Bizzarrini P538 Project Envision

The birth of **Bizzarrini and P538**
Giotto Bizzarrini was the engineer who developed the immortal Ferrari 250 GTO, the Ferrari 250 “Breadvan” and the legendary Lamborghini V12 engine. He was one of the top supercar engineers in Italy during the ’60s. He, later, founded his own brand, the “Bizzarrini”, in 1968.

Bizzarrini P538 1st generation (1965)

Dating from late 1965, the P538 (sometimes referred to as the P538S) was a V8 and V12 powered racing car, five of which were built in total (two with Chevy V8s and three with the Bizzarrini-designed Lamborghini V12). The open fiberglass bodywork was designed by Giugiaro and is starkly minimal, representing true beauty through pure function.

The story behind Bizzarrini P538 2nd generation

To celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Bizzarrii brand in 2008, Giotto Bizzarrini collaborated with Cobra international in Thailand to redesign his legendary P538 model. It was the first time to bring back and redesign the P538 model after 43 years of its debut in 1965.

The project was led by Mr.Kevin Gallahan and his team in Thailand to produce the P538 by using carbon-fiber composite technology from Cobra International, Thailand. The whole car was designed and constructed in Chonburi, Thailand.

A group of young Thai automotive designers from Silpakorn University was responsible for the entire design process. Led by Mr. Apichart Poomsuk, the design started from establishing the concept, sketching, clay modeling, and finalizing the model in 3d CAD data. This was considered to be the first time that a fully functional supercar concept is entirely designed and prototyped in Thailand.

Almost the entire vehicle’s components were developed and manufactured in Thailand.

A team of Thai designers

Led by Kevin Gallahan, he believed that the key to the success of this project was to complete the whole process in Thailand by utilizing excellent resources and expertise from the Thai automotive industry, including the design team. Therefore, a group of talented automotive designers had been trusted and chosen to bring this envision project to life.

a. Kevin Gallahan, project manager

b. Apichart Poomsuk, chief designer

c. Polpong Achariyasilp, designer

d. Pongnut Krainichakul, designer

e. Siriphong Roongruengvuthikul, designer

1:1 scale of exterior high density foam for producing a composite mold

Behind the scene

The redesigned version of P538 in Thailand used monocoque chassis from Galmer. The design team decided to build a 1:5 scale clay model and 3D scanned the model to get the 3D geometry for creating the surface Cad model. The surface CAD data was used for CNC the 1:1 bodywork in high-density foam. The foam was used as the master to make a composite mold for bodywork

P538 3rd Generation Redesign Project

It has been thirteen years since the second generation of P538 was released. Now in 2021, Class A Solution design team believes it is the perfect time to bring back this legendary model into a more modern version. Thus, this envision project has finally begun.

Exterior design : Theme A

By honoring the 2nd Generation Bizzarrini P538, this direction retains the unique characters from that model while modernizing the overall design by enhancing character lines, exploring new surfaces, increasing more sharp edges and more subtle details.

Analyze the 2nd generation design language

In this process, we search for the right beauty through hundreds of spontaneous sketches.

Exterior design : Theme B

Maintain the original 1965’s distinctive shoulder line, which the curve drops at the lowest level at the door panel before ascending again over the rear wheel arches.

Final exterior design proposal

Design based on exterior design theme B

Interior design

Minimize the complication on the IP by transferring physical buttons into the large touch screen.

Theme A

To emphasize sportiness, this direction focuses on driver-oriented design, in which entire design elements originated from the driver’s instrument panel.

Theme B

A horizontal thin line in front of the IP seamlessly runs to the door panels and creates a symmetrical bird's winged shape. It also creates a unified atmosphere throughout the interior.