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First pics: Ford Iosis
This is the Ford Iosis. Great isn't it? A sort of Mondeo-sized four-door coupe. Think Mercedes CLS, but scaled down a bit.

Trouble is, you can't buy it. Not in this form anyway. But this car matters because it shows the kind of talents who are operating at Ford design these days, and the kind of freedom they are being given.

It shows some ideas that will take shape (literally) in the 2006 Mondeo, and more so in Fiestas and Focuses beyond.

The Iosis, though, is just a show car - a bit of stand-candy at the Frankfurt motor show from mid-September.

Press the unlock button and it's obvious this is just one-off. Presto, the doors themselves pivot upwards on an insanely expensive and complicated system of powered arms, like something arachnid. It's beautiful and scary at the same time.

That door opening is important because it properly reveals the extraordinary interior. Again, strictly a one-off. Can you imagine affording a real car where each facia vent was composed of 11 separate hand-made metal parts? But it's hinting that Ford cabins will become more driver-focused in future.

In fact that's really the whole point here. Fords are already exciting to drive. Better than many of the admired 'premium' brands. Even as it hobbles into its last year of life, the Mondeo is more fun than a brand-new equivalent Audi A4. So from now on Ford wants to do visual excitement like it does down-the-road excitement.

So what relationship does the Iosis have with the next Mondeo? You don't have to be a rocket scientist to deduce that the real Mondeo will have normal doors, smaller wheels and a black plastic dashboard.

It will have to have bigger windows at the back. The boot will have a lid that lets flat-pack wardrobes in. The roof will be higher.

So, says Martin Smith, Ford's European design chief, Iosis 'has elements of future Ford cars. But it's such a free interpretation of those elements that it couldn't possibly be the next Mondeo.

They are related though. If the Mondeo will be the older brother in the Boss suit, this is the younger brother, a super-fit boxer down the East End in a tracksuit.'

Iosis does tell us the design elements Ford will use. They're just exaggerated for effect here, so that they can get noticed over the babel of visual hubbub that is an international motor show.

Iosis elements that will be carried forward in mildly toned-down form include:


Trapezoid lower grille
Headlamp shape
Bonnet flaring back from the upper grille
Dishing at the base of the windscreen
Big wheel-arches and the muscular contours above them
Strong shoulders, and cut-in flanks below
High prominent tail lamps echoing the headlamp shape
Five-sided rear window.

You can see more pictures of the Iosis in the October issue of Top Gear magazine - on sale September 1.

And you can also read about the amazing process of hand-building it from scratch. Show cars are commonly valued at £1 million plus. Well, I went to Turin to watch a team of magically gifted craftsmen bash, weld, grind and finesse it out of slugs of raw material. And I came away thinking that figure is a bargain.

Beh, caruccia. Non c'azzecca 'na mazza con la Ford in tutti i sensi, però non è male. Comunque al centro stile han detto che questa Iosis è una interpretazione così libera degli stilemi Ford che non può essere un modello preciso, ma alcune sue trovate verranno riversate qua e là sui prossimi modelli...

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bella, mi piace!

però i passaruota anteriori sono mazda cosi come il tunnel posteriore. Mentre ho il sospetto che quelle porte simil CLS ce le ritroveremo sulla nuova S-type

Bella, bellissima, anzi, stupenda! il frontale fa un pò VW ed il culo fa un pò Aston, però è stupenda!

Peccato, tanto non la faranno mai così. 

Stupenda ! 

Quoto.....bellissima

si xchè la faranno così...cooooome no?!?! 

Come dice Ares, non c'azzecca nulla con lo "stile" ford ma è un gran bel vedere....la facessero al posto di far girare solo foto

Secondo me è un prototipo su base RX-8. Del resto il passaruota anteriore è lo stesso, il tunnel centrale all'interno dell'abitacolo pure e la mancanza di montanti centrali è un altro indizio. Sarebbe carino conoscerne le dimensioni.

Ma che carina....



The replacement for the top-selling Ford Mondeo has spread its wings, and Auto Express has the first official pictures. Flying in the face of the current global trend towards SUVs and MPVs, the blue oval has laid its cards on the table and unveiled a sensational new take on the once conservative family car market.

But not only are we revealing exclusive images of the firm's new model for the first time. We are also giving the world its first taste of the engineering project currently underway to ensure the model is capable of rejuvenating the flagging family sector.

The evolution from the current Mondeo to its successor looks set to be far more dramatic than ever imagined. As well as sporting gullwing-style doors, the concept draws inspiration from both Jaguar and Lexus.

Ford of Europe's executive design director Martin Smith told us: "The whole of the blue oval's future styling DNA is encapsulated into this vehicle. While the current line-up looks competent and contemporary, we've now been asked for drop-dead gorgeous cars."

The new model, christened Iosis by Ford, gives a clear indication of what we can expect from the next-generation Mondeo. In fact, design sketches of the show car revealed to journalists were headed "CD 345". This code refers to Ford's C/D segment platform that will underpin the next Mondeo, and is a number which is used internally to refer to the all-new machines. While bosses are keen to stress 

that the concept is more than simply a Mondeo preview, Smith added: "Every element of the design you see in the Iosis will be obvious on the next-generation car."

And the biggest surprise comes at the front. Showcasing an all-new shape for Ford, the raised bonnet is the firm's answer to the latest pedestrian safety legislation. As a result, the Iosis is 60mm higher than the current Mondeo. Ford considered a bonnet that shoots up like a cushion in an accident, but the technology is too expensive.

Inside, the blue oval's new family car is expected to offer much more interesting styling, with eye-catching colours and greater attention to detail. Bosses have brought in interior experts from VW to boost quality.

Described as "kinetic design", the show car's cabin is just as dramatic as the exterior. With room for four, there's bright orange trim, wafer-thin seats and beautifully designed butterfly doors.

However, it's the dash that gives the best indication of what the new Mondeo has in store. With its central control system - likely to work in a similar way to Audi's MMI and BMW's iDrive - it's clear that technology is at the heart of the firm's future plans.

The Iosis will be unveiled at next week's Frankfurt Motor Show, alongside the Galaxy with which the new Mondeo shares a platform. The people carrier then goes on sale next to the smaller SAV MPV early next year, while the Mondeo arrives in dealers in 2007.

Il taglio del posteriore mi ricorda tantissimo la Cayman!

Una bella bestia!! Un po' troppo "di maniera" ma molto interessante. Trovo gli interni invece discutibili e incongruenti con resto. Ogni tanto gli studi di design provano a proporre questi interni futuristici, fatti di sedili a forma di guscio, con rivestimenti ipertecnologici, ma poi la gente preferisce belle poltrone più simili ad una Frau Archivio Storico.

Solo perchè sono dei finocchietti rammolliti