What Car Hits You Like a Punch to the Gut?

You know that feeling? The one you get seeing that certain car parked along the street or driving by in a blur? The feeling so jarring, like you just got punched in the gut by something so elegant, striking, or foreign? At that moment you just can’t help but stop, collect yourself, and stare.

This happened to me recently while shooting the beautiful Lancia Flaminia Super Sport.  When I first laid eyes on it sitting in the owner’s garage, I got that feeling and even let out an audible “oomph” as I absorbed its beauty. I am a fan of Zagato’s styling and embrace their subtle and simple design philosophy embodied by the Flaminia. I found it hard to take my eyes off it as we filmed throughout the day.

It also happened on another shoot when a garage door opened and I found myself face to face, staring at a blue Lancia Stratos. The Stratos’ design is so wild and foreign that it looks completely inappropriate in a garage, more like you wandered into NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab and are looking at the next Martian rover. Judging by bystanders’ reaction upon witnessing the Stratos casually rolling around New Jersey’s streets, I know I wasn’t the only who felt like this car was about to blast off. At moments like these the only thing you can do is stop, collect yourself, and stare.

What car hits you like a punch to the gut?