Posted on Wednesday 13 June 2007
Frank Stephenson, the man behind such memorable works like the Ferrari 430 and 612 Scaglietti, will be leaving his post as Head of Design at the Prancing Horse label to start a new job as Alfa Romeo’s Style chief.
Stephenson will be reporting directly to Fiat Group’s chief stylist Lorenzo Ramaciotti, the man in charge of design for Fiat, Maserati, Lancia and of course, Alfa Romeo. Moroccan born Stephenson will have some big shoes to fill. He’s taking up the position of Wolfgang Egger, who recently moved to head the design team over at Audi. Egger was responsible for such beauties as the 1998 Nuvola concept car, the current Alfa 159 sedan, and the stunning Alfa 8C Competizione, but we’re sure Stephenson has a few aces up his sleeve.
The first tasks on his list will be to tackle the design of the new Alfa 149 hatchback due in less than two years. Designers have already gone through several different proposals and Stephenson will likely be keen to make the car’s design his own. Upon completion of the 149, he’ll then turn his attention to the upcoming Fiat Junior hatch and then onto Alfa’s new 169 flagship saloon as well as a possible crossover model.
Oh, great. In my opinion, Ferrari’s styling as of late has been a little difficult to warm up to, if not ugly. The Enzo and 612 have been widely panned for their challenging appearance. For me, this is bad news, as Alfa has been producing some of the most lovely cars extant.
I hope Stephenson gives the world a new Alfasud Sprint, a la his MINI and new Cinquecento.
Lowdog, what the hell are you on about? Ok, i admit style is subjective but ask anyone and they’ll tell you Ferraris are damn hawt.
612 maybe, but Enzo - challenged appearance??
Give me a 599 anyday. For me this is great news. Hopefully we’ll soon get Alfas that look like Ferraris, and this time most poeple can actually afford them.
Gotta go with Julius on this one. The 993 turbo used to be the sexiest car in my book. That was until the 360 showed up. And then the 599 came along and I wet my pants a little bit. It’s not sexy, per se, but it’s the most desirable Ferrari I’ve ever seen.
Now, maybe one of you guys can answer this question I’ve had forever: why don’t the BIG 3 in Detroit hire these European guys to pen the new American designs? Why do the Euros have a lot of beautiful cars while we must share our roads with abortions like the Dodge Nitro and dry enemas like the upcoming Ford Focus?