The father of the modern supercar; design supremo Marcello Gandini passes away aged 85
Arvind · Mar 14, 2024 10:52 AM
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Marcello Gandini; renowned as one of the most prolific car designers of all time, has passed away, aged 85 years.
Born on 26 August 1938, Gandini made significant contributions while working at Gruppo Bertone, one of Italy's leading design houses. He is best known for his work in the 1960s and 1970s, during which he created some of the most iconic and revolutionary car designs of the era.
Among his most famous creations is the Lamborghini Miura, arguably the car that shaped the template for every other supercar we know today.
The Fiat X1/9 looked closer to concept cars than production cars of that time
Gandini's portfolio also includes the Lamborghini Countach, the Miura’s successor which is another groundbreaking design known for its angular lines and trademark scissor doors. Gandini would go on to pen the Lamborghini Diablo which succeeded the Countach in the early '90s as well.
However, his work wasn’t limited to just supercars, he designed sports cars such as the Fiat X1/9 and Lancia Stratos, a car that dominated rally racing in the 1970s.
His versatility even stretched to executive sedans as well as compact city cars such as the Volkswagen Polo, Renault 5 Turbo and the original (E12) BMW 5 Series.
Gandini left Bertone in 1980, to pursue freelance work in automotive industrial, and interior design. In 2017, he joined Tata Motors where one of his more recent works was the Tata Tamo Racemo, a compact 2-seater EV sportscar concept.
Gandini’s influence extends beyond the cars he created, inspiring generations of designers and shaping the direction of car design for decades to come. We salute you Mr. Gandini.
Arvind can't remember a time when he didn't wheel around a HotWheels car. This love evolved into an interest in Tamiya and RC cars and finally the real deal 1:1 scale stuff. Passion finally lead to formal training in Mechanical Engineering. Instead of the bigger picture, he obsesses with the final drive ratio and spring rates of cars and spends the weekends wondering why a Perodua Myvi is so fast.
