The Pura was a concept car created in 1988 by Michelotti, the Italian design studio based in Beinasco near Turin. Presented as a pure sports car, it was the last fully driveable concept car built and shown to the public on the studio's own initiative. It was a mid-engined two-seat sports coupe and roadster, with a fibreglass body and a sliding glass canopy in place of conventional doors.
The design was overseen by Michelotti general director and chief designer Tateo Uchida, then 46 years old, who led a team of 23 people including six designers and eight model builders. With the Pura, Michelotti aimed to revive the spirit of the successful small cabriolets of the 1950s and 1960s, while giving the car a new exterior form and a modern underlying structure. That structure was developed with two specialist firms: Nova Progetti Snc, founded by two former Abarth engineers, and Alba-Tech, known for racing car construction. According to Mario Colucci of Nova Progetti, the Pura's concept derived directly from racing car engineering, built around a honeycomb structure of aluminium and carbon fibre, with front pushrod suspension and a rear steel-tube chassis carrying the engine, gearbox and rear suspension. Front-mounted radiators, the spare wheel and battery were housed in a small chassis section ahead of the front wheels. Wheels were fitted with Pirelli P700 tyres in 195/50 and 205/50 VR15 sizes.
Power came from a longitudinally mounted 1.8-litre turbocharged four-cylinder engine, DOHC, sourced from the Alfa Romeo Alfa 75 1.8 Turbo, producing 155 hp at 5800 rpm and 226 Nm at 2600 rpm in standard form. Alternatives such as an Audi five-cylinder engine or the PRV V6 were also considered, since it was uncertain whether Alfa Romeo's owner Fiat would supply engines for a limited production run. The five-speed gearbox came from ZF, the ventilated four-wheel disc brakes from Brembo, and the dampers from Bilstein, while the triangulated wishbone suspension with adjustable geometry via horizontal spring struts was developed specifically for the car.
Safety features included a honeycomb passenger cell, two roll-over bars integrated into the windscreen frame and rear deck, and a 60-litre rubber safety fuel tank mounted between the seats and the engine. The car had no conventional doors or luggage compartment, instead using angled window flaps at the windscreen frame and a sliding Plexiglas canopy that could be locked in various positions for ventilation, removed entirely, or paired with a small emergency top. Dimensions included a wheelbase of 242.5 cm, track of 140 cm, and length/width/height of 356/165/115 cm (109 cm without the canopy).
Michelotti considered producing the Pura in a small series of 200 units at a price of 55 million lire, requiring a new subsidiary and factory, with production possible within one to one and a half years of the 1988 presentation. This plan was never realized, and the Pura remained a prototype driven by only a limited number of people.
