond, Munich. 1st edition 2009. ISBN 978-3-7654-7693-8 , pp. 71-73.
  11. ↑ Information and pictures of the Eurostyle NSU Nergal on the website www.coachbuild.com , accessed on November 20, 2017 (English).