The new jewel on four wheels by Frangivento.
Three years have passed since the presentation in the Valentino Park of the Asfanè Diecidieci FV Windbreak and today the plug-in hybrid back in the news with this example of supercar powered by a ten-cylinder 5.4-litre engine capable of delivering 860 horsepower and on the front axle two electric motors capable of adding another 150 horsepower, for a total of 1,010 horsepower.
It was they, the tireless pioneers and dreamers, who made what was initially an exercise in style a reality. Paolo Mancini and Giorgio Pirolo, with the entry in 2019 of Carlo Pirolo.
An 'extreme' car, from design eye-catching, with a trimaran nose and an air intake in the centre of the roof and gull-wing doors. A masterpiece of high craftsmanship and technology, with an eight-speed automatic gearbox, an aluminium chassis and carbon inserts, and an homage to the starters of the 24 Hours of Le Mans with the gun-shaped interior handles.
"This model is the achievement of the dream - says Giorgio Pirolo - is proof that we have made it, unlike what some companies told us three years ago, to whom we had asked for help with only a drawing and a business idea in our hands'.
"Asfanè Diecidieci is the all-wheel-drive car - continues Paolo Mancini - A plug-in hybrid with 1010 horsepower developed by a 5.4 L V10 combustion engine, supercharged by a volumetric compressor (hence the air conveyor on the roof) combined with two electric motors on the front axle.Aesthetically, compared to the 2016 concept, a lot of work has been done to find a brand identity, especially in the new 'trimaran nose' with a strong reference in the central part to Formula E.
The name Asfanè derives from a Piedmontese word, the place where the hypercar was born, 'as fa nen', meaning 'it is not made', indicating the extraordinary performance of this car that, before today, could only be imagined. Design Lifestyle met with project partners to hear about the brand Windbreak.
How did the brand Frangivento come about and what does it say?
FV Frangivento was born on 6 April 2016 from the union of the automotive skills of Turin entrepreneur Paolo Mancini and Belluno designer Giorgio Pirolo to create a high-performance, eco-sustainable car. The ambitious aim is to design and build the Italian cars of the future at a time of stylistic stagnation and when all the great Italian companies are disappearing or, absorbed by foreign groups, losing their identity. The aim, moreover, is to revive a system of Italian craftsmanship of excellence that has been at a standstill for too long in terms of innovation, which does not mean marketing. FV Frangivento as of today is a Hypercar brand of the Italian company Pirman created by us, with the addition of a new partner, Carlo Pirolo.
Innovation and technology on the one hand and attention to detail and craftsmanship on the other: is this the synthesis of Frangivento?
Yes, our interpretation of the future of the Italian car that draws ideologically and culturally on the tradition and immense heritage left to us by great Italian entrepreneurs and coachbuilders like Nuccio Bertone, the resourcefulness of great manufacturers like Enzo Ferrari and Ferruccio Lamborghini, the genius of designers like Marcello Gandini and Giorgetto Giugiaro. A heritage to be safeguarded.
What is the iconic style of the brand and how has it evolved over the years?
The Windbreak in its very form has stylistic features, such as the hand-wrought aluminium arch, that in the eyes of the public make it recognisable as a product even before it is a brand. The car is inspired by a design by Giorgio Pirolo from 1999 that has not aged over time. It is precisely this that prompted us to create it by combining it with new technologies and hybrid and electric propulsion..
What's in the near future of Frangivento?
We are making the first series model, Asfanè Numero Uno, at the request of a customer. Delivery is scheduled for next May. We are also developing a fully electric version of the Charlotte model and are designing a spider version of Asfanè. With the brand Pirman (Pirolo Mancini) we also have an electric hatchback for all Italians in the pipeline.
If you had to describe the brand in just three adjectives?
Ambitious, resilient, exclusive.
How did your passion for cars and sports cars in particular come about?
Giorgio Pirolo: The passion was born as a child, when in the 1980s, I started replicating on paper the rally cars with which my cousin Gigi Pirollo, paired with Alex
Fiorio, he won races in the golden years of the Lancia Martini. I invented my own brand of cars, making series with the names of models that every couple of months I restyled for my
imaginary market. A world of my own where I filled my school books with drawings, in the little squares of my maths notebooks I framed cars in planes of shape, while on the
rows I was spinning the wheels of my imagination.
Paolo Mancini: My passion was born thanks to the family business, which for more than 50 years has been dedicated to the design and construction of handmade cars with our
'beater' and ancient assembly techniques. Over the years we have worked for the biggest brands. And then I have to thank my father Salvatore, who spent a lifetime 'making' cars and passed on to me the passion for this fantastic and challenging world.
