Marcello Gandini 1938-2024

By Andrew Noakes

Automotive designer Marcello Gandini, who died earlier this month, was renowned as one of the foremost masters of his craft. He was best known for his work at Bertone from the mid-1960s to the late 1970s which included a string of Lamborghinis.

As if the spectacular Miura, Espada, Jarama, Urracco and Countach road cars were not enough, Gandini was also responsible for the outlandish Marzal and Bravo concepts.

“He was one of the Holy Trinity of Italian designers along with Giorgetto Giugiaro and Leonardo Fioravanti, all of whom were born in 1938,” says Richard Heseltine, author of the Porter Press book Concept Cars of the 1960s. “Gandini was arguably the most daring of them all, conjuring wedge-shaped projectiles with windscreens that doubled as doors, curiously-shaped wheel-arches and silver lamé-lined cabins. It wasn’t all flights of fantasy, though. Gandini was also responsible for mainstream products that spanned everything from the original BMW 5-series to the Citroën BX via the Lambretta Lui moped.”

Gandini penned the Stratos for Lancia, the Khamsin for Maserati and the only Bertone Ferrari road car, the 308 GT4. For Alfa Romeo he created the Montreal, 33 Carabo and Navajo concepts and refined the Montreal into a production car. More mainstream projects included the Autobianchi A112, Audi 50/VW Polo and the second-generation Renault 5.

“He was introverted; the polar opposite of a fame-chasing self-publicist,” Heseltine says. “I only spoke with him a few times, and even then it was through his daughter. Gandini was a reluctant interviewee to begin with, but a delight once his ingrained wariness subsided. He leaves behind a remarkable legacy.”

In 2019 Magneto (https://www.magnetomagazine.com/farewell-to-car-design-legend-marcello-gandini/) asked him which of his own designs he liked best. “I always say that my favourite is the next one that I will do,” he said. “Even at my age I’m still a designer and continually working on various projects.”

By Andrew Noakes