MONCALIERI, Italy  Even after more than a half century as a car designer Giorgetto Giugiaro can think of nothing else he wants to do. His dedication to his craft has led to some impressive achievements.
Giugiaro, who turned 70 on August 7, has designed more than 200 cars during his 53-year professional career.
When combined, the total number of Giugiarodesigned vehicles produced stands at an estimated 60 million. It is easy to understand why Giugiaro has been so prolific.
During the week he gets to the office every morning by 9 a.m. and works until about 7:30 p.m.

“My normal business day includes a couple of hours at the drawing board, one hour of meetings with clients to discuss projects and the remaining time closely watching
the construction of styling models and prototypes,” Giugiaro said in an interview with Automotive News Europe. To save time and keep fit, he uses his bicycle to get around the campus of his company, Italdesign, which is located outside Turin. He is also at the office every other Saturday and, when needed to finish a project, he works on Sundays.

His five decades of service have made Giugiaro one of the most respected people in the auto industry. In 2000 he was named a member of the inaugrural class of the European Automotive Hall of Fame. During the interview with ANE, he shared some provocative views on future car design and provided an insider’s look at the tension that exists during the creation of a new model.

One size, no problem
Giugiaro would love it if lawmakers would impose a maximum size for automobiles.

“I think limiting the overall length by law to 4.5 meters and the height to 1.7 meters would allow us to make a car that fits any buyer’s needs,” he said.
He believes that cars with those proportions would be lighter than many cars on the road today. This means less CO2, a greenhouse gas EU lawmakers want carmakers to reduce significantly by 2012. The 4500mm-long car would be a premium vehicle, while a 3500mm-long car that could accommodate up to five passengers and their luggage would be for the mass market.

“I just designed a car of this size and it offers plenty of space,” he said.
In his view, shape matters more than size.

“I feel it is simply stupid to measure a car’s value and status based on its size,” he said.
“What really matters, what makes you different is the shape of the car – its design.”

Design freedom is no help
Giugiaro thinks that mandatory limits on a vehicle’s size would not affect design creativity.

“I have faced hundreds of new rules and I have welcomed all of them because boundaries stimulate creativity,” he said.
Giugiaro is convinced that total freedom – the mythical blank sheet that many designers would love to have from clients – is of no help.

“I have never sketched on a clean sheet of paper because that is art, not design. I have always worked on the technical layout, which includes the platform and the powertrain layout, to be sure everything I was designing was technically feasible.”
Although he was named designer of the 20th century in 1999, Giugiaro says that very few of his original design proposals went into production without any significant modifications.

“I would say the first VW Golf and Scirocco, as well the Audi 80, the Fiat Panda, Uno, Punto and Grande Punto, the Lancia Delta, the Alfa Brera and 159 and the Lexus GS300 went into production as I proposed them,” he said.
In many other cases, the customer asked for modifications that he said progressively altered the spirit of the original design.

“Every auto executive is convinced he understands design and wants to have a word – or even too many words – on it,” he said.
Giugiaro said that sometimes designers are treated like surgeons who are trusted fully with the style of a new model. But sometimes they are treated like a grocery clerk, who gets no feedback at all on the quality of the product.
Despite the sometimes-disrespectful treatment of his work, Giugiaro plans to continue expanding his legacy by perhaps trying something he had never done: work as a design consultant for an automaker.

“I have always been asked to offer my own proposal, but never to be a pure consultant,” he said. “This could be a really nice opportunity for a future development of my career.”