The 10 best designs by Marcello Gandini
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Marcello Gandini's 10 best designs ordered to the best

The brilliant Italian designer has left behind dozens of legendary cars. We have chosen the ten most iconic for the editorial staff of LA ESCUDERÍA.

This same afternoon we learned about death of Marcello gandini at the age of 85 years. The Italian designer was responsible for some of the most remembered cars of all time, and not only in the field of sports cars, but in all types of cars. What's more, it even changed the shape of truck cabins forever with its jobs for Renault.

As a tribute to the genius from Turin, in the editorial office, we have set to work to choose what, in our opinion, are his most iconic works, some of which They marked the way to follow for the rest. Furthermore, we have decided to arrange ourselves in increasing order. Next, we leave you with Marcello Gandini's 10 best designs, an artist whose name is written in automotive history in golden letters. For many, the best in history.

10 – AUTOBIANCHI A112

The small Italian utility vehicle created on the platform of the Fiat 128 is the demonstration that Marcello Gandini was not only a phenomenon creating sports and concept cars. Following the fashion introduced by Mini, it had a transverse front engine to make the most of the available space. Of course, it was also front-wheel drive.

Precisely to improve interior space, the wheels are located at the ends, with very short overhangs. The lines of Autobianchi A112 They are pure simplicity, with a front topped by two round headlights at a time when they were beginning to go out of fashion. In addition, it offers a larger glass surface than many of its rivals. were produced more than 1,2 million units between 1969 and 1986.

9 – FIAT DINO COUPÉ

If it were necessary to define the Dino Coupe In a single word, this would be elegance. This light Gran Turismo was fitted with the Dino's V6 engine in order to homologate sufficient production to use the engine in Formula 2. The result was a most suggestive car with a body that was pure sophistication. Although Filippo Sapino and Giorgetto Giugiaro participated in its design, it was Marcello Gandini who was responsible for the final result.

As a curiosity, the Dino 206 GT announced 180 HP of power and our protagonist only 160 HP, despite the fact that they shared the same 6 cm V1.987 block.3. Later it was learned that it was due to the fact that the powers of both were expressed in SAE and DIN scales. Gandini had nothing to do with the convertible version, which was the work of Pininfarina, not Bertone.

8 – CITROËN BX

Based on the 1979 Volvo Tundra, with which it bears an undeniable resemblance, the BX is another example that Marcello Gandini not only understood how to design sports cars. In fact, taking advantage of the creative freedom that Citroën has always offered, pulled out a car that bore no resemblance to any of its competitors.

El BX It stands out for its angular lines, its rear drop or the semi-faired rear wheels. You may like it more or less, it always happens with cars with personality, but it certainly does not leave you indifferent. A design that, associated with Citroën's signature hydropneumatic suspension, became charismatic. This is demonstrated by the more than 2,3 million units shipped between 1982 and 1994.

7 – ALFA ROMEO MONTREAL

Only one iconic car could be born from the union between Gandini and Alfa Romeo. In this case, not because it was a best-seller, but because its design solutions were pure modernity. We refer, logically, to the retractable headlights semi-faired by a grille or the six air intakes on the B-pillar. And in the production model, some resources seen in the Montreal prototype were softened.

Despite not reaching 4.000 units, or perhaps precisely because of that, el Alfa Romeo Montréal retains an aura of prestige among fans. Its 8 HP V200 engine helps, guaranteeing sensations behind the wheel. In addition, thanks to its 2+2 configuration, it allows you to enjoy as a family.

6 – CIZETA-MORODER V16T

El cizeta it is probably the shape it would have had Lamborghini Diablo Marcello Gandini having finished his development. An excessive car lacking any logic that is explained by the conditions of its birth. Behind its creation is the engineer Claudio Zampolli (with the initials “Ci-Zeta”), who was associated with the musical composer Giorgio Moroder to give life to a unique supercar.

It was powered by a 16 cm V5.995 engine3 which produced 540 HP and 542 Nm, that is, a real beast. An entire group of former Lamborghini employees who had left the brand in one of its many crises participated in its development. The front is clearly reminiscent of the Diablo, but the rear is enormously original. Only 13 units were produced between 1991 and 2003..

5 – LAMBORGHINI COUNTACH

One of Marcello Gandini's masterpieces, who faced an enormous challenge for a designer, such as shaping the replacement for one of his most important designs, the Miura. Not only did he get it, but created a sports car that made the competition obsolete in one fell swoop when it comes to styling. And the shapes of the prototype were transferred to the series almost without changes, including the scissor doors.

The original design was a virguería, the wedge line leads to the extreme, in addition to solutions such as the cabin in a forward position. It was the toll to pay to improve weight distribution by slightly advancing the location of the 12-cylinder V engine with a displacement of 5 liters. With subsequent evolutions, the Lamborghini Countach It lost the essence of the original model, although it gained in spectacularity.

4 – ALFA ROMEO CARABO

We continue with the best designs of Marcello Gandini with the one of his most impressive cars. And, if we talk about wedge design, there is no doubt that one of its precursors is the 1968 Alfa Romeo Carabo, in which Marcello Gandini experimented with radical solutions. Starting with the scissor doors or the rear hood opening in the opposite direction.

It was designed in just ten weeks in which Gandini shaped one of concept cars most remembered in history. Under his green skin, like the beetle that gives him his name, is the chassis Alfa Romeo 33 Stradale and a 8-liter, 2 hp V230 engine of power. Although with such a body, does anyone really care what's underneath?

3 – RENAULT SUPERCINCO

What to replace Renault 5 original was not going to be an easy task, it is something that they were clear about in the brand of the rhombus. They swelled to make prototypes without finding a convincing proposal, until They decided to call Maestro Gandini. The Turin designer's solution was still an evolution of the shapes of the R5, but with a much more modern appearance that served to consolidate the path of success of the car created by michel boue.

The second generation Renault 5, which It never was superfive officially, it looked more like a car and it really was, hence the nickname “Super”. In fact, it was based on the frame of the Renault 9/11. Gandini evolved an outdated design and turned it into an icon of the 80s.

2 – LANCIA STRATOS

During his prolific time at Bertone, Marcello Gandini gave birth to some of his most memorable designs, among which the Stratos has a place of honor. The Lancia model seemed straight out of the future and its shapes are still spectacular today. Its sharp front, with panoramic moon and its raised rear with circular optics are an icon of automotive design.

His success in competition only catapulted him to the Olympus of dreams of the fans, who longed to get behind the controls of the Stratos and emulate Sandro Munari and company. A car that finished cementing Gandini's fame as one of the best designers of his time. By the way, there was a Stratos HF Zero, which delved into the concepts of Carabo.

1 – LAMBORGHINI MIURA

We arrive at what for the editorial staff of LA ESCUDERÍA is Marcello Gandini's best design, his most complete work. And it is that el Lamborghini Miura changed the way sports cars were made, starting with its mechanical configuration with the V12 engine in a central position. Extremely low, very wide and with its unique headlights, It wasn't like anything anyone had done before..

At just 25 years old, Gandini signed a design that put the sacrosanct Ferrari on the ropes, who had to give in with the mid-engine BB. In fact, the Miura It laid the foundations for a new category, that of supercars, in which it was the sole representative for years. Today, he is one of the most sought after cars in the world.

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Written by Ivan Vicario Martin

I am lucky to have turned my passion into my way of earning a living. Since I left the Faculty of Information Sciences in 2004, I have been professionally dedicated to motor journalism. I started in the magazine Coches Clásicos in its beginnings, going on to direct it in 2012, the year in which I also took charge of Clásicos Populares. Throughout these almost two decades of my professional career, I have worked in all types of media, including magazines, radio, the web and television, always in formats and programs related to the engine. I am crazy about the classics, Formula 1 and the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

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