Giugiaro says it was an act of courage. Because when he proposed to Carlos Peralta that he create an exclusive supercar, even he could not have imagined such an extraordinary outcome. It was March 2024 and Giugiaro had been invited to Pastejé, Mexico, where every year Peralta – a magnate heading up a large industrial group and an avid car collector – hosts an annual private car event on his sprawling estate. In terms of the number and quality of cars on display, it stands on a par with the most prestigious of international concours d’elegance.
Challenge accepted
“Your superb car collection is missing one thing, though: the car I could make for you for next year”, the Italian designer told his host. No sooner said than done. Carlos Peralta is resolute and quick to act – traits that would prove crucial during the project – and immediately accepted the challenge: to build a one-off running car to be unveiled at Pastejé in March 2025. And so it was.
The fourth proposal
“A few months later, at the beginning of July, we organised a presentation with three different styling proposals, all for homologated, mid-engined coupés. Peralta chose his favourite from these”, said Fabrizio Giugiaro, CEO of GFG Style, the company he founded with his father ten years ago. “However, we wanted to add a fourth, decidedly audacious proposal. More of a showcar than a vehicle for the road. Peralta was captivated by it and asked us to develop this concept too”.
A bold step
It is a truly extreme supercar, an ultra-low monolith without normal doors; at this early stage, it was not even clear what the visibility would be like, as the windscreen-roof slants down over the driver’s head. Everyone expected Carlos Peralta to go for the road-legal model. Instead, he took a bold step and decided there and then that the car he wanted was the model that looked like it had flown in from outer space.
The 70’s charm
It is an object that seems to have re-emerged from a bygone age, evoking an era when prototypes were the gateway to the future and people dreamed big, albeit with a formal purity that has all but vanished today. The inspiration for the Peralta S is in fact the Maserati Boomerang, a concept car designed by Giorgetto Giugiaro in 1971 and presented a year later on the Italdesign stand at the Geneva Motor Show.
A monolithic effect
“It is also a tribute to my father, to decades of experience that have allowed us to create such a pure, simple yet beautifully balanced geometric shape”, continued Fabrizio, pointing to a side silhouette defined by a single line from the nose to the roof and tail. Seamless surfaces, flat when viewed from above. A monolithic effect underscored by the decision to leave the aluminium body panels exposed, but polished to a mirror finish so that they are almost indistinguishable from the glazing.
(Full article in A&D no. 274)
