DESIGN AND GENIUS 50 YEARS ON

Reading Octane magazine's March 2016 special on the 50th Anniversary of the release of the Lamborghini Miura, which had an extreme V12 sitting sideways between the back of the chairs and the axle, I was intrigued by this account of the car's young designer, Marcello Gandini. This car's sensual vibrancy and tension reminded me of wine design.

Having been given the job and the opportunity, not to mention a 20-day deadline, Gandini's effort reminds me of the attitudes shown to œnology, the science of wine, by great South Australians like Dr Ray Beckwith, Ian Hickinbotham and Max Schubert. These remarkable blokes were working at their creative peak when the Miura hit. It was immediately dubbed the world's first supercar. Just as it could be argued that wines made by those three were already the world's first superwines. 

And Max, at least was a petrolhead. Until a new owner - AdSteam - of Penfolds restricted him to a four-cylinder Volvo two-door brick, Max's work car was a Rambler Matador. He said its was good for 140mph on his regular drives from Adelaide to the Upper Hunter and back: 

Are there any real Beckwiths, Schuberts, Hickinbothams or vinous Gandinis out there now? 

How will we know?

... just skiting, and never suggesting I'm in the same league as any of these great people: this was my cartoon Beetle supercar in a 1973 notepad ... a lot more Rubens than Bertone ... I'm sure the VW people, who could not tell a lie, stole it when they were designing the Bugatti Veyron 30 years later ... as a wine, I imagine my grunty Bug woulda been more along the lines of your angry schnapps ... horizontally opposed, of course ... better balance ... longer lasting ... sounds like bad dogs barking in the back of the ute ... fix it with a spanner ... awkward rear quarter window line but who friggin cares?  Where you'd feel like a taper you gotta make haunches to fit the donk ... Even the Bug Bug never got that lump right.

... probly suckin on DRINKSTER for bleeds, they just went the other way ... never noticing: there's no fucking chrome on my VeeDub ... chrome's my favourite colour but not here ffs ... wanna design a wine?