Designer · 1938–2024

Marcello Gandini

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12: briefs
9:53: average
119 min: in total

On automotive.briefs12

11:02

Alfa Romeo Carabo

Marcello Gandini · 1950

The Alfa Romeo Carabo is a 1968 concept car designed by Marcello Gandini at Bertone. It debuted at the 1968 Paris Motor Show. It used the chassis of an Alfa Romeo 33 Stradale with a mid-mounted 2.0 L V8 engine and 6-speed Colotti manual transmission. It featured scissor doors — the first known use — and iridescent green-orange colouring inspired by Carabidae beetles. Built in ten weeks using fiberglass, it was never intended for production but was fully functional. It helped establish the wedge shape trend in 1970s supercars and concept cars. Gandini’s design philosophy prioritised vehicle architecture and mechanics over styling.

9:15

Lamborghini Miura

Marcello Gandini · 1966

The Lamborghini Miura is the first high-performance production road car with a rear mid-engine, rear-wheel-drive layout. Conceived secretly by engineers in 1965, it debuted at the 1966 Geneva Motor Show. Marcello Gandini designed it in three months. It held the title of world’s fastest production car at launch. It remained Lamborghini’s flagship until 1973.

10:00

Alfa Romeo Montreal

Marcello Gandini · 1970

The Alfa Romeo Montreal is a Gandini-designed 2+2 coupe that began as a 1967 concept at Expo 67 in Montreal and entered production from 1970 to 1977. Its 2,593 cc 90° V8 engine was bespoke, dry-sump, cross-plane, and SPICA-injected—producing around 200 PS—but shared its chassis and suspension with the Giulia GTV. It embodies Gandini’s priority on vehicle architecture over styling, and its 3,917-unit production run reflects its status as a limited-series production car, not a prototype or coachbuilt one.

9:32

Citroën BX

Marcello Gandini · 1982

The Citroën BX is a large family car designed by Marcello Gandini and produced by Citroën from 1982 to 1994. It was built as a hatchback and estate, with 2,315,739 units made. It is French, midsize, and categorised among Gandini’s practical mass-production designs.

10:21

Cizeta-Moroder V16T

Marcello Gandini · 1991

The Cizeta-Moroder V16T is a self-contained argument in sheet metal and alloy: that a car’s reason for being can be singular, uncompromising, and entirely divorced from utility.

9:26

Fiat X1/9

Marcello Gandini · 1972

The Fiat X1/9 is a pragmatic mid-engined sports car — engineered, not styled. Its innovation lies in relocation, not invention: moving the Fiat 128’s transverse drivetrain to the rear of the cabin. Gandini’s architecture-first method produced a car that met US safety rules from day one, offered usable storage and visibility, and proved mid-engine packaging could work in volume production. It is neither fast nor refined. It is consequential because it worked — and because it showed how much could be achieved without starting over.

10:40

Lamborghini Countach

Marcello Gandini · 1974

The Countach is a rear mid-engine, rear-wheel-drive sports car developed by Lamborghini as a successor to the Miura, with Marcello Gandini of Bertone as lead designer. It debuted as the LP500 concept at the 1971 Geneva Motor Show and entered production in 1974. Its design pioneered the 'Italian Wedge' style, building on Gandini's earlier work like the Lancia Stratos Zero and Alfa Romeo Carabo. The car retained the Miura’s layout but introduced major innovations including scissor doors, a full tubular spaceframe chassis, and progressive aerodynamic refinements over its 16-year production run ending in 1990, with 1,983 units built.

9:46

Lamborghini Diablo

Marcello Gandini · 1990

The Lamborghini Diablo is a longitudinal, mid-engined V12 sports car built from 1990 to 2001. It was Lamborghini’s first production car over 200 mph, first AWD model (VT, 1993), and first open-top V12 (roadster, 1995). Marcello Gandini created the original design proposal. Its 5.7 L V12 produced 492 PS and 580 N⋅m, achieving 325 km/h and 0–100 km/h in 4.5 seconds. It prioritises top-speed capability over agility, refinement or usability.

9:48

Lamborghini Espada

Marcello Gandini · 1968

The Lamborghini Espada is a Gandini-designed, Bertone-bodied, front-engine, rear-wheel-drive grand touring coupé built between 1968 and 1978. It replaced the 400 GT 2+2 and shared mechanical underpinnings with the Islero. Three series were produced: S1 (1968–1970), S2 (1970–1972), and S3 (1972–1978). Gandini drew inspiration from the Marzal and Pirana show cars and prioritised vehicle architecture, construction, assembly, and mechanisms over styling.

10:57

Lancia Stratos

Marcello Gandini · 1973

The Lancia Stratos is a rear mid-engined rally car designed by Marcello Gandini for Lancia and Bertone. It debuted as a fluorescent red prototype at the 1971 Turin Motor Show with a crescent-shaped wrap-around windshield and a mid-mounted Dino Ferrari V6. Its final production form, the Stratos HF Stradale, featured a 2.4 L V6 and was built from 1973 to 1975 in 492 units. It won the World Rally Championship in 1974, 1975 and 1976.

8:52

Lancia Stratos Zero

Marcello Gandini · 1950

The Lancia Stratos Zero is a 1970 Bertone-Lancia concept car designed by Marcello Gandini, built on a crashed Lancia Fulvia HF1600 rally chassis, featuring a radical low-slung fiberglass body, digital instrumentation, and a mid-rear-mounted 1.6 L V4 engine.

8:55

Maserati Khamsin

Marcello Gandini · 1974

The Maserati Khamsin is a Gandini-designed, Bertone-built grand tourer produced by Maserati between 1974 and 1982. It debuted as a concept at the 1972 Turin Auto Show, entered production after being shown at the 1973 Paris Motor Show, and was developed under Citroën ownership as a front-engined alternative to the mid-engined Bora.