If the name Giorgetto Giugiaro doesn’t ring a bell to the young readers on this website, we’re much obliged to tell you that he is a deity of automotive design. Mr. Giugiaro is one of the few personalities that shaped the world of design. Automotive Hall of Fame inductee and Car Designer of the Century title aside, Giugiaro decided to call it quits on Monday.
76-year-old Giorgetto founded Italdesign Giugiaro in Turin, Italy in 1968, an auto design company that gave us incredible cars over the years. Almost five years ago, the man sold 90.1% of Italdesign to Audi AG, retaining just shy of 10% for himself and his son Fabrizio Giugiaro. Fast-forward to the present day and Monday saw Giugiaro sell the remaining stake in Italdesign to Audi to have more time for his personal interests.
We’re not going to question Giugiaro’s decision as some other automotive media outlets did. At 76 years of age it’s natural to kick back and enjoy one’s last days of wine and roses. As an added bonus, Giugiaro made it clear that despite his leave the company won’t change its ways nor fire any of the employees. Audi took complete control over the outfit but does it have the right stuff to at least equal Giugiaro’s governance?
Yes, maybe, no, it’s mum’s guess, but Giorgetto is a hard act to follow. At 17 years he was already working at Fiat, then he got a job at Bertone, then at Ghia, then he founded Italdesign. That may not sound exactly impressive, but wait until you hear the most representative cars the Italian designer penned over his 59-year career. For starters, we must mention that Giugiaro designed camera bodies for Nikon, firearms for Beretta, bikes for Ducati and Suzuki, as well as wrist watches for Seiko. Neat stuff!
And now for the cars. Giugiaro will be always remembered for the Lancia Delta, Lexus GS, lots of Alfa Romeo models including the Giulia GTV, Alfasud and 159, Aston Martin DB4 GT Bertone Jet, BMW 3200 CS and M1, Maserati Ghibli, Bora, Merak, Quattroporte and the pictured 3200 GT and Spyder, Ferrari 250 GT SWB Bertone, SEAT Ibiza, DeLorean DMC-12, Lotus Esprit, VW Passat, original Golf and so forth.
Of the cheap and cheerful cars Giorgetto Giugiaro designed and we don’t wish to keep in our memories are the Zastava Yugo, FSO Polonez, SsangYong Korando, Daewoo Lacetti and the awful Matiz.
We’re not going to question Giugiaro’s decision as some other automotive media outlets did. At 76 years of age it’s natural to kick back and enjoy one’s last days of wine and roses. As an added bonus, Giugiaro made it clear that despite his leave the company won’t change its ways nor fire any of the employees. Audi took complete control over the outfit but does it have the right stuff to at least equal Giugiaro’s governance?
Yes, maybe, no, it’s mum’s guess, but Giorgetto is a hard act to follow. At 17 years he was already working at Fiat, then he got a job at Bertone, then at Ghia, then he founded Italdesign. That may not sound exactly impressive, but wait until you hear the most representative cars the Italian designer penned over his 59-year career. For starters, we must mention that Giugiaro designed camera bodies for Nikon, firearms for Beretta, bikes for Ducati and Suzuki, as well as wrist watches for Seiko. Neat stuff!
And now for the cars. Giugiaro will be always remembered for the Lancia Delta, Lexus GS, lots of Alfa Romeo models including the Giulia GTV, Alfasud and 159, Aston Martin DB4 GT Bertone Jet, BMW 3200 CS and M1, Maserati Ghibli, Bora, Merak, Quattroporte and the pictured 3200 GT and Spyder, Ferrari 250 GT SWB Bertone, SEAT Ibiza, DeLorean DMC-12, Lotus Esprit, VW Passat, original Golf and so forth.
Of the cheap and cheerful cars Giorgetto Giugiaro designed and we don’t wish to keep in our memories are the Zastava Yugo, FSO Polonez, SsangYong Korando, Daewoo Lacetti and the awful Matiz.
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