Car design legend Marcello Gandini dies

[nekrum]

A true legend… so what’s your favourite of his work and why?..

https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/new-cars/car-de...

@pistonheads - proper feature needed please..

[jimmytheone]

Citroen BX (because i own one and can therefore claim the lineage)

Seriously, i love the Stratos, such an iconic wedge, ideally alitalia livery but the GT4 would make a great family-car stablemate, assuming you had kids with very short legs

[Craig]

Sad news

Got to be the LP400 for me - still can't imagine what it would have been like seeing one on the roads in the mid 70's!

[Mr Dendrite]

Fiat X1/9. I owned one, loved it. As a young man it was the closest I could aspire to his great desgins. The styling was perfect, the Italian mechanicals were not

[Den Den]

Craig said:

Sad news

Got to be the LP400 for me - still can't imagine what it would have been like seeing one on the roads in the mid 70's!

fabulous. So much better looking without the wings and strakes that came later.

[s m]

Renault 5 Turbo or the Shamal

[robsco]

What an outstanding resume. RIP.

[Chubbyross]

IMHO not only the most beautiful car ever designed but one of the most beautiful objects ever designed.

[CLK-GTR]

The Miura. Not just the best of his work, the best of any work. No car before or since has nailed the shape the way that did.

[Om]

For me - this one every time:



The epitome of a concept car.

[Short Grain]

Mr Dendrite said:

Fiat X1/9. I owned one, loved it. As a young man it was the closest I could aspire to his great desgins. The styling was perfect, the Italian mechanicals were not

My first car was a black X1/9 Bertone! Rotten sills when I bought it off a mate for £400. Loved it, like a motorized skate board. Repaired (filled) the bottom of the doors, they were more filler than low grade Italian steel when done, and gave it a good respray. Looked great when I sold it after a couple of years, for £450! Guy who bought it didn't even haggle and already had one, so obviously an enthusiast! Great little car.

[Equus]

Sad news, indeed: another former X1/9 owner, here: an amazing repackaging of mundane Fiat mechanicals (and surprisingly practical as an everyday sportscar). Shame it was made out of pre-rusted steel, but that wans Gandini's fault.

Om said:

The epitome of a concept car.

As pure concepts go, I'll see your Carabo and raise you the Stratos Zero:



A spaceship gets lost in 70's Milan:



I've also got a softspot for the Lancia Sibilo (based on a Stratos chassis):

[biggbn]

Craig said:

Sad news

Got to be the LP400 for me - still can't imagine what it would have been like seeing one on the roads in the mid 70's!

The best looking Countach, pure, elegant, brutal. What a thing.

[Kuwahara]

Chubbyross said:

IMHO not only the most beautiful car ever designed but one of the most beautiful objects ever designed.

Agreed beauty is in the the eye of the beholder and all that but for me this trumps the E type everyday…

[Puddenchucker]

Of his designs, I've always liked the Lamborghini Bravo:

[RicksAlfas]

That's sad news. What a great back catalogue.



(One for the bad parking thread).

[SpudLink]

Chubbyross said:

IMHO not only the most beautiful car ever designed but one of the most beautiful objects ever designed.

Growing up in the '70s, the wedge-tastic Countach was the obvious choice as 'the ultimate supercar'. But as an object of automotive beauty, the Miura is as good as it gets.

Italian Job, accompanied by Matt Munro.

Edited by SpudLink on Thursday 14th March 08:46

[sidewinder500]

biggbn said:

Craig said:

Sad news

Got to be the LP400 for me - still can't imagine what it would have been like seeing one on the roads in the mid 70's!

The best looking Countach, pure, elegant, brutal. What a thing.

Thirded, the original always looks best

[Craig]

I like this angle too

[P5BNij]

So many to choose from with the Miura, Countach, Epsada etc but I'd have to put the Urraco at the top of my list, it's a fabulous piece of packaging and design even if it is cramped in the back, but it really 'works' from every angle. The unnecessary added flourish of the blades on the side intakes lining up with the rear slats is a little touch of genius and the whole car still looks futuristic all these years later. It grew into the Silhouette and Jalpa later on but the P250 / P300 is a pretty car with a slightly bullish (pun intended) look about it at the rear...

First prototype, 1970, arose from the aforementioned Carabo of 1968 and rejected by Ferruccio Lamborghini, but it influenced Gandini's own take on the Dino 246GT replacement, the Dino 308GT4...



Second prototype, 1970, almost there but not quite...



First production P250, appeared at the Turin show in late 1970...





1976 production P300 at the NEC a few years ago...