Sunday Drive #7
Sunday Drive #7
Marcello Gandini: 1938 – 2024.
In the seventh edition of the Sunday Drive, we will pay tribute to Marcello Gandini, the creator of automotive icons, who passed away on March 13th. It is impossible to sum up his entire biography within the limited space of such a modest newsletter; his life's story warrants a comprehensive biographical volume. To my knowledge, such a book has not yet been written. In seeking publications about the Italian, one might only come across the two-volume album “Marcello Gandini: Maestro of Design”, which seems more an impressive overview of his portfolio, than a biography. Price? €250. Availability? Sold out. This text will not be a compilation of the Top 10. There are dozens of such lists to be found. Instead, it will be a more subjective list with less obvious choices.
Marcello Gandini, born on August 26, 1938, in Turin, was an Italian car designer, considered one of the most influential in the history of the automotive industry. His career gained momentum when he joined Bertone. His initial efforts began in 1963, but Giorgetto Giugiaro, who had been there since 1959, expressed his disapproval. However, in 1965 Gandini moved to Carrozzeria Ghia, and the doors opened wide for him.
Over fourteen years of working for Bertone, Gandini created an incredible number of designs. The first iconic car partially designed by Gandini is the Lamborghini Miura. Partially, because Marcello designed only the bodywork.
The base was a design presented in 1965 at the Turin Motor Show, consisting of a frame, a running gear, and an engine. Revolutionary was the placement of the V12 engine, previously powering the 400GT model – transversely in front of the rear axle.
It was decided to exhibit the design alone after the partner of Lamborghini responsible for the bodies – Touring – presented four designs, which did not appeal to Ferruccio. Eventually, Nuccio Bertone won the contract, also because among all “carrozzerias” he had the least association with Ferrari. The clock was ticking; the vehicle had to be prepared for the 1966 Geneva Motor Show. Over the course of three months in the autumn of 1965, a rookie – Gandini, outlined the iconic bodywork. Even though the Lamborghini Miura P400 was recognized as a new benchmark, Gandini never fully identified with this car as much as with its successor: the Countach. What the designer missed in the process of creating the Miura was the influence on mechanical aspects, mainly related to the arrangement of the engine and gearbox.
Hofmeister (?) Kink
Car manufacturers (and not only them) from all over Europe were attracted by Italy for a unique aesthetic approach. The visual foundations of many non-Italian brands were born in Italian design studios. Working in 1961 for Bertone, the aforementioned Giugiaro designed the BMW 3200 CS. It was the first car with a characteristic kink at the base of the C-pillar. 603 units of the 3200 CS were produced, and the kink, which has survived to this day, bears the name of the then BMW design chief – Wilhelm Hofmeister. In the mid-60s, the decision was made to construct a new flagship saloon, aiming to outdo Mercedes. The Munich manufacturer once again turned to the Turin design team. The task fell to Gandini, who by then had been promoted to the head of design. The result was a very sleek saloon with a low window line that gently rose at the C-pillar to a higher rear window-trunk connection. In the production version, the most significant change was abandoning the rectangular front light clusters in favour of more sporty double round headlights.
BMW Garmisch
It was 1970 when Marcello Gandini’s stunning concept has been lost.
Many years later, BMW's head of design, Adrian van Hooydonk, came up with the idea of recreating the lost car. The stimulus was the eightieth birthday of the original creator, who also became a consultant in building the modern iteration of the coupe. His contribution was valuable because the work was based on a few modest photographs and fragmentary documentation that survived in the Bertone archives. The model, like the original, was based on the BMW 2002 series and was created in Turin. It made its second debut at the Villa d'Este elegance competition.
In the 1970s, this wonderful project was the forerunner of the BMW 5 Series of the E12 generation. Paul Bracq was asked by the Munich company to design the whole, while Gandini helped create the bodywork.
French Kiss
In 1977, Gandini sent two prototypes designated FW11 to the United Kingdom and another two to Turkey, with Reliant, developing a car for the Turkish Anadol, as the recipient. The concept was returned due to concerns about too high production costs (the Turkish ones are presented in one of Istanbul's museums). After a few changes, Gandini offered the project named Tundra to Volvo, but the Swedes were not interested.
Eventually, a Citroën badge was pinned to the front of the car, and the BX designation at the rear. Thus was born one of the biggest hits of the French brand.
During its twelve years in production (1982–1994), over 2.3 million units were produced. The 1980s also contributed to the bloom of the advertising industry, and bold ideas entered the automotive world as well. For instance, one ad featured the BX flying on an aeroplane…:
In another advertisement, the designer himself, Marcello Gandini, made an appearance:
Gandini also made a significant contribution to the portfolio of Citroën's competitor, Renault. His involvement in projects for the French grew year by year, and after leaving Bertone, Marcello, now a freelancer, co-created the first generation Renault 5 Turbo, and was entirely responsible for the design of the second generation R5 “Supercinq”.
At the same time, Gandini was also working on the biggest car from the same manufacturer. A vehicle surprisingly common, produced for twenty-three years, often ignored by most civilian automotive enthusiasts – the Renault AE Magnum.
What connected the smallest car in the Renault range with the largest was the styling of the grill (see: photos above) and a strong emphasis on aerodynamics – hence the AE in the name of the first generation Magnum. The idea for a new visual direction for trucks with the diamond on the hood appeared already in 1977. Renault's head of design, Robert Opron, commissioned the design to the company's internal design studio and independently to Gandini, who had earlier designed the “Master” van. After narrowing down the proposals to two prototypes, full-scale models were built, and a presentation was organized at a former American air base in Crucey. For comparison, one unit of each competitive lorry was brought in.
The illustration shows the vast gap that separated the current styling of trucks from both Renault proposals. Ultimately, Gandini's design won, and although preparing the production version took another eight years, the Magnum impressed the market with innovative solutions upon its release and won the title “European Truck of the Year”.
I was previously unaware of the story behind the creation of the Renault Magnum, but for many years of travelling across Europe, these trucks always caught my attention. The always vertical wall swaying upon braking (the cabin is placed on four airbags) commanded my respect and interest. It still looks good even today, 43 years after its design. The same applies to other cars designed by Gandini. Last year, I saw a Lamborghini Countach for the first time in person. My knees buckled. How is it possible that such cars were being made 50 years ago (not to mention the Lancia Stratos Zero)? Ah, those Italians…
Grazie di tutto, Marcello!
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