Yahoo Autos Marcello Gandini dies at 85. Here's a look at some of his famous designs
Legendary automotive designer Marcello Gandini passed away at the age of 85 on March 13, 2024. His designs are so historically significant that even the most casual of automotive enthusiasts would know a large chunk of them. True aficionados, particularly of Italian machinery, may know them all. We've put together a small sampling of his standout designs, and, as you'll see as you scroll, many of his most enduring shapes and tendencies are still exciting and inspiring designers today.
Lamborghini Miura
This is the car that most directly kicked off the supercar wars in Italy. A rolling chassis was displayed at the 1965 Turin Motor Show, debuting with a revolutionary mid-engine design that continues to be the most common arrangement for the highest-performing automobiles today. In 1966, when the bodywork was first revealed in Geneva, the reception was, to say the least, favorable. The car was sleek and innovative, and when it was released in production form with a 3.9-liter V12 engine and 5-speed manual gearbox, the Miura became the fastest production automobile in the world. — Senior Editor Jeremy Korzeniewski
Lamborghini Countach
And then came the Countach. First unveiled for the 1974 model year — one year after production of the Miura came to its conclusion — the Lamborghini Countach went on to dominate the bedroom walls of teenagers all over the world. While it wasn't the first of Gandini's wedge-shaped designs, it arguably best defines the trend. The Countach was also the car that introduced the world to Lamborghini's trademark scissor doors, though Gandini's conceptual Alfa Romeo Carabo featured them first. Early Countach models were clean and undefiled, later adopting various wings and aerodynamic tweaks as power from Lamborghini's V12 engines pushed performance to ever increasing levels. But it doesn't really matter which Countach you prefer; it remains the most well-known of all of Gandini's vehicular designs. — Korzeniewski
Cizeta V16T
Few cars in Gran Turismo had me more obsessed over them than the Cizeta V16T. And yes, in case you didn’t realize, Gandini drew this aggressive wedge design that would go on to be the only car Cizeta ever produced. The 6.0-liter V16 engine was derived from the Lamborghini Urraco’s flat-plane V8, which makes perfect sense considering the car was a project put together by former Lamborghini employees. That V16 is a big reason it became so beloved, as V8s and V12s could be had, but a V16 was truly something special back in the 1990s. Course, the design is a stunning wedge with exotic characteristics like quad pop-up headlights, angled rear wheel surrounds almost mimicking the wedge front-end and a dramatic exhaust exit halfway up the rear of the car. It’s beautiful and utterly wild at the same time, making it a true exotic supercar. – Road Test Editor Zac Palmer
