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German coachbuilder Wilhelm Karmann is of course most widely known for having created the Karmann Ghia and various other cult classics for Volkswagen.

One of his lesser known projects was the Cheetah — a small sports concept for VW via Giugiaro’s firm Italdesign.

The Cheetah is a real child of its times; having debuted at the 1971 Geneva Salon.

The X1/9–ish front end and flatbed rear was fitted over a modified Beetle floorpan bore obvious resemblance to various other Guigiaro projects — but less obviously the roof of the Cheetah was straight out of Mr Karmann’s stable of influences.

This pretty unique roof consisted of a a soft top with a translucent sunroof panel over the cockpit, which could be stored under the car’s twin seats.

Nice bit of period futurism that probably could have foreshadowed the success of Bertone’s X1/9.

File under missed opportunity, we think.

It’s been a while since we posted pics of an interesting concept from the past. But Alfa’s Scighera is a fine example of a piece of imagineering from the 1990a that is up there with some of the most outragous concepts from the mid seventies.

It might be no coincidence that this beauty springs from the mind of Fabrizio Giugiaro (yes, the son of the great Giorgetto himself).

It’s difficult to see what this design study from Italdesign was aiming at, but you can see the influence the design has hoovered up. There are elements from Bertone designed classics like the Alfa Carabo, the Lamborghini Miura and even the Stratos zero.

There are pure bred Italdesign flourishes too, though, like the low slung, vented front that recalls early concepts that lead to the BMW M1. And last, and you can’t forget of course, Mr G senior’s ugly Aztec.

The prototype had a mid-engined, twin-turbo 3 litre V6 which apparently produced 400bhp and its 4WD handling must be a doozy.

Apparently the car can be seen in the permanent collection on display in the Italdesign atelier.

Now it’s no secret that we here at influx are big fans of the Maestro, Georgetto Giugiaro (below). His designs have graced some of the most incredible concepts and production cars in automotive history – from the audacious and carnally appealing Lamborghini Muira to the brilliantly workaday Fiat Panda. But it’s the sheer inventiveness and the willingness to turn dreams into reality that characterises brilliant but pugish concepts like the Aztec that really makes Giugiaro the car designer of the century.

Built under the label of his own design company in toward the end of the eighties, the Aztec featured separate compartments for driver and passenger. It was developed into a limited run of around two dozen production cars powered with Lancia transmission and a powerful Audi engine (the same 250 BHP lump that was found in the first generation Quattro).

The body featured a twin flip up cockpit style roof canopies as well as typically retro-futuristic interior redolent of the controls of a shuttle from Space 1999. But, the demi wedge shape with a the hunkered down rear three-quarter wasn’t everybody’s cup of tea. The latest news is that despite their rarity, they have been known to fetch less than 200K Euros at auction ( when considering they were priced at the rough equivalent of 300K Euros in 1992, seems a sort of bargain (albeit for those with very deep pockets).

While the Miura has to be Giugiaro’s supreme piece of pure penmanship. But cars like the Aztec, with their ugly-beautiful, devil-may-care audacity, have a place in our hearts.

Click here to view the embedded video.