CAR COMPARISONS: Can electric cars democratise coachbuilding?

I sure hope so.

Buying transport in the early 1900s was a different experience.

First, you would select the chassis and then the ‘coachbuilder’. This second-stage manufacturer would then produce a stylish and unique body, just for you. Lastly, you would require a fine steed or two to lug it.

The delineation between chassis, body and horsepower manufacturers was common practice of the pre-war era, and best described as just how it was done.

Generally, the people who built the frames back then didn’t have the skill to craft the body. Likewise, the coachbuilders didn’t raise foals.

As internal combustion came into play, horsepower went in-house. Coachbuilding did too, with some carriage-makers partnering directly with car brands to provide vehicle bodies, whereas others went their own way, somewhat independently.

Italian firm Bertone is one such example, which pivoted from building horse-drawn carts to later designing beautifully stylish race cars after the war.

Bertone’s transformation inspired fellow Torino brand Pininfarina, and then Zagato, to emerge in the 1920s and 1930s. All three Italian design houses are now recognised as the world’s finest, having penned some of the fastest and most beautiful cars in the world, sometimes even both.

For example, just one year before World War II broke out, and at the world’s most prestigious road race, one-third of all the race cars on the grid were wearing a Zagato body.

Amazingly, all three design leaders have managed to survive two world wars and the introduction of the monocoque chassis. This latter point threw a spanner in the works well over 50 years ago, when the advancement of unibody vehicle construction (monocoque) meant that body shells were fundamentally unified with the car’s structure, sort of like an egg.

Outside of motorsport, it was difficult to completely replace a vehicle’s design (or its body), which is sort of what coachbuilding is all about.

Still, as the emotion attached to vehicle design and the empowerment of individuality went unsuppressed, some design houses turned to those with means.

Throughout the 1980s, Pininfarina, powered by brands like Ferrari, made all sorts of oddities for the Hassanal Bolkiah, officially known as the Sultan of Brunei.

The British played a part too, with specially commissioned Bentley ‘Dominator’ SUVs becoming the stuff of early internet folklore.

In more recent times, Eric Clapton has worked with Ferrari to commission his own ‘SP12 EC’ sports car, which cost him directly around AUD$5 million. It’s worth mentioning that Eric has a long history with the brand, which cost multiple millions to earn beforehand.

However, what the Sultan’s billions achieved during the 1990s was matched by Clapton’s millions in 2015. By that, I mean commissioning a one-off and exotic sports car from an upper-echelon manufacturer like Ferrari.

It also proves that coachbuilding is slowly being democratised, as the example I’ve painted sees the privilege moving from the realms of a multibillionaire world power to a mere multimillionaire musician in about 35 years.

Fast forward to today, and electric cars are commonly made on rolling ‘skateboard’ platforms that have myriad advantages. Those include the ability to be re-bodied easier, or created from off-shelf parts more efficiently. Aside from vapourware start-up brands ruining the broth, there are plenty of new electric car brands that have managed to get unique and one-off sports cars off the ground. In other words, basically modern-day coachbuilding.

US start-up Rivian is close to rolling out mass production

This includes Totem Automobili, which seems to have a physical car making it past the ‘renders only’ stage. You could even liken American electric vehicle manufacturer Rivian, and its unorthodox beginnings, to the idea of coachbuilding. All of these cool and inspiring vehicles are directly coming from the serious propagation of electric vehicles globally.

Based on that, we have some fun, interesting niches yet to explore with electric vehicles. I think we’ll see many unique, one-off electric sports cars tugging on our heartstrings in lieu of the theatre that comes with high-performance internal combustion engines.

As a parting note, I’ll always keep a few filthy internal-combustion-engine-powered cars alive in my shed, whether it’s my silly Toyota microcar or short-wheelbase turbo-diesel Pajero. I know both won’t be there in a few years’ time, but I can’t help but want to enjoy the future where I’ll maybe replace at least one with an EV (like the one below).

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CAR COMPARISONS

Senin, 08 November 2021

Can electric cars democratise coachbuilding?

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