Giorgetto and Fabrizio Giugiaro may have departed Italdesign, but the Volkswagen-controlled design house soldiers on, displaying its annual concept at the Geneva auto show. This year?s example is a tribute to Italdesign visions of the past, with a futuristic electric drivetrain tucked up underneath. It also looks a bit like a smug cybernetic duck got rear-ended by an old Lotus Europa that was attempting to excrete an AMC Gremlin. It?s called the GTZero.

The GTZero?s nose features a bog-standard supercar beak that?s not nearly as inspired as that of 2013?s Parcour concept, a machine whose prow recalled the original Isuzu Piazza/Impulse, the DeLorean DMC-12, and the de Tomaso Mangusta, all penned by Giorgetto Giugiaro. According to Italdesign, the GTZero?s front end was inspired by the Bucrane, a Daewoo concept from 1995. Daewoo! And while the shape of the rear may recall Bizzarrini?s legendary Ferrari Breadvan, Italdesign also credits the Bucrane with an influence tag. Bizzarrini, however, does get a mention, as inspiration for the car?s lines and bobbed tail came from the Manta concept of 1968, designed shortly after old man Giugiaro left Ghia to found his own studio. The body itself is made of composites and is laid over a carbon-fiber monocoque that sits between aluminum subframes. Italdesign touts the benefits of the design thusly: While the expensive carbon tub stays the same, the structure can be adapted for different purposes by swapping the subframes. In the case o...