The Alfa Romeo Iguana is a

concept car A concept car (also known as a concept vehicle or show vehicle) is a car made to showcase new styling or new technology. Concept cars are often exhibited at motor shows to gauge customer reaction to new and radical designs which may or may not ...

produced by

Alfa Romeo Alfa Romeo Automobiles S.p.A. () is an Italian carmaker known for its sports-oriented vehicles, strong auto racing heritage, and iconic design. Headquartered in Turin, Italy, it is a subsidiary of Stellantis Europe and one of 14 brands of mu ...

in 1969. It was designed by

Giorgetto Giugiaro Giorgetto Giugiaro (; born 7 August 1938) is an Italian automotive designer. He has worked on supercars and popular everyday vehicles. He was named Car Designer of the Century in 1999 and inducted into the Automotive Hall of Fame in 2002. He w ...

Italdesign Italdesign-Giugiaro S.p.A. () is a design and engineering company and brand based in Moncalieri, Italy, that traces its roots to the 1968 foundation of Studi Italiani Realizzazione Prototipi S.p.A. by Giorgetto Giugiaro and Aldo Mantovani. Best ...

Background

The car was previewed at the Sport Car Show in Monza and presented officially at the

Turin Auto Show The Turin Motor Show () is an auto show held annually in Turin, Italy. The first official show took place between 21 and 24 April 1900, at the Castle of Valentino, becoming a permanent fixture in Turin from 1938 having shared it with Milan and R ...

in 1969. It was the first Alfa Romeo model designed by

as head of his own carrozzeria, and was based on the

Alfa Romeo 33 Stradale The Alfa Romeo 33 Stradale is a Mid-engine design, mid-engine sports car built by Italian automobile manufacturer Alfa Romeo. It was the fastest commercially available car for the standing kilometer upon its introduction.Alfa Romeo 33 Stradale tu ...

road-going version of the Tipo 33/2. Although it did not go into production, the Iguana is reflected in Giugiaro's later work. The body of the Iguana was painted a metal-flake grey, while the roof frame and cabin pillars were finished in brushed metal, a treatment Giugiaro later applied to the

DMC DeLorean The DMC DeLorean is a rear-engine, two–seat sports car manufactured and marketed by John DeLorean's DeLorean Motor Company (DMC) for the American market from 1981 until 1983—ultimately the only car brought to market by the fledgling compa ...

Technical details

The chassis inherited from the Stradale was of tubular steel. The fuel tank was lined with rubber. The body was a coupé executed in fibreglass. The low sloping nose between raised sections over the wheels and depth of the windshield would be revisited on the

Porsche Tapiro The Porsche Tapiro is a concept car built by Porsche in 1970. It was designed by Giorgetto Giugiaro and has a traditional 1970s wedge design, which critics say somewhat resembles that of the De Tomaso Mangusta. The chassis is based on the Porsc ...

and

Maserati Bora The Maserati Bora (Tipo AM117) is a two-seat, rear mid-engine, rear-wheel drive sports car and grand tourer, manufactured by Maserati from 1971 to 1978. In common with other Maserati cars of the era, it is named after a wind, Bora being the w ...

, while the definition of the rear elements will also appear in other cars styled by Giugiaro, notably the Alfetta GT. The Iguana was initially equipped with a aluminium V8 engine delivering of power at 8,000 rpm. The engine was capable of , but was detuned for reliability. This had been the first V8 engine produced by Alfa Romeo when it was introduced in the Tipo 33, and in the Iguana it was combined with a

SPICA Spica is the brightest object in the constellation of Virgo and one of the 20 brightest stars in the night sky. It has the Bayer designation α Virginis, which is Latinised to Alpha Virginis and abbreviated Alpha Vir or α Vir. Analys ...

fuel injection system and a six-speed Colotti gearbox. Thus equipped the car was capable of a top speed of . At some point, and for reasons unknown, the original engine was replaced with one of the , V8s built for the

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

. Suspension was upper and lower A-arms at all four corners. Brakes were Girling disks, and the wheels were

Campagnolo Campagnolo is an Italian manufacturer of high-end bicycle components with headquarters in Vicenza, Italy. The components are organised as groupsets (gruppi), and are a near-complete collection of a bicycle's mechanical parts. Campagnolo's flagsh ...

alloys.

References

Related vehicles

Alfa Romeo Tipo 33 The Alfa Romeo Tipo 33 was a sports racing prototype raced by the Alfa Romeo factory-backed team between 1967 and 1977. These cars took part for Sport Cars World Championship, Nordic Challenge Cup, Interserie and CanAm series. A small numbe ...

Alfa Romeo Carabo The Alfa Romeo Carabo is a concept car first shown at the 1968 Paris Motor Show. It was designed by Marcello Gandini, working for the Bertone design studio. The ''Carabo'' name is derived from the ''Carabidae'' beetles, as evoked by the car's iri ...

* Alfa Romeo 33/2 Coupé Speciale * Alfa Romeo 33 Cuneo * Alfa Romeo Navajo

External links

* * {{Portal, Cars

Iguana ''Iguana'' (, ) is a genus of herbivorous lizards that are native to tropical areas of Mexico, Central America, South America, and the Caribbean. The genus was first described by Austrian naturalist Josephus Nicolaus Laurenti, J.N. Laurenti in ...

Italdesign concept vehicles Cars introduced in 1969