1 2005 Bertone Cadillac Villa

Based on the Cadillac SRX SUV, Bertone’s Villa reinterpreted the MPV of the future, focusing its attention on providing exceptional access. The ‘crystal bubble’ gullwing doors were made from special triple-glazed panels to give a spectacular panoramic view, with painted strips at handle height to hide the internal structure.

The overall metal-to-glass relationship was the reverse of that in most MPVS, which have relatively narrow side windows. Only the large metal door hinges, which appeared as oversized spider-like legs, detracted from the visual purity of Giuliano Maria Biasio’s spectacular design.

Inside, the cabin was spacious, with a flat floor and four individual ‘floating’ seats. The traditional concept of the instrument panel was abandoned in favour of a wall trimmed in wood and modelled into a wave, connecting the floor to the base of the windscreen. The centre console, which ran from front to rear, featured a 58cm video screen developed by Bose, anticipating the solution later adopted for the production Tesla S by six years.

Anorak fact A projector mounted on the ceiling generated the images on the fake ‘screen’