Legendary car designer, Marcello Gandini, dies at 85

Legendary car designer Marcello Gandini, who penned iconic models for Lamborghini, Ferrari, BMW, Citroen and many others, has died aged 85.

Regarded as one of the world’s most prolific and influential car designers, Gandini was born in Turin and first came to prominence during the mid-1960s while working for the famed Bertone design house.

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The successor to other design legend Giorgetto Giugiaro, whom he replaced at Bertone in 1965 when he was just 25, Gandini’s career saw him shape iconic models like the Lamborghini Miura, Ferrari 308/GT4, Bugatti EB110 and the E12 BMW 5 Series.

Famous for creating cars with angular lines and wedge-like profiles, Gandini is perhaps best known for his work on the Lamborghini Countach which made its debut in concept form at the 1971 Geneva motor show.

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Gandini created a string on famous wedge-like supercars including the Maserati Khamsin, Lamborghini Bravo, Alfa Romeo Navajo, Jaguar Ascot, Lamborghini Diablo and Alfa Romeo Carabo.

But Gandini created far more than poster-worthy supercars and concepts, with his work also including influential mainstream cars like the first Volkswagen Polo, original BMW 5 Series, the boxy and innovative Citroen BX and the Fiat 132. The iconic Renault 5 Turbo is also a Gandini creation.

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Gandini left Bertone in 1980 but continued to create and innovate right up until the mid 2000s with one of his last designs being the Stola S86 Diamante for the 2005 Geneva motor show.

A true trailblazer, innovator and visionary, Gandini is perhaps responsible for more poster-worthy cars than any other designer.

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