The following article appeared in the January 2013 issue (203) of Auto Italia Magazine 'Your Cars' feature.
http://www.auto-italia.co.uk/index.asp
Spider Owner Meets Designer in Turin
Tom Tjaarda in his Turin studio
One of the fascinating aspects of owning a classic Italian sports car is tracing it’s history and discovering where previous owners enjoyed your vehicle. For Fiat Spider owner and Club Italia contributor, Mike Rysiecki, that task was relatively easy from the documentation accompanying his car at the time of purchase. Two previous owners here in the UK and two more in the United States appeared on old bills and ownership documents.
With only two Spider specialists operating in the UK, a chat with the ever helpful Tony Castle Miller at Middle Barton Garage and model Paul De Turris at DTR European Sports Cars will usually reveal any darker aspects to a specific Spider’s history, at least in this country. While knowing the history of an individual car is of personal interest to many owners, discovering the heritage of the model allows deeper exploration of the history at the time the design was first built as well as the social and economic conditions, fashions and style prevailing at the time.
Mike's Spider 2000 is one of the last of the FIAT badged, Pininfarina designed and built cars produced before FIAT passed the model back to the design house in mid-1982 for its final run as the Spidereuropa and Spider Azzura (US model). Being a ‘change-over-model’, the car has tested the knowledge of parts specialist Tony Castle Miller as Italian manufacturers at the time were prone to taking a less than disciplined approach to in-flight component upgrades.
With his car’s most recent history well documented, Mike wanted to learn more about the model’s heritage and a trip to the design ‘carozzeria’ with an exclusive tour of the Pininfarina Collection (Auto Italia 196, June 2012) filled in details of the build history at the Grugliasco plant outside Turin. Seeing the last Spider built, a black Volumex, once owned by Lorenza Pininfarina, on display at the Cambiano studio drew a line under that end of the story.
The origins of the design were now top of the discovery agenda for Mike. Although the nine books written in four languages, specifically about the FIAT 124 Sport Spider revealed much about the model history, some details can only to be revealed by talking to the designer of the car. Design legend Tom Tjaarda lives and works in Turin and runs his independent studio close to Porto Nuova railway station where he first arrived from America to a deserted Turin 54 years ago during the Ferragosto holiday. It was during that same week earlier this year that Mike visited Tom at his studio and had a morning of ‘car-talk’ with his hero. "I had been in touch with Tom some two years earlier and when the opportunity arose I was thrilled when Tom invited me to his studio. He is one of the most charming and engaging men that I have ever met, he answered all of my questions and patiently signed pictures and other Spider related automobilia from my collection".
Designer Tom Tjaarda signs the glove box lid of Mike's car.
Mike learned that after the hot-house of Ghia, Tom enjoyed his time at Pininfarina where the 124 Sport Spider grew out of his design study for the Corvette Rondine (swallow), which was initially rejected by Chevrolet as too 'Italianate' for the American market. Perfect the other way round though, as FIAT saw the design's potential as an Italian sports car to grab its share of the huge US convertible market. The Rondine design scaled down nicely until it came to the 'face' of the car, as the nose section with large front overhang did not graft well onto the smaller, shortened FIAT 124 floorpan. Before leaving Pininfarina to return tio Ghia, Tom drew the much loved, 'shark nose' that contributes to the Spider's broad appeal.
As well as the ‘swallow-tail’, another distinctive feature of the Spider's shape is the body crease which starts at the front headlamp and kinks upwards through the door to become the top edge at the rear wing. "I asked Tom about this crease and he called it a 'power form' which denotes that the drive power comes from the rear of the car. With this in mind I could then trace it’s evolution from Tom's first car design, the Innocenti 950 Spider, through to a much exaggerated example in the De Tomaso Pantera". This line form was subsequently adopted widely in car design across the industry. Tom also confirmed my suspicion that the swallow tail design was in some ways the last gasp of an American ‘50s style rear fin, folded over and laid on its side.”
“Tom clearly enjoys other people getting pleasure from his work and I was fascinated to learn that his hand had previously reached into my life much earlier in my motoring career when a Tjaarda designed Mk1 Ford Fiesta was not only my first new car but also, separately, my wife's first new car, both red, of course. Being front wheel drive, the Fiesta does not carry the power form line of Tom's rear wheel drive designs. As a student, Tom also designed the first Sports Estate car back in 1958 and I like to think that my daily driver estate car was influenced from that origin, even if it took Mercedes rather a long time to catch on! "
Other questions on Mike's mind were to do with later-model improvements and racing. "I asked Tom if he could go back and redesign one part of the Spider which would it be? The shape of the dashboard with its downturned ends is the area that Tom would have liked to have gone back over. I also learned that although there was no thought given to any motor sport considerations at the time of design, Tom loves the Abarth treatment particularly of the 1974 Portuguese Rally, then WRC equivalent, Pinto / Bernacchini winning Abarth 124 Rally. I was amused to see that we each have a model of that car in our respective collections."
An area which divides opinions of late model Spiders involves the subsequent addition of the larger US Federal regulation bumpers and the bonnet power bulges. "I was fascinated to discover that Tom is OK with the bumpers and knows the designer who drew them as the simplest possible way to meet the hastily imposed regulations. Similarly, there are some who scorn the later addition of the bonnet power bulges, added initially to clear the power sapping emission control plumbing and later enlarged to provide clearance for the power enhancing fuel injection system enjoyed by drivers of late model cars, again Tom approves of this change to his original design."
As a stylist, Tom draws free-form in pencil before his designs are digitally calibrated; Mike says “I saw some of his current work for Far East manufacturers with designs at both extremes of the model continuum. Some of the European manufacturers may need to sharpen their own pencils when those designs go to production.”
“Though most comfortable designing objects with wheels, even industrial floor cleaning machines, Tom showed me his design ‘back catalogue’ which includes retail boutiques, custom furniture and even coastal villas when he occasionally reverts to his student roots and architectural training.”
And what would you think a world famous car designer does for relaxation? “Tom builds and races large scale radio controlled model aircraft with the trophies to show for his success. I guess that’s why he needs an estate car too. It was an experience bordering on surreal being driven back to my hotel at Lingotto by the man had previously reached into my life from a distance.”
Having spent time with Tom, Mike is convinced that if he ever parts with his beloved FIAT Spider it can only be if its replacement is a Tjaarda designed De Tomaso Pantera “The pull of that Tjaarda power form line is just too strong for me not to follow. As I left Tom’s studio he very kindly gave me copies of illustrations that he had drawn for a new (Italian-language) biography and the Pantera sketch has set my aspiration for my next classic Italian sports car. Tom likes to present his car designs in orange so I guess that restricts my colour choice too. But I’ll need to check with Neil and the team at Ben’s Garage, my local classic-friendly workshop and MoT station in West Berkshire, to see how they feel about taking on another Italian design with American heritage.”