concept car
A concept car (also known as a concept vehicle, show vehicle or prototype) is a car made to showcase new styling and/or new technology. They are often exhibited at motor shows to gauge customer reaction to new and radical designs which may or ...
designed by
Giovanni Michelotti
Giovanni Michelotti (6 October 1921 – 23 January 1980) was one of the most prolific designers of sports cars in the 20th century. His notable contributions were for Ferrari, Lancia, Maserati and Triumph marques. He was also associated with t ...
and built by
Vignale
Vignale is the luxury car sub-brand of Ford Motor Company used in automobiles sold in Europe.Volvo P445.
The lines are recognizable in the later
Amazon
Amazon most often refers to:
* Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek mythology
* Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin
* Amazon River, in South America
* Amazon (company), an American multinational technolog ...
, but the Elisabeth has a small triangular grille, similar to one on an
Alfa Romeo
Alfa Romeo Automobiles S.p.A. () is an Italian luxury car manufacturer and a subsidiary of Stellantis. The company was founded on 24 June 1910, in Milan, Italy. "Alfa" is an acronym of its founding name, "Anonima Lombarda Fabbrica Automobili." "A ...
. The man behind the project was the businessman Gösta Wennberg, who made official contact with Michelotti in
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...
in 1952. Michelotti was supposed to design the bodywork of a car to be built by Ghia Aigle, but the drawings came from
Vignale
Vignale is the luxury car sub-brand of Ford Motor Company used in automobiles sold in Europe.Carrozzeria Allemano Carrozzeria Allemano (established 1928, discontinued 1965) was an automobile coachbuilder in Turin, Italy, owned by Serafino Allemano.
Allemano made various cars based on their own designs. They also built externally designed vehicles, such as th ...
located in
Turin
Turin ( , Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The ...
not too far from Vignale.
Because of the construction of the chassis, there was no space for any back seats. This was probably one of the main reasons for Volvo's lack of interest in serial production of Elisabeth I, which had been Wennberg's original intention with the project. The one-off car was crashed sometime in the beginning of the 1960s.