Gandini

the influence of intrusive design

When I was a teenager I fell in love with the Lamborghini Countach. Of course, so did every other car-loving teenager of the 1980s. I built scale model cars back then and while looking for a Countach, I also found a Miura—I had never seen one before and it was so stunning that I bought that model too. The Alfa Romeo Carabo and Lancia Stratos Zero concepts blew my mind, I had seen those in magazines and die-cast form, and when I saw the production Lancia Stratos I couldn’t believe it was real. Then I discovered the Ferrari Dino 308 GT4 and my life was forever changed.

I was too young to really have a concept of design or designers in the automotive industry, or any industry for that matter. My sense of design and style was still developing, I just saw things I liked but couldn’t define why I liked them. While I loved stunningly beautiful cars like the Dino 246, Aston Martin DB4 GT Zagato, Ferrari 250 GTO, and the Lamborghini Miura, the intrusive thoughts won every time I saw a wedge shaped car. I had no idea that all these strange cars I loved, all the cars that shaped my view of what an exotic car should be, were all designed by the same man: Marcello Gandini.

When I did start understanding how important design was in everything we interact with as human beings, and cars were no exception, I began to discover the great designers of the automotive world. I discovered that design houses like Pininfarina, Italdesign, Bertone, and others were hired to design cars for various automakers. Finally, those little badges on the sides of cars started to make sense to me! When I noticed a car I was considering purchasing as a very young adult had a Bertone badge (Fiat X1/9), it sparked something inside of me. I had seen this same badge on a number of other cars too and I was now compelled to find out what this was all about. It didn’t take long to discover that Bertone was the design house that designed most of my favorite cars.

I set out to find the name of the designer who penned the Countach since that was what started my love affair with wedge shaped cars. That got me wondering if the Countach was the first wedge shaped car ever made (it wasn’t), and while following that rabbit hole I discovered the two concepts that really set this design language in motion were the Alfa Romeo Carabo and Lancia Stratos Zero… and of course they were designed by the same guy who designed the Countach. This immediately made me wonder what else he had designed and I was absolutely floored when I discovered he designed the 308 GT4. For a while I wrongly attributed every wedge shaped car to Marcello Gandini, because every car I had researched was designed by him.

Eventually I discovered that other designers had contributed to the wedge shaped car world too, but for me Gandini was always the master. The first. The OG. While I never bought the Fiat X1/9 that prompted my investigation into designers, I was enamored to discover that Gandini had also designed that as well. In fact, he designed a number of small, inexpensive, accessible cars that I realistically could one day own. More importantly, he not only designed the car that started it all for me, he also designed the car I spent 35 years of my life pursuing. Truly, Gandini spoke my language.

It cannot be overstated just how important Marcello Gandini was to the automotive world—the design world. At the age of 27 he designed the world’s first supercar, and some would say the world’s most beautiful car, when he penned the Lamborghini Miura. Then he turned around and designed what’s arguably the most iconic sports car ever made, the Lamborghini Countach. He went on to design several other cars for Lamborghini, Maserati, Fiat, De Tomaso, Lancia, and others, but for Ferrari he only ever designed one car.

Well, okay, two.

The only production Ferrari ever designed by Gandini was during his time at Bertone, and that was the Dino 308 GT4. The car was well received when it came to handling and performance, but most people couldn’t get over its wedge styling… the very thing I love about it. Gandini did, however, use chassis 12788 to design the Ferrari 308GT Rainbow—a concept car that never went into production—and it was a much more extreme wedge shape design than the 308 GT4. I’m a fan of the Rainbow, though many aren’t, but I think due to its extreme wedge styling it was met with even less appreciation than the car whose chassis it was built upon. While wedge shaped car design was working well for Lamborghini (and still does), it would seem Ferrari owners weren’t ready for anything modern, new or different.

Marcello Gandini didn’t design cars, he designed icons. Before I ever knew his name, he had already intruded upon my sense of design and style and influenced my entire life henceforth. For that I see him as the greatest automotive designer of all time. Perhaps the greatest designer of all time. With his passing on March 13, 2024, he has left an amazing legacy behind that no one will ever equal, and his designs will live on forever as they continue to influence the world around us.

The Designs of Marcello Gandini

This is a gallery of the cars designed by Marcello Gandini, including cars he played a significant role in designing, but may have shared credit with other colleagues. His work ranges from the simple and ordinary to the complex and extraordinary. If you notice we are missing any of his designs, please use the contact form on the main page to let us know.