Iconicar

130 Iconic Automobiles

ICONICAR. Style & Design is a fascinating journey through automotive culture as seen through the lenses of style, design, and visual imagination from the twentieth century to today. It is not simply a catalog of cars, but a true cultural atlas that shows how automobiles have interpreted—and often anticipated—the transformations of society, art, technology, and taste.

From the pioneering vehicles of the early 1900s to contemporary forms, the book traces more than a century of history through a curated selection of 130 iconic automobiles, organized into 12 major stylistic eras. These chapters explore the relationship between bodywork, vehicle architecture, aerodynamics, volumes, materials, and formal languages. Each car is presented with technical and stylistic profiles highlighting its role in the evolution of automotive design and cultural identity.

The narrative is enriched by an extensive chronological framework that weaves together cars, industrial design, architecture, visual arts, fashion, technology, and major historical events—from the artistic avant-gardes to the consumer boom, from industrial revolutions to the emergence of design as a discipline. The automobile thus emerges as an icon of its time, a mirror of collective aspirations and a powerful marker of cultural identity.

At the visual heart of the book are the original illustrations by Matteo F. Bardoscia, which reinterpret the vehicles in a contemporary graphic language, transforming historical archives into a coherent, elegant, and instantly recognizable visual narrative. Each automobile becomes a design object to be studied, observed, and “read” through its shapes, colors, and surfaces.

ICONICAR. Style & Design brings together historical rigor, design culture, and visual storytelling. It is intended for those who love the automobile not only as a machine, but as an aesthetic and symbolic language—a collectible volume for car enthusiasts, designers, architects, students, and anyone interested in understanding how style has shaped our modern idea of mobility.

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MARCO TURINETTO – Author
Marco Turinetto is an architect, cultural critic, and design historian. He has long worked on the relationship between style, design, and the automobile, developing projects that combine research, publishing, exhibitions, and events devoted to automotive design culture. He teaches at the School of Design at Politecnico di Milano, where he directs the Master in Brand-Extension & Licensing, dedicated to enhancing high-end brand heritage. He is a member of the Historical and Sporting Commission of the Automobile Club Milano and of the U.C.I. Concours d’Elegance Jury as an expert in automotive style and body design. He also directs the ICONICAR editorial series for Edizioni Intra and is the author of several reference books, including Dizionario del Design, Automobile: The Forms of Design, Automobile: A Glossary of Style, and When Alfa Romeo Was Milan.

DESIGN & ILLUSTRATIONS
Matteo F. Bardoscia is a Design Director in the AdTech sector, where he works on creative strategies, visual systems, and narrative experiences at the intersection of technology, culture, and brand identity. Co-author with Marco Turinetto of Remixing Beauty, he has developed a method for reinterpreting archives as cultural and design resources. He teaches Design Management at Raffles Milano and is active in research, writing, and creative direction.

Visio Collection – ICONICAR Series

Intra
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