From the hand of a woman - Ghia Brezza
07/11/2018
Women have driven Formula 1 cars, won World Rally Championships and challenged men in almost every discipline. But if you look through the list of designers who have created cars, you will hardly ever come across the name of a woman. Miura, Ghibli, GTO, DS or Beetle - they were all designed by men. But there is one exception called Ghia Brezza.
Unveiled at the 1982 Turin Motor Show, it competed with the anticipated Pontiac Fiero. And it was designed entirely by a woman, namely Marilena Corvasce, who worked for Ghia.
Automobil Revue noted on first contact in the spring of 1982:
"Like the Topaz Mustang, it is based on the Escort, but this time a heavily modified underbody of the American two-seater coupé Ford EXP, an Escort variant, was used as the basis."
The 1.6-liter engine was installed behind the two seats in front of the rear wheels. With a special wheel arch design for both the front wheels and the rear wheels, which are set far back, the aim was to achieve optimum airflow under the car. This also promotes the extraction of cooling air, which enters through slots under the nose of the vehicle.
The body line - retractable headlights, steeply raked windshield, evenly curved roof and careful rounding - was also designed for optimum aerodynamics. The door windows are operated electrically and are fitted into guides that Ghia had patented: when fully closed, they are flush with the door frame!
As Filippo Sapino, Head of Ghia Operations, explained, the Brezza's Cd value should be 0.30 thanks to all these measures. The ready-to-drive prototype has an automatic transmission because this was better suited to the engine's center position than the 5-speed gearbox, which is more suitable for economical driving. You will understand this if you know how quickly study models of this type have to be made ready to drive!"
The designer did not mention the Automobil Revue either, only its boss Sapino. But that was the norm at the time and other coachbuilding companies hardly ever put their creative minds in the spotlight.
Marilena Corvasce herself wrote: "To tell you the truth I never realized I was making history as the first female designer of an automobile, because this was my job, my duty." (To tell you the truth, I never realized I was making history as the first female designer of an automobile; after all, this was my job, my duty). In fact, she had already started at Ghia in 1968, employed at the time by a certain Giorgetto Giugiaro.
And the Ghia Brezza? It had to compete with a large number of other studies at the Turin Motor Show. The Automobil Revue commented: "Compared to other experimental cars, the interior of this rounded, elegant coupé appears sober and functional. Instead of electronic "magic", conventional instruments can be found here."
Perhaps the Brezza was altogether too sober and too futuristic at the same time; in any case, Ford refrained from building the car to counter the Pontiac Fiero.
