1996 Alfa Romeo Nuvola Concept Car

An interesting 1996 Alfa Romeo concept car with a Retro feeling was the Nuvola (Wikipedia entry here).  It was designed under the direction of Centro Stile Alfa Romeo director Walter de' Silva, who was responsible for the outstanding 1997 Alfa Romeo 156 sedan design.   He eventually became head of the Volkswagen Design Group.

Thanks to the need for automobile designs to be tested in wind tunnels for reasons of aerodynamic and fuel consumption efficiency, car shapes during the 1990s often assumed curved appearances in contrast to 1970s angular shapes.  The Nuvola was no exception, as the images below indicate.

Gallery

Factory image of Nuvola's front quarter.  Bring a concept car meant that it had no real need for a proper bumper.  The wheel design strikes me as silly, but similar themes have been common.  At least they reinforce the rounded/curved design theme.

Rear quarter view, same source.  Again, no bumper.  The tail lights atop the rear fenders are lengthy, but small if viewed from a following car.  Perhaps those small, round red lights operated in synch with the othes in order to provide braking information to vehicles behind.

Some Nuvola styling sketches.

The Nuvola was on display when I visited the Alfa Romeo museum in 2019, and I took this and the following photos.  The central, triangular grille segment has mesh, rather than chromed bars.  The headlight arrangement strikes me as being odd, rather insect-like.  The outermost lights (turn signal lights) are the same shape as the tail lights discussed above.  Their profile is echoed by the inset structures for the headlights.  The latter remind me of machine gun settings on some 1930s and later fighter planes.

Side view.  The Nuvola has short overhangs, front and rear.  I like the long hood.  The passenger compartment greenhouse is tall and its profile strongly curved.  The midpoint of the upper window profile creates a pinched appearance at the roofline in that area.  Unlike most cars, the sides have no character lines or character sheet metal sculpting.

Tail light design aside, I think the best aspect of the Nuvola is from the perspective shown here.