I.DE.A Institute

I.DE.A Institute S.p.A.
Company type	S.p.A.
Industry	Automotive
Founded	Turin, Italy (1978)
Defunct	2019
Fate	Liquidated
Headquarters	Turin, Italy
Key people	Franco Mantegazza (Founder); Renzo Piano
Services	industrial engineering and design, automobile design and prototyping
Number of employees	> 350
Parent	Quantum Kapital AG group
Website	www.ideainstitute.it

I.DE.A Institute (acronym, Institute of Development in Automotive Engineering) was an automobile design and engineering company in Turin, Italy, founded in 1978 by Franco Mantegazza and architect Renzo Piano, ^[2] with engineer Peter Rice as Vice President.^[3]

The Rieter Holding Ltd took full control of the company in 2002.^[4] The company grew with offices in China and Brazil by the time Rieter sold the company in 2010 to the Swiss investment group Quantum Kapital AG.^[5] The company was liquidated in 2019.^[1]

Notable work

1981 Fiat VSS, the first commission from Fiat^[6]
1988 Fiat Tipo
1988 Ferrari PPG Indy Pace Car^[7]
1989 Lancia Dedra
1990 Fiat Tempra
1992 Alfa Romeo 155
1992 IDEA Grigua and Grigua Off-Road concepts^[8]
1993 Lancia Delta
1993 Nissan Terrano II/Ford Maverick
1994 Lancia Kappa
1994 Fiat Lampo concept
1994 IDEA Gritta concept
1995 Daihatsu Move
1996 Fiat Vuscià concept
1996 Fiat Palio
1997 Dacia D33
1997 Daewoo Nubira
1998 Tata Indica
2000 Kia Rio
2002 Tata Indigo
2003 Changan Jiexun concept
2004 Fiat Trepiùno (construction only).^[9]
2008 Tata Nano
2008 IDEA ERA concept
2010 IDEA Sofia concept
2012 Ssang Yong XIV-1^[10] and XIV-2^[11] in 2012. Concepts for SsangYong Tivoli.

Notable designers

Renzo Piano
Carlo Gaino 1987
Walter de Silva 1977–1986
Ercole Spada 1983–1992
Justyn Norek^[12]
Umberto Palermo

Gallery

Details of the Alfa Romeo 155
Rear view of the Fiat Tipo
Tata Nano, here Europa at Geneva 2009
Ssang Yong XIV-1, Geneva 2012
LvChi Venere, Geneva 2018

Notes

^ a b 19/2019 I.DE.A. Institute of Development in Automotive Engineering srl in liquidazione Liquidation 2019
^ "Concept Car of the Week: Fiat VSS I.DE.A (1981)". Car Design News. 9 June 2015. Retrieved 28 November 2023.
^ "VSS Experimental Car by Subsystems". Fondazione Renzo Piano. Retrieved 28 November 2023.
^ "I.D.E.A." globalautoindex.com. Archived from the original on 2007-10-17. Retrieved 2007-12-27.
^ "I.DE.A. Institute to be acquired by Quantum Kapital - Car Body Design". www.carbodydesign.com. Retrieved 2015-08-12.
^ "1981 FIAT VSS". archivioprototipi.it. Retrieved 29 January 2024.
^ "Ferrari Mondial t Speciale Pace Car". christies.com. Retrieved 17 January 2020.
^ "Carlos Sanchez". automotivedesignconference.com. Retrieved 6 October 2021.
^ "Fiat reveals new 500". Autocar Magazine.
^ Ssang Yong XIV-1 from carrozzeri-italiani.com.
^ Ssang Yong XIV-2 from carrozzieri-italiani.com, last accessed on 24 July 2022.
^ "JUSTYN NOREK". archivioprototipi.it. Retrieved 29 January 2024.