Lancia Stratos Among Wedge-Shaped Icons in New Petersen Exhibit

Car and Driver

3 days ago

The Petersen Automotive Museum has a new exhibit that's all about wedge-shaped cars.
Wedge designs peaked in the 1970s, shattering traditional automotive design.
The exhibit features Lancias and an early Lamborghini Countach, as well as eye-bending concepts and cars you may never have heard of before.
Who doesn't love wedge-shaped things? That's pizza, apple pie, cakes, little triangle sandwiches—basically all the good stuff. And when it comes to cars, the wedge is a striking way to throw down the design gauntlet. Now, a new exhibit at the Petersen Automotive Museum is paying homage to all things too triangular to be square.
All but one of the cars on display dates from the mid-1960s until the late 1970s, an era when wedge-shaped designs transformed the auto industry. Before this time, styling was more flowing, shaped by both the wind tunnel and the designer's eye. People drew cars to look like fish or birds, natural shapes and curves. But if a Lamborghini Miura is undeniably beautiful, an early Countach is shocking, breathtaking in another way entirely. The wedge era shattered norms, allowing for truly stunning road cars such as the Countach or Lancia Stratos.
Petersen Museum
1977 Lancia Stratos Stradale.
Speaking of the Stratos, you can find Bertone's original jaw-dropper in this new collection: the 1970 Lancia Stratos HF Zero concept. It's joined by other heavy-hitter concepts such as Paul Braq's BMW Turbo concept that presaged the M1, the gullwing-doored quad-rotary 1976 Chevrolet Aerovette, and the 1979 Aston-Martin Bulldog.
These are joined by cars you've likely never heard of, such as the 1966 Cannara I, an extremely early wedge-shaped car thought to be the first of the trend. There are also several tiny city car concepts, such as the AMC Amitron, Minissima, and the 1977 Urbacar.
Petersen Museum
1977 UrbaCar.
Petersen Museum
1977 UrbaCar.
Proving that wedge-shaped design isn't just for exotics and concepts, the one-off 1976 Honda Lady marries Japanese engineering underneath with Italian coachwork. It has an amusing name, an interesting shape, and gets driven around regularly because it's still as reliable as any Honda.
All these are joined by the best-known road-going wedges of the time, a Countach LP400 and a Lancia Stratos Stradale. The sole modern machine is the 2016 Lo-Res Car concept, surreal and cool in its all-black, angular glory.
Petersen Museum
1975 Lamborghini Countach LP400.
Recently revealed concepts such as the Honda 0 Series Saloon prove that wedgy vehicle design is still the shape of the future. Head on over to the Petersen to check out these seriously ground-breaking machines. They're the best slices in town.
Brendan McAleer
Contributing Editor
Brendan McAleer is a freelance writer and photographer based in North Vancouver, B.C., Canada. He grew up splitting his knuckles on British automobiles, came of age in the golden era of Japanese sport-compact performance, and began writing about cars and people in 2008. His particular interest is the intersection between humanity and machinery, whether it is the racing career of Walter Cronkite or Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki's half-century obsession with the Citroën 2CV. He has taught both of his young daughters how to shift a manual transmission and is grateful for the excuse they provide to be perpetually buying Hot Wheels. Read full bio