You have to be able to deliver excitement and enjoyment, especially on the track. A sports car is not simply about transportation. When you’re unknown, it’s a way to be visible to the world, but it can’t all be hype. The dreams and passions are something that you cannot count – they are timeless by definition.ĬvK: I think they’re becoming less and less important, especially for us. Yes, they’re important, but the experience is way more, and it’s not related to numbers. How important are power and performance figures? I think honesty in design and value is another Scandinavian trait, and one we’ve adopted. Ours is an expensive car, obviously, but we consider it to be good value for money in terms of the design inputs, build execution and performance of the car. And it’s an important part of Sweden’s automotive approach from a historical perspective, with both Volvo and Saab having many world firsts in this area. The ability to control the car and not get into accidents in the first place is very important to us. Of course, the safety aspect of car design has always been at the top of our minds, too.
This can also be applied to our cars.ĬvK: I wanted to make something that was very clean and minimalistic, which is a very Scandinavian approach, I suppose. It is highly improbable that Ferrari, for instance, which is synonymous with Maranello, Modena and Italy, could one day be produced in China. That’s why, if we are talking about supercars, we can say that there is a tie with the territory. The passion is, probably, what Latin people share all over the world, so that’s why I feel at home here in Italy.īut the country where you want to realise your dream is very important. HP: Italy and Argentina are very similar, in many ways. In what way does your home country influence your cars? It’s a massive challenge to design all of this and accept no compromise in terms of weight or performance. Subframes, suspension, the extreme curvature of our windscreen, fitting our fuel tank into the chassis and making it work with its baffles, etc. Engineering a whole car to fit around a roof that has to be stored in a small front compartment. Every detail has to be perfect, has to be something worthy to stand alone.ĬvK: Can I say “Everything”? Getting our door hinge to work when everyone said it was impossible. Let’s say this: the hardest part for us is to give a form to our dreams. We work so in-depth on every single detail that it is very difficult to pick one. What is the greatest technical hurdle you’ve overcome? The car company was incorporated early in 1995. I was running my own import/export company at the time, and I worked on it from that day forward.
I sat down at my Windows 3.11 computer and started drawing the design I’d had in my head for so many years into Microsoft Paint. I will always thank all our partners who worked with us over the years.ĬvK: The day I finally decided to do it was 12 August, 1994. I realised then we were going in the right direction.
HP: When we had the first engine from Mercedes. Describe the moment you knew your own car company was going to happen.