A dashboard that rotates around its own gauges isn’t clever—it’s a manifesto.
The Maserati Boomerang is a 1972 concept car designed by Giorgetto Giugiaro and produced by Italdesign. It debuted at the 1971 Turin Motor Show as a non-functional Epowood model, then reappeared at the 1972 Geneva Auto Show on a Maserati Bora chassis. It uses a 4.7L V8 engine producing 310 hp and 460 N⋅m, driving the rear wheels through a 5-speed manual. Its interior features a rotating steering wheel around stationary gauges. Though registered as a road car, it was intended solely as a one-off show car.
Giugiaro made it for Italdesign—not Maserati—and showed it twice: first as wood, then as rolling metal.
1:54
Powertrain as prop
Its 4.7L V8 and 5-speed manual are real, but they serve spectacle—not speed or refinement.
3:30
Dashboard as architecture
The rotating wheel and fixed gauges make the driver part of the instrument panel—not the other way around.
5:23
Show car with paperwork
It was registered for road use, but built only to be seen—not driven, maintained, or repeated.
Worth your time?
Yes. Drive the whole thing.
4.5/ 5
What works
It makes the dashboard a sculptural, integrated cockpit.
It pushes wedge-shaped geometry into mainstream automotive consciousness.
What does not
It does not prioritise driver ergonomics or mechanical accessibility.
It was never built to be serviced or driven regularly.
Drive it if
It is for people who study how radical forms test production feasibility.
It is not for buyers, drivers, or collectors seeking usability.
Skip it if
buyers
drivers
collectors seeking usability
The written brief1 min read
What the car is and where it came from
A one-off concept car designed by Giorgetto Giugiaro and produced by Italdesign, first shown in 1971 as a non-functional Epowood model at Turin, then re-engineered on a Maserati Bora chassis for Geneva 1972.
How it works, in terms someone would actually use
It uses a 4.7L V8 engine, sends power to the rear wheels via a 5-speed manual, and rotates the steering wheel around fixed gauges.
What it gets right
It makes the dashboard a sculptural, integrated cockpit—gauges stay still while the wheel turns, forcing attention onto driver interface as form.
What it does not
It does not prioritise driver ergonomics or mechanical accessibility. It was never built to be serviced or driven regularly.
What it changed
It pushed wedge-shaped geometry and dashboard-as-architecture into mainstream automotive consciousness.
Who it is for, and who it is not
It is for people who study how radical forms test production feasibility—not for buyers, drivers, or collectors seeking usability.
Is it worth your time
Yes—if you care how design ideas move from sketch to chassis, not whether a car can be driven daily.
