Autonova Fam

The Autonova Fam: Reflecting the guidelines of the Autonova project, the Fam (a contraction of familiare, i.e. a station wagon) was intended to be versatile, “logical in every detail”, as Pio Manzù and Michael Conrad were careful to note, a car for the community. It was compact outside (3.5 meters long and 1.6 wide) but offered plenty of room inside. This was achieved by making the most of the height, 1600 mm. The engine hood and trunk were absorbed into a single volume with a trapezoidal form. The cabin was lined with large windows and accommodated up to five passengers. It could be adapted to take different kinds of loads since all the seats were independent and the backs folded over. The raised driving position and height off the ground were considered significant factors making for comfort and safety on board. The technical features of the Autonova Fam anticipated certain ideas that have only recently been adopted on a large scale by the automobile industry. They included automatic electro hydraulic transmission, height adjustable suspension and progressive action steering. Of the Autonova’s numerous functional and technical-constructional features, the most striking were its rigorous formal synthesis, the simple, “modern” design of its different parts, from the lines that unite or segment the different sections of the body down to individual details like handles and switches and the most minute seams and welds. Both the Autonova prototypes are still surprising for their originality and coherence, even after this lapse of time. Pio Manzù and Michael Conrad’s project can still be seen as an exemplary contribution to the evolution of the automobile and car design, not only because of the results they achieved but also in terms of method and the development of radically innovative contents. The body was built by italian coachbuilder Sibona Basano.