The son of an Orchestra Conductor, Marcello Gandini belongs to a trio of famous Italian car designers, along with Giorgetto Giugiaro and Leonardo Fioravanti. Known for his work with the automotive design house Gruppo Bertone, Gandini was responsible for penning some of the most eye-catching, dramatic and important cars of the 20th century.
Despite his undoubtedly successful career, he was initially denied to work at Bertone when approached Nuccio Bertone, head of the Gruppo Bertone in 1963. Giorgetto Giugiaro, then Bertone’s chief designer, opposed him being hired. When Giugiaro left Bertone two years later for Ghia, Gandini was hired, and worked for the company for fourteen years. The two giants of the Italian design exchanged unfriendly comments about each other during decades.
Among the most famous designs by Gandini are the iconics Lamborghini Miura, Lamborghini Countach, Lancia Stratos, Alfa Romeo Montreal and Bugatti EB110. He also created several daily use cars as Citroën BX, Renault 5 (second series), BMW 5 Series (E12 version). Curiously in an interview in 2009, the Master of Beauty declared that his “design interests are focused on vehicle architecture, construction, assembly, and mechanisms – not appearance.”
Gandini left Bertone in 1980, pursuing freelance automotive, industrial, and interior design. His creations were in production from 1966 to 2001, and the automotive world owes him for a lifetime of work.