VALE Marcello Gandini
The automotive design community has lost one of most prodigious and gifted members in Marcello Gandini, who passed away on 13 March, aged 85. Born in Turin in 1938, Gandini reportedly had no real interest in car design as a youngster, being more enthusiastic about the mechanics of automobiles.
One of Gandini’s earliest styling jobs was done on a friend’s OSCA Fiat 1500, but it wasn’t until he was recruited by Bertone in 1965, replacing Giorgetto Giugiaro who had left to join Ghia, that he rose to prominence. At Bertone, one of Gandini’s first styling jobs was for a car that’s an icon today: the Lamborghini Miura. While some contention exists around how much of the Miura was done by Giugiaro before he left Bertone, Gandini maintains most of the design was his.
More Lamborghinis flowed from Gandini’s pen after that, including the Jarama and Urraco, the Marzal concept and its Espada production equivalent, the Bravo concept and the Countach, which is as revered today as the Miura.
Other famous cars designed by Gandini while at Bertone include the Alfa Romeo Montreal and Lancia Stratos, as well as the concepts that preceded each, the Ferrari Dino 308 GT4, Maserati Khamsin and Fiat X1/9, but it wasn’t all sports cars, exotica and concepts, with the Fiat 132, BMW 5 Series and VW Polo amongst the “everyday” cars he designed.
Leaving Bertone in 1979, Gandini established his own studio, Clama Srl, where he took on all sorts of commissions, from helicopters to architecture and even designing the interior for a nightclub. On the automotive side, Gandini initially designed exclusively for Renault, with the Renault 5 Turbo and Mk2, as well as the Magnum truck designed at Clama. Subsequent work included designs for Nissan, Citroën, Subaru and Toyota, the Bugatti EB110 prototype, plus the second-generation Ghibli and related Shamal for Maserati. Gandini also reacquainted himself with Lamborghini, penning the initial proposals for the Diablo.
One of the prodigious Italian’s last creations was the S86 Diamante for automotive consultancy firm, Stola, that appeared at the 2005 Geneva Motor Show.
While he’s sometimes ranked behind Giugiaro in terms of impact and influence, there are many, including those within today’s automobile design industry, who regard Gandini as the greatest car designer ever.
