8 Ostentatious Cars That Defined The Wedge-Shape Era – Jalopnik

Imagine you are again in grade college, bored in school, and trying to kill a minute whereas your instructor finishes their extremely attention-grabbing lecture on the quadratic method. You determine to sketch a bit of doodle of a cool automotive. What does that automotive appear like? Well, for a lot of younger fanatics who doodled after they weren’t imagined to, it in all probability had a wedge form to it.

Why? Other than being straightforward to attract, a wedge-shaped sports activities automotive simply appears quick. It appears like it may well reduce by means of the air at unbelievable speeds and fly by means of house if it needed to. It’s an aggressive form that appears prefer it has a route — a performance-based objective. Some of these youngsters, because it occurs, grew up and have become automotive designers, and molded their wedge-shaped desires into real-life vehicles that thousands and thousands of others have and can proceed to drool over for many years.

This group of vehicles is a celebration of the interval from across the late Nineteen Sixties to the late Nineteen Eighties, when harsh angles and wedge silhouettes have been the last word expression of automotive class and style. It’s not a complete record, however quite a quick overview of the spectrum throughout twenty years and several other nations to point out you why the best-looking automotive form is the wedge. 

This Ford and DeTomaso collaboration is known for mixing Italian design cues and American V8 energy, because the Pantera featured a small-block Ford powertrain beneath all that attractive sheet metallic (no V12s right here). However, most neglect that the Pantera has robust American affect. When Carroll Shelby left the unique Ford-DeTomaso mission that was brewing within the mid-Nineteen Sixties, Ford North America head Lee Iacocca took issues over and made a take care of DeTomaso to create an upscale mid-engined sports activities automotive focused primarily on the United States.

If you want extra convincing concerning the Pantera’s American affect, we’ll information your consideration to its design, which was drawn and crafted by Tom Tjaarda, an American man who labored for the Ghia design home on the time. And boy, did he nail it. For a automotive that debuted in 1970, this wedge fashion was pretty revolutionary for a manufacturing automotive. It blended the fastidiously positioned proportions of a mid-engined Italian sports activities automotive with muscular strains that teased the 300-plus-horsepower 5.8-liter Cleveland V8 behind the seats.

There have been many wedge-shaped ideas within the late Nineteen Sixties, however the Pantera was one of many few that had the prospect to be absolutely realized. Its wedge look and lack of curved strains debuted earlier than the likes of the Lancia Stratos, Ferrari Dino 308 GT4, or Lamborghini Countach, and because it grew to become extra refined over time, its efficiency would develop right into a critical world competitor. But regardless of being one of many quickest vehicles you might purchase within the Nineteen Seventies, its time on the U.S. market ended after 1974, and it went out of manufacturing within the early Nineties with simply round 7,000 complete models produced.

In Europe, Lancia is a model recognized for a lot of nice cars that exist outdoors the purview of rally racing. But within the U.S., the place Lancia bought its vehicles for less than a short while, we as an alternative affiliate the badge with its motorsport-inspired choices. And the large one is, after all, the Stratos. It is a holy grail on this dialogue, not simply due to how its manufacturing model appeared, however as a result of even the idea it’s primarily based on can also be one of the crucial well-known wedge-shaped creations of all time.

Designed by the legendary Marcello Gandini (on the Bertone design home on the time) and unveiled on the Turin Motor Show in 1970, the Stratos HF Zero idea was a correct piece of space-age design. With its roof standing simply 33 inches off the bottom and a physique like a horizontal cyberpunk teardrop, it was the right foundation for Lancia’s sporting director, Cesare Fiorio, to construct his preferrred ground-up rally racer. The pre-production model and eventual remaining manufacturing mannequin (1973) have been vastly totally different upon debut, however the inspiration in its total silhouette was unquestionably clear.

The now Ferrari Dino V6-powered Stratos was absolutely rally-fied, with dramatic overhangs that have been angled excessive to extend strategy and departure angles, a particularly tight fighter-jet-style cockpit and windscreen, a vented hood, brief wheelbase, full lack of bumpers, and its notably genius window operation. Despite the beautiful particulars, although, it is the general “wedginess” that reminds each fanatic why it is among the most iconic automotive designs, interval. The stout little Lancia would go on to win three consecutive World Rally Championships from 1974 by means of 1976, together with numerous different victories in separate collection, cementing its affect in each design and pure motorsport perform.

In 2026, we glance again on the wedge design period fondly. Everything appears cool by means of rose-tinted glasses, do not you recognize? But on the time, many of those iconic designs have been seen as too eccentric — too far outdoors the standard boundaries of automotive design, and the Dino 308 GT4 is an ideal instance. The first hitch within the GT4’s story was that it was designed by Bertone as an alternative of Pininfarina, which had been the Italian model’s go-to design home for years. The second hitch was that it was changing the Dino 246 in 1974, a beloved, historically stunning, curvaceous Pininfarina design. The 246 actually had its personal picture points, however the 308 was seen as a radical departure for the Dino lineup.

The primary thought for this automotive was pitched to Bertone by Fiat, and the design itself was dealt with by none apart from Marcello Gandini. This was the primary and solely manufacturing Ferrari Gandini would ever sketch up, and it left the studio together with his signature throughout it. The massive overhangs and up-swept edges, the low-slung cowl and hood, the squared-off rear finish, and the closely wedged entrance finish — it was a real product of its time.

Mounted within the center was a 3.0-liter V8, however between the motive force and that engine was a set of rear seats, making the 308 a 2+2 — one in all a number of causes (together with that it did not have a single Ferrari badge) people thought it appeared a bit odd again within the day. As a consequence, solely 2,826 models have been produced throughout its manufacturing cycle. Fifty years later, although, it is clear that the 308 GT4 began a design lineage that may be drawn by means of a number of different mid-engined wedge vehicles that may comply with.

Forget wedge era-defining vehicles; the Countach is among the most influential automotive designs of all time. It is the unique poster automotive — the last word expression of automotive desires for a era that grew up within the latter quarter of the twentieth century. But the Countach period of Lamborghini as an organization was fraught with points. Finances have been shallow, and because the legendary Miura was nearing the top of manufacturing, the model wanted a brand new flagship supercar to inject some enthusiasm and greenback indicators into the raging bull.

What was then set into movement was the LP112 mission — a mid-engined, Bertone-designed sports activities automotive that may substitute the Miura. Styling was performed by (shock, shock!) Marcello Gandini, who crafted a dramatic and bold design that may sit on the bespoke tubular house body designed by Paolo Stanzani. In 1971, the LP500 prototype, because it was now named, was introduced on the Geneva Motor Show to audible shock from the gang, who, for the primary time, have been experiencing the low, broad, and flat majesty of the Countach.

And that identify. Legend has it that when a design workers member noticed Gandini’s LP500 prototype for the primary time, they uttered a standard exclamation of amazement within the Piedmontese dialect — “contacc!” And the remainder is historical past. The Countach LP400 (one other identify change) debuted for manufacturing in 1974 with the craziest sci-fi proportions anybody had seen earlier than, accentuated by its iconic haunch-mounted scoops, scissor doorways, and longitudinally-fixed 3.9-liter V12. The Countach can be bought solely in Europe till 1982, when the corporate’s new homeowners lastly tapped into the North American market. It would acquire displacement and efficiency with variants such because the LP400 S, LP5000 S, and the LP5000 QV till its discontinuation in 1990.

Lotus’ enterprise mannequin was at all times one in all small margins, and even smaller vehicles. The founder, engineering genius Colin Chapman, was obsessive about lightness in his pursuit of making cars that may outline the track-ready efficiency section. But a specialization within the considerably area of interest market of tiny, motorsport-driven vehicles purchased solely by fanatics is a tricky enterprise. So, by the early Nineteen Seventies, Chapman was able to enter the road-going automotive market in an try and rival the likes of Lamborghini, Ferrari, and Porsche.

The crew began with an current chassis — that of the Lotus Europa sports activities automotive. They modified the chassis and contracted Giorgetto Giugiaro (of Ital Design) to create a gorgeous but useful physique to suit the mission that was now known as “M70.” The automotive debuted in 1975 because the Lotus Esprit, and its design is much too underrated. When a automotive just like the Countach debuts and units the business on hearth with wild styling, different wedge designs can appear too protected. But the Esprit was the gentleman’s unique sports activities automotive. The Series 1’s styling was toned down, with no frills or flashy appendages you did not want for a beautiful driving expertise.

The Esprit’s appears have been even suave and stately sufficient to be featured as James Bond’s automotive within the 1977 movie “The Spy Who Loved Me,” and it served partly as mechanical and stylistic inspiration for the well-known DeLorean DMC-12, a mission that Lotus had a heavy hand in. Its unique 2.0-liter four-cylinder wasn’t fairly peppy sufficient to really fight one of the best of Europe on the time, however because it developed over 4 generations and gained a V8 within the Nineties, the Esprit grew to become a massively essential a part of the model’s historical past, and with its 2004 discontinuation, it might grow to be Lotus’ longest-running manufacturing car.

In preparation for Group 4 racing within the mid-Nineteen Seventies, BMW needed to begin from scratch. The current 3.0 CSL racecar was wildly profitable for BMW’s racing division, however BMW needed to go after one of the best racing marques on the earth. So, the automaker turned to an earlier idea: the mid-engined BMW Turbo from 1972. This was to be the primary main mission for the M Division (based in 1972) and its latest racing hero, the M1. Lamborghini can be contracted to construct it, and Giorgetto Giugiaro would design it. Simple as pie, proper?

Obviously not. Lamborghini then took a nosedive towards chapter, and the foundations for the racing collection the M1 was supposed for have been utterly modified. The Lamborghini plan was now lifeless, they usually ended up having to execute an extended and convoluted course of that concerned a number of different third-party corporations and delivery the vehicles forwards and backwards between Italy and Germany to finish manufacturing. The design, nevertheless, was in all probability the one main success of this mission.

Giugiaro’s understanding of packaging and his capability to painting movement even when a automotive is stationary have been on full show with the M1. The press was extremely impressed by how usable the M1 was for a supercar on the time. Giugiaro was capable of mix nice visibility, ergonomics, and aerodynamics even with that tall M88 straight-six in the best way. And after all, the ostentatious wedge styling (and the truth that solely 460 models have been ever constructed) makes the M1 a legend of this period, regardless of its failure to fulfill its supposed motorsport targets.

Nissan’s Z automotive is a unbelievable instance of refined but constant enchancment — born in 1969, with continuous manufacturing (roughly), retaining the identical primary front-engine, rear-wheel-drive format. And whereas we love to speak concerning the 240Z, 350Z, and Z32 300ZX, there’s just one that firmly positioned the Z lineage into the wedge-shape period whereas additionally sustaining the automotive’s arc of technological enchancment: the Z31 300ZX.

It changed the 280ZX within the early Nineteen Eighties, and whereas it shared a lot of its underpinnings with the outgoing automotive, the brand new 300ZX was much more wedge-like and was designed by Kazumasu Takagi with an enormous emphasis on aerodynamics. Upon debut, Takagi and his crew have been capable of obtain a drag coefficient of 0.30, a quantity that was thought of extraordinarily slippery even for supercars of the period (the BMW M1’s drag coefficient was a worse 0.35). Thanks to the improved packaging of the VG30 V6 (Japan’s first mass-produced V6, by the best way), the Z31 had a visibly decrease cowl and hood in comparison with the 280ZX — a good way to lower elevate and enhance aerodynamics.

Admittedly, the Z31 is the oddball of this group up to now. It’s the one automotive that is not mid-engined, and it is not usually introduced up as a wedge-shaped icon. However, the 300ZX was one of many final wedge sports activities vehicles we bought. It went out of manufacturing in 1989, simply as the graceful, rounded, and bubbly Nineties aesthetic was coming into the fray. And going by gross sales figures, it is apparent that the individuals weren’t able to let go of this design language, as almost 330,000 have been bought from 1984 to 1989. To us, the Z31’s design deserves a shot at being in your wedge-era corridor of fame.

The Toyota MR2 is what we would check with because the everyman’s wedge-era icon. And whereas it was a quintessentially Nineteen Eighties design, its roots date again to the mid-Nineteen Seventies, when Toyota was trying to enter the entry-level mid-engined sports activities automotive market after witnessing the recognition of European vehicles just like the Fiat X1/9 and Porsche 914. The SA-X mission, because it was known as on the time, was envisioned by Akio Yoshida, Toyota’s lead check engineer, as a successor to the older Sports 800 fashions — mild, low cost, and enjoyable.

But the mission would not be completed till 1983, when an developed model of the SA-X, now known as SV-3, would reveal itself for the primary time on the Tokyo Motor Show. Long story brief, its form was adored by onlookers, and shortly after, it bought a brand new identify and the stamp of manufacturing approval from the bosses. The freshly dubbed MR2 was now on sale for the 1984 mannequin yr, and it might proceed in manufacturing till 1989, when it was changed by the SW20-generation MR2.

So why is it a wedge icon? Well, equally to the Z31 300ZX, the first-gen MR2 was one of many final of a dying breed. It served as an inexpensive and accessible method for individuals who loved eye-catching design to truly personal one thing price speaking about. It appeared much more unique than the big variety of elements it shared with the Corolla would recommend. Couple that with a mid-engined sports activities automotive driving expertise, and it turns into apparent why the MR2 is the ’80s automotive you want. In the U.S. and Canada alone, the first-gen MR2 bought almost 100,000 models.