We met him at the 1000 Miglia, he amazed us with his presence at the Zagato event and since then, it has to be said, he has come a long way! Klaus Busse returns to the Museum to tell us about Alfa Romeo design.

Crossing Italy with him was much more than a place to place trip. It was a journey into design. As Klaus himself stated in an interview, Alfa Romeo "with its sportiness expressed by pure formal beauty, without the need for superfluous decorations" has represented and, today we can say it, still represents a collective dream.

We are truly honoured to have him as our guest at the event on 6 October because we feel we share a lot with him: from his passion for Alfa Romeo to the worldwide diffusion of Made in Italy. From our meeting at the 1000 Miglia di strada he has done a lot with his #RoadToKlaus50th and the Artic 5000 and it will be a pleasure to listen to his travel stories.

WE PRESENT KLAUS BUSSE

Klaus Busse, Head of Design for Fiat, Abarth, Lancia, Alfa Romeo, Maserati at FCA Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, Vice President of Design for FCA Europe since October 2015. Prior to this role, he spent 10 years in the United States, where he was responsible for the interior design of FCA North America. During this time, he and his team transformed the interiors of Chrysler, Jeep, Dodge and Ram into an award-winning line. Klaus began his career with 10 years at Mercedes-Benz design in Germany. In November 2013 he received the All-Star Automotive News design award and in January 2015 the Industry Innovator of the Year award. In November 2018 Motor Trend Magazine added him to the Power List 2019. Alsoin 2019 it won the Car Award Design 2019 with the Alfa Romeo Tonaleconcept car.

The prestigious international award is dedicated to car design and was awarded, in the Concept car category, to Alfa Romeo's first compact plug-in hybrid suv.
The award ceremony was held in Turin on the occasion of the inauguration of the Salone Parco Valentino.
"We are honoured to receive this coveted prize awarded to Tonale's design which, like every Alfa Romeo, comes from the perfect balance between heritage, speed and beauty. In fact, it embodies the canons that characterise the Italian style and the unique language of Alfa Romeo: a sense of proportion, simplicity and care for the quality of the surfaces, for a design that is innovative but faithful to a universally appreciated tradition", commented Klaus Busse.

Have you already found out which Alfa Romeo models inspired Tonale?

The front end explicitly takes up models such as SZ and Brera, with the 3 headlights "dug in" in the bodywork. - We read on the page dedicated by Wikipedia, which then adds - Even for this concept is maintained an Alfa Romeo trademark such as the shield, however, no longer integrated into the bumper but elevated to a separate element, as if it were part of the mechanics instead of the bodywork; a concept taken to the extreme by the sharknose taken from the Giulietta SS.

The rear end of the lighting system incorporates the 3-element design of the front headlamps, this time integrated into a continuous beam inspired by past models and concepts such as GTV, Proteo and 164.

The aesthetic profile of the car is, as per the tradition of the Milanese manufacturer, very clean and streamlined: in particular, the bodywork surfaces appear as fluid as on the 8C Competizione of the 2000s.