Theirs was an innovative formula for the automobile industry: creation of a services company for the large, multinationals operating in the sector. The intuition of a young designer and a proven architect on the future trends of the automobile market, where the great carmakers outsource the entire design of a vehicle or phases of the new vehicle development process, with the intention of expanding the range of products in a short time, substantially reducing the “time to market” of new models.

The partnership between Giorgetto Giugiaro and Aldo Mantovani has proven to be a winning one from the start, enhancing the fusion of creativity and solid skills, style and design.

It all started with an important job: the Alfasud design for Alfa Romeo, which had the honour of being the first major assignment for a new vehicle (and a new production unit to locate in Southern Italy).
The assignment included the stylistic research and realization of models, the structural design and construction of the first prototypes for the bench tests and road tests, redacting a production plan, assistance in the start up phases of production on the assembly and finishing line.
Concurrently, Giugiaro immediately opened a research laboratory, which would characterise the company activities in the years to come.
The experimental “prototype” was made without a specific customer job order: it is a media that boosted the image of the company and which allowed it to propose new stylistic and aesthetic features as well as stimulating and provocative ideas in terms of functional and performance solutions, technological innovations and new materials.

The Bizzarrini Manta displayed at the Auto Show in Turin in 1968 was the first of more than 75 dream cars that the company has built and presented on every continent, earning its praise and eliciting an exceptional response from the press, radio and television and professionals in the sector.

the Seventies and Eighties >