Location: Essen/Germany Joined: Sun Feb 22, 2009 5:30 pm Posts: 229
quote from CAR STYLING No. 41 (winter 1983): "The Sessano creations (...) include passenger cars, recreational and commercial vehicles, buses trucks, industrial vehicles, two-wheeled vehicles and even motorboats. In all there are 15 years worth of works (...) Of these only a few such as the Seat 1200 Sports Car have been commercialized. Compared to the number of Sessano product designs that have been manufactured, this is quite small indeed.. The biggest reason for this would seem to be the fact that Sessano has never directly involved with any organization that possesed body manufacturing facilities such as the carrozzeria. If a designer has the support of an outstanding techical staff like Giugiaro and Michelotti have, then ideas can be turned into realities quickly and prospective clclients convinced of a design's merits more easily. In Sessano's case, however, from from the time he first went independent until today he has relied on outside firms to produce his prototypes. His reasons for never assembling a team of experts to develop models are his own, but perhaps it was because he didn't wish to concentrate solely on car design. The clear, clean lines representative of the 'Sessano Touch' found in his automotive designs are just as evident in his product designs. He has been advocating simple forms since the 1960's. Although this approach has been said to lack feeling, he has insisted that, "No matter how complicated the mechanisms contained in a tool or a machine might be, the exterior has to be simple." Sessano's assertion remains the same for the field of transportation as well."
Unfortunately I don't know nothing about what this man is doing today, but I'm still sad that the 1970 OTAS 112KL one of his most beautiful car creations never made it to production:
Location: Amsterdam Joined: Thu Feb 05, 2009 9:33 am Posts: 173
Do you know the reason for the blocked part on the nose? I saw a Seat 1200 Sport for sale not too long ago and noticed it had the same in matt black, I just couldn't figure out what the reason could be. No idea it was a Sessano-design, by the way.
Location: Essen/Germany Joined: Sun Feb 22, 2009 5:30 pm Posts: 229
As far as I know it's a kind of soft-nose bumper. The Seat 1200/1430 Sport (nick-named "Bocanegra" ~ black lip) goes back to another Sessano designed car, the rear-engined NSU Nergal:
Location: The Netherlands Joined: Tue Feb 03, 2009 1:45 am Posts: 2121
J.R.Booij wrote:
I just couldn't figure out what the reason could be.
A nose like that (seen on various cars) was the result of aerodynamic insights/knowledge of that time, combined with updated safety legislation and dictated by the (mainly US) insurance companies who had set up a list of standards for low speed inpact (<5 km/h). Altogether, it was just one out of the many ways to integrate the necessary bumpers into the design and avoiding to add those ugly rubber blocks you see on many updated existing designs. (Remember the early US Lamborghini Countach?)
Location: Brasil Joined: Thu Feb 12, 2009 1:18 am Posts: 2537
Some info about him
Borned in Torino(Turin) studied at Facoltá di Architettura ( Politecnico de Torino ). 1954 Fiat grafic designer.. 1955 Colaboration with Abarth (Sportive Elaboration) 1956-68 Chief Designer Fiat Stile Center. 1968-83 Sessano Associates Fondatore,being the president,colaborated with Renault,ENASA Pegaso,Seat,Volvo,Magnadyne,Marelli,Balay,Silma. 1977-97 Volvo Design Center founder.Colaborated with Mitsubishi,Saab,Scania. 1998-2002 : Master Design International founder.,worked with Mitsubishi.
Location: Warszawa, Poland Joined: Thu Mar 26, 2009 12:31 am Posts: 162
Here are a few other Sessano designs:
Fissore Mongho 650 '69 - a publicity car for Glasurit Coggiola Lancia Dunja HF '71 Open Design Starwind '82 Open Design Ipot(h)esi '82 (based on Fiat Ritmo)
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Location: Warszawa, Poland Joined: Thu Mar 26, 2009 12:31 am Posts: 162
True. I identified this car as an Open Design creation. Probably all those people who attributed this car to Sessano were mislead by the identity of studio, as it was a rather obscure one.
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