Castagna Aznom: Italian Design, American Muscle

By Feann Torr - 3/July/2007

Milan, Italy — American cars have traditionally copped a fair bit of flack for their uninspired designs, and cars like the 1998 Ford Taurus spring to mind as particularly foul looking vehicles. The Chevrolet Corvette, on the other hand, is an aggressive, athletic, compact design that works on a number of levels to develop its own appeal. 

But it seems the Italians think they can improve the design.

Milanese coach builders (we call them tuners) Castagna has unleashed the Aznom, which is based on the Z06 (C6) Corvette, but as the photos show it's a completely different looking beast to the American car. And it's disturbingly quick too. 

We're talking Lamborghini Murciélago LP640 levels of poke.

It's claimed 0-100km/h acceleration time is 3.4 seconds, and with a top speed of 225km/h, or 208mph, it's certainly not lacking performance.

With it's exotic looks and punch-in-the-face performance, it's hard not to dream about what it'd be like to drive one of these machines, and with serious aero body work, including underbody work, a large rear diffuser and front wing, there's every chance the car would corner with alacrity too.

Castagna said it wanted to create a modern interpretation of the original Chevy Corvette, a design from the early 1950s, but I reckon the emphasis was on 'modern interpretation' rather than '1953 Chevrolet Corvette'.

The design is a one-off build much like the stunning Ferrari P4/5, and was first shown at the 2007 Top Marques Show in Monaco, but it wasn't quite a complete package with some aspects missing from the design. Such as the wheels...

It is based on a hydroformed steel frame with magnesium and aluminium structural components, on which the carbon fibre body is attached. With a mixture of exotic materials, the overall weight of the car isn't too bad, rated at 1400kg.

But if you got to drive the one and only Aznom, you'd be pretty stoked for a number of reasons. Beyond the striking design, which features a super-low carbon fibre cockpit and slim-line headlight clusters, the Castagna Aznom is powered by a very un-Italian 428 cubic inch V8 powerplant. 

Most Italian V8s are fairly compact with sky-high redlines and huge induction systems, but this 7.0-litre LS7 V8 is made by Chevrolet and barely needs to rev before it starts breaking traction. The huge V8 engine drives the rear wheels via a 6-speed manual gearbox, outputting avicious 559kW @ 6200rpm. Castagna has retained the traction control system too.

In the old money that's a clean 750 brake horsepower, which is about enough juice to power a small city for a few days. Peak torque is even more intense: 980Nm @ 3800rpm. Though none of the documentation describes fettling or modification, for the engine to develop so much torque it would need to be supercharged or turbocharged.

Claimed top speed is 335km/h (208mph), the countermeasure for which are 356mm vented and cross drilled front disc brakes with 6-piston calipers at the front, with similar discs measuring 340mm and with 4-piston calipers at the rear.

Rolling stock involves 20-inch rims at each corners shod with 285/30 and 335/30 aspect ratio tyres at the front and rear respectively.

One of the first total conversions for the C6 Corvette that we came across was the incredible Spadaconcept Codatronca TS. That vehicle is perhaps even more edgy than the Aznom you see here, and is further evidence of bespoke Italian coach builders showing a preference for the Corvette underpinnings as a base for their own work. 

The Castagna company is more than 150 years old, founded in 1849 by one Carlo Castagna. Best known for its custom-built cars in the 1920s and '30s, Castagna took home a number of prizes from the the famous Concours D'Elegance back in the day, which were - and still are - some of the most prestigious car conventions in the world.

In 2004 Castagna came out of the cold with a take on the Mini Wagon, and with the advent of the Aznom the company steps up to the exotic car market

Related articles:
- Castagna Website
- Spadaconcept Codatronca TS (2007)
- Chevrolet Corvette (2007)
- Ferrari P4/5 (2006)
- Lamborghini Murciélago LP640 (2007)