photographer, retoucher and visual historian, docubyte — the pseudonym of james ball — celebrates the futuristic italian wedge concept car in a masterfully colorful, digital restoration series titled ‘wedged wonders’. the photo series brings together a multitude of era-defining concept cars made between 1968-79 by the famous carrozzeria — the italian, avant-garde vehicle styling houses. throughout the late 1960s, marques such as bertone, pinfarina and italdesign, competed for the most artistic automobiles, with show cars displaying new experiments in design thinking and manufacturing. often never mass produced, these ‘wedged wonders’ remained as one-offs and ultimately defined by their rarity.

wedged wonders celebrates italy's era-defining concept cars from the late 1960s
alfa romeo carabo / marcello gandini / bertone / 1968

 

 

photographed on location at ​museo dell’automobile​ in turin, m​useo storico alfa romeo​ in milan, and p​arco e museo del volo​ in marese, each ‘wedged wonder’ has been digitally restored by docubyte to its original form. with many ​of the automobile houses facing financial difficulty, a number of the vehicles were privately sold and have been preserved, but others had not been so lucky. from the legendary lancia stratos zero from 1970, to the stylishly slanted and groundbreaking alfa romeo carabo from 1968, the series captures the wedge era, where trapezoids and triangles were king, and shapes evolved with the decades.

docubyte
alfa romeo carabo / marcello gandini / bertone / 1968

docubyte
ferrari 512s modulo / paolo martin / pininfarina / 1970
(read more on this design, here)

docubyte
ferrari 512s modulo / paolo martin / pininfarina / 1970
(read more on this design, here)

docubyte
lancia stratos zero / marcello gandini / bertone / 1970

docubyte
lancia stratos zero / marcello gandini / bertone / 1970

wedged wonders celebrates italy's era-defining concept cars from the late 1960s
ferrari rainbow / marcello gandini / bertone / 1976

docubyte
ferrari rainbow / marcello gandini / bertone / 1976

wedged wonders celebrates italy's era-defining concept cars from the late 1960s
alfa romeo 33/2 coupe speciale / leonardo fioravanti / pininfarina / 1969

wedged wonders celebrates italy's era-defining concept cars from the late 1960s
alfa romeo 33/2 coupe speciale / leonardo fioravanti / pininfarina / 1969

docubyte
alfa romeo navajo / marcello gandini / bertone / 1976

wedged wonders celebrates italy's era-defining concept cars from the late 1960s
alfa romeo navajo / marcello gandini / bertone / 1976

wedged wonders celebrates italy's era-defining concept cars from the late 1960s
autobianchi runabout / marcello gandini / bertone / 1969

wedged wonders celebrates italy's era-defining concept cars from the late 1960s
autobianchi runabout / marcello gandini / bertone / 1969

wedged wonders celebrates italy's era-defining concept cars from the late 1960s
alfa romeo cuneo / paolo martin / pininfarina / 1971

wedged wonders celebrates italy's era-defining concept cars from the late 1960s
alfa romeo cuneo / paolo martin / pininfarina / 1971

 

 

project info: 

 

photographer: docubyte
instagram: @docubyte
locations: museo dell’automobile, turin; museo storico alfa romeo, milan; parco e museo del volo, marese
prints available at: docubyte.co.uk