In the early 1970s, when Italian coachbuilders and French engineers were still dreaming of what a sports car of the future might be, the 1971 Michelotti Laser made its brief but unforgettable appearance. Conceived as a design-study by the legendary Giovanni Michelotti and realised under his studio, taking Japanese designer Tateo Uchida’s styling execution, the Laser remains a one-off, and a concept built to demonstrate vision more than volume. If unicorns are your thing, you’re not going to want to miss the chance to purchase the Laser as it heads to BH Auction’s upcoming sale in Tokyo on November 8th.
Built on the chassis of a Matra M530 and powered by a Ford-built V4 engine, it featured an entirely new body design with a futuristic wedge shape and gullwing doors, making a powerful impact on the audience at the 1971 Geneva Motor Show where it was painted in a striking shade of yellow. Later, it appeared at the 1972 Montreal Auto Salon sporting some subtle styling changes and a less conspicuous silver paint scheme as we see it today. The colour change somehow ties together this unique creation, looking almost like it’s forged from one piece of space-age metal while neatly tying into Matra’s history, with the M530 being the name of one of its missiles the company originally produced before dabbling in the automotive world.
Visually, the Laser’s wedge-shaped profile was synonymous with 1970s concept cars, while the doors were of the ‘gullwing’ variety; a feature shared with many of Michelotti’s experimental cars of the same period. It sits at a mere 1080mm tall, with chunky door sills designed not only to increase structural rigidity, but also to channel cool air to the dinky 1,700cc engine stowed away behind the passenger compartment. Clamber inside, and the Laser’s interior is both futuristic and somewhat practical, featuring a dashboard and instrument layout that incorporates unique design experiments not seen in normal production models, but instead in the supercars of the years to come.
Being the only example in existence, the car carries huge significance and has rarely been seen out in public, let alone up for sale. After it wowed the public at the various motor shows it attended, the car then came to Japan to participate in La Carrozzeria Italiana held in Harumi, Tokyo, in 1977. From there, it was subsequently purchased by the Matsuda Collection around 1980, where it was displayed at the Sports Car Museum which opened in 1983. Its whereabouts were lost for a time, but its existence was reconfirmed when it appeared at the 2nd Concours d'Elegance held in Tokyo in 2009.
It has remained in Japan incredibly since 1977, making this an incredible opportunity for collectors all over the world to obtain a true piece of design mastery and forward-thinking engineering. Concept cars often serve as design exercises, but few manage to capture the future quite like the Laser did. More importantly, it showcased Michelotti’s belief that “a camel is made into a horse by the designer”. While the Laser did not evolve into a production model, its singular nature and the purity of its design lend it extraordinary appeal for collectors, museums and design historians alike.
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