Carlo Borromeo is not a car designer. “I am, above all, a creative user who discovered a way to work with cars and brought together a group of people who could do it in combination,” says the 41-year-old artistic director of Milan-based Studio BorromeodeSilva. Nor does it do so in the classical concept of objective beauty. “In Italy there is a right way and a wrong way of doing things [. . . ] There are things that are beautiful and things that are ugly, and parameters to delineate which are which. “Borromeo disagrees.
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But those two caveats aside, Borromeo, while describing the progression of his company’s most recent project, a Lamborghini Diablo redesigned for Eccentrica Cars, can describe to me a handful of floor rules he follows when updating old-fashioned automotive icons for a modern audience. .
It’s a skill that Studio BorromeodeSilva (co-founded in 2011 by Borromeo and his friends Fabio de Silva and Filippo Sgalbazzi) has honed to the fullest, at least judging by the reception it has garnered for its works beyond, adding Nardone’s Porsche 928 and the Automobili Amos. Lancia Delta. Integral “Futuristic”. Looking at the design process, as well as Borromeo’s journey, provides insight into what made the company one of the most famous names in European restoration today.
Borromeo traces his interest in automobiles back to his childhood in Japan, around 1991, where his mother, a fashion designer, had secured a contract with that country’s Ministry of Industry; An Italian expat acting as an interpreter was tasked with taking care of the child and organized an excursion to a Toyota factory. “For me it was unbelievable,” he recalls. Fully automated with robots. “What caught his attention the most was the exhibition of prototypes in the on-site museum. “It was like stepping into one of the cartoons I was watching at the time. It blew my mind.
Suffice it to say that Borromeo would need to repair anything coming from the Land of the Rising Sun at this time, such as a Toyota Celica or a Subaru Impreza. But don’t expect anything from Studio BorromeodeSilva’s JDM anytime soon. The art director prefers to leave the car to consumers, explaining, “I don’t need to get too lost in what I like or don’t like. »
For example, Emanuel Colombini’s company Eccentrica Cars already had plans for the Lamborghini Diablo, when Borromeo met one of the company’s executives at a party in Milan. Although there are some cars, Borromeo would not agree to a redesign – “For example, if you asked me to change the style of a [Ferrari] F40, why?Even flaws are good” – in general, he doesn’t think there’s a logo or style. It deserves to be out of the designers’ reach and I can’t believe the dining area is too crowded.
“There is room for everyone,” he said. “As long as there are crazy consumers willing to buy this stuff, I don’t see why it should be limited in any way. “
“The first thing we do is create a playlist. “Borromeo is a big fan of music from the ’80s and ’90s, and says that early in the process, he combines a handful of songs that help him “perceive the cultural character. “”Context” of the car: Think of it as an auditory environment. He wouldn’t reveal what’s on the Diablo soundtrack, but you can find Automobili Amos Delta — “the most productive ’80s playlist you’ve ever heard” — and Nardone 928 — “it’s more like a [retro-futuristic] synth wave. “You know?” – on Spotify. ” It helps us clear our minds and then understand what the identity of the car is for us and how we can bring it to light. “
We all understand deep within that things need to change, and they will change whether we like it or not, but also we kind of long for these idealized things that maybe never really existed
The goal is to elicit the kind of nostalgia consumers might feel for the era, he explains, and see the car as it was back then. Many other people have grown up with the Devil’s dream in their minds since they were children, and then they get to the age where they can do it, and they’re going to check it out, and. . . Well, you deserve to never meet your heroes,” he laughs. “So, to me, a successful recovery deserves to give you back the memory you have of a car. You deserve to satisfy that desire, not for the car itself, but for your concept of that car.
Some of Eccentrica Diablo’s style cues may sound familiar, and that’s no coincidence; Studio BorromeodeSilva plumbed the depths of Lamborghini’s catalog for inspiration. “I think it’s vital to realize that there’s no one Devil that rules them all: there are n versions of Diablo,” Borromeo explains. “So what we’re trying to do is create the ideal Diablo that combines the most productive elements of all. “The opening of the roof, for example, is a sophisticated allusion to the Jota GT1; the wheels and a few other main points obviously refer to the Diablo GTR.
(Other GTR-inspired elements, such as a rear spoiler, are coming: “There will be more versions [of the Eccentrica Diablo] in the future,” Borromeo says. )
It’s not just Italian influences hidden in the style of the Eccentrica Diablo: there’s a bit of Britishness to the headlights. When it comes to restomods, “the front and rear lights are the most expensive parts you can make,” Borromeo says, so when possible, commercially available portions are used. The studio joked about the 2023 Nissan’s headlights (the production Diablos borrowed the lamps from the 300ZX for a while), but in the end opted for fold-out sets that mimic those of the Jaguar XJ220.
“We wanted to keep the emerging feature [of the original car],” Borromeo says. “And when the probate officials said, ‘yes, no, they can’t show them,’ I said, ‘Well, can I?'”Remove? They couldn’t say no to that.
Other sources of inspiration are location, but apart from automobiles, Studio Borromeodesilva has worked in the fields of fashion, product design and furniture. Perhaps this background illuminates some of the studio’s surely original styling cues: the Eccentrica’s “Diablo horns,” shaped from the rear edge of the front fenders, or the “gold tooth” on the grille and the “teppanyaki plate” on the rear platform. “You have to find your own balance between how much of yourself you invest and how much you let the car speak for itself,” Borromeo says.
A few Tears for Fears play on the stereo, a dozen Diablo variants are suspended in the artistic ether – it’s time to start moving the lines. “Normally, we start with the proportions,” Borromeo says, stretching and narrowing as they go. It is mandatory to put the car on top of it. Compare a factory Lancia Delta and the Futuristic Automobili Amos, or an original Porsche 928 and the Nardone, and you’ll see that those kinds of modifications alone actually replace the car’s identity.
“I would say the Devil is one that requires less paint in the proportions,” Borromeo says. “The Devil is already a very wide car, you know? However, the Eccentrica is about a hundred mm wider; The now 19-inch wheels are propelled even more than that.
Then there’s an attractive visual trick: straightening the car’s lines as much as possible to make them more dynamic. “We do this in every car,” says Borromeo. Make each and every arc, each and every curve a little sharper. “Combine that with the changes in proportions and all of a sudden the car has a whole new character. “We call it ‘my grandmother’s rule,'” smiles the artistic director. “If my grandmother sees him, she won’t be able to tell him apart from a general Devil. But someone who knows the car [. . . ] will be able to perceive the differences without delay. .
“A lot of cars from the ’90s have more personality than quality,” laughs Borromeo, which the recovery procedure serves to correct. When it comes to the interior of the car, there’s a simple way to do it: “Remove the plastic,” Borromeo says emphatically. New production procedures have caused automotive programs for petroleum products to skyrocket. Thirty years later, cracked and faded, it shows its age.
“There’s no way to make it look good, so by cutting that, you’re already completely changing, from the inside out, a lot of the car’s identity,” Borromeo offers.
The interior of the Eccentrica Diablo maintains the minimalist vibe of the original, but the fabrics are clearly high-end, highlighted through a combination of Alcantara and leather on much of the upholstery. The console’s matte metallic finishes contrast with the polished trim, all centered. acircular metal shift knob fixed on a lattice-shaped pedestal. The hard-touch surfaces also have a carbon fiber finish (plastic: removed).
Throughout his automotive career, Borromeo has witnessed the evolution of the automotive industry. He made his debut in 2002 through an internship at the Spanish car manufacturer SEAT, presented through a family friend of Walter de Silva, Fabio’s father and then head of design at Volkswagen. .
“It was an era of transition—the old guard, the old-school designers, were still in charge, the guys still sketching by hand,” Borromeo reminisces. “And you started to see the first 3D modeling creeping in and claiming its space.” Six years later, he saw the same shift when he landed a gig at ItalDesign, headed up by long-time idol Giorgetto Giugiaro.
In between those two jobs, he studied at the San Francisco Academy of Art (where, notably, he bought his first car, a 1968 Ford Mustang that he still owns today). His time in America reshaped his attitude toward design, for the worse or worse.
“I’ve completely lost my love of car design,” Borromeo says. “Because what they teach you is how to draw cars in a safe way. I never had that artistic soul, so for many years I felt like I didn’t belong.
But it also opened his eyes to the merits of experimentation. “Italy has that heritage, and it’s a lovely thing,” he says of his homeland.
“On the other hand, it’s dangerous, because it’s easy to think that the most productive thing has already happened, that we’re living in the ruins of a civilization that was once wonderful,” Borromeo says. “What America Taught Me: Enthusiasm for the New “So I took away a lot of that cutting-edge technique, that concept that nothing is sacred. “
In practice, this means that Studio BorromeodeSilva draws on tradition, but uses new tools: “Milanese, but with a Californian twist,” says its website. This manifests itself on the Eccentrica Diablo in parts like the 3D-printed titanium grilles at the front and rear. It’s the first time the studio has used the generation for a production, and Borromeo is still a little skeptical: “[The quality has to be] perfect,” he says, but enthusiastically.
The good fortunes of the Automobili Amos Lancia Delta Futurista, the Porsche 928 Nardone and, now, the Eccentrica Lamborghini Diablo have placed Studio BorromeodeSilva at the forefront of the restomod trend. But before a new style is revealed, the company’s art director is still “absolutely fed up” with whether enthusiasts will applaud or despise the design. “In these assignments, you have a chance,” Borromeo says. If you miss the launch, the assignment is dead. “
He’s not complaining—part of him welcomes the anxiety. “No, fear, I—I cherish it a little bit,” he confides. “If I wasn’t feeling scared, it would mean either I’m becoming too arrogant, or I’m not pushing enough.”
The Automobili Amos Delta was one of the studio’s first efforts, so expectations weren’t that high; However, the original was designed by Borromeo’s idol, Giugiaro, who, distressing for the young Italian, followed the release attentively. The Nardone 928 made him even more nervous, as he didn’t feel familiar with the Porsche network and its tastes. Borromeo, the eccentric Devil, was very concerned about whether other people would buy her €1,200,000 (€1. 3 million or €1. 75 million) worth.
He circles back to his love of music to draw an analogy: “I consider restomods like our albums.” The first one is the breakout album, Borromeo explains, “it’s rock and roll, like we weren’t asking many questions of ourselves, just doing what felt right.” The second one is “scary” because it has to confirm what happened with the first. “The third one, you’re in a groove, you’ve found a method that kind of works—but you fear having been lucky twice.”
The other concern at this point, he says, is whether you’ve lost control of yourself. As a film franchise that spawns bigger and bigger sequels, you’re tempted to outdo it, Borromeo explains, to the point of wasting the plot. But what worries him is the next assignment: “What will you do after Diablo?The next commission from Studio BorromeodeSilva is still in development, so he couldn’t give an idea of the production stand, so to speak. But with his procedure laid bare, I bet the overly curious will now be keeping an eye on Borromeo’s Spotify playlists.
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