Marcello Gandini: The Legendary Italian Car Designer Passes Away

Marcello Gandini, aged 85, known for designing some of the most innovative Italian cars since the Sixties, passed away suddenly yesterday in Rivoli (Torino). Succeeding Giorgetto Giugiaro, he was the head designer at Bertone, where he designed some of the most appreciated sports cars between the Sixties and Seventies, such as the Lamborghini Miura, Espada, Urraco, and Countach, the Alfa Romeo Montreal, the Lancia Stratos, the Fiat X1/9, and the Ferrari GT4. He also collaborated with Innocenti of Milan, which led to the unveiling of the new Mini 90/120 in 1974, remaining in production for nearly twenty years. Gandini was not only interested in the automotive sector but also in industrial design and furnishings. Just last January 12th, the Politecnico di Torino awarded him an honorary degree in Mechanical Engineering. The wake will be held in his studio in Almese (Torino) tomorrow from 3 pm to 7 pm and Friday morning from 10 am to 12 pm. The funeral, currently being organized, is expected to take place in the parish church of Santo Stefano in Rivera on Friday itself, or at the latest Saturday morning. During the ceremony for the awarding of the honorary degree, Gandini delivered a highly applauded master lecture, in which he recalled his classical studies, piano school, and the key moment when, with money received from his family to buy a Latin book, he managed to get his hands on the famous text by Dante Giacosa 'Endothermic engines'. 'My father - he had said - was a conductor and wanted me to become a pianist. Only when he got on board the Lamborghini Miura did he understand that I knew how to play other notes: those of engines. The origins of my training lie in a family tradition that did not contemplate many digressions: the natural outlet were humanistic, literary, classical studies. However, I rebelled and followed my own path.' After making history in the car industry with celebrated models like the Lamborghini Diablo and the Maserati Biturbo and Chubasco, and having worked as an independent designer with car manufacturers such as Renault, Nissan, Toyota, and Subaru, recently his commitment focused on research and innovation, obtaining a series of patents. At 85, he had never stopped working, his next project was supposed to be in Qatar, where he was working on a training platform for the Doha car museum. 'Marcello Gandini - said the rector of the Politecnico Guido Saracco during the ceremony - is an innovator. He has been able to combine the highest aesthetic taste with avant-garde engineering and technological solutions, contributing to the improvement of the entire industrial design process.'