GIORGETTO GIUGIARO
Chairman ITALDESIGN GIUGIARO

Born on 7th August 1938 in Garessio, near the market-town of Cuneo in north-west Italy, Giorgetto was always likely to have an artistic future. His grandfather, Luigi, painted church frescoes. His father, Mario, alternated between decorative religious art and oil painting. Giorgetto was clearly born into a family steeped in the arts; nevertheless, his career came about more by accident than by deliberate choice.
After moving to Turin, Giorgetto switched between art, at the specialist school he attended by day, and technical design, at evening classes. June 1955 marked a turning point: Giorgetto indulged a passion for sketching automobiles and his drawings were seen by Dante Giacosa, Technical Director of Fiat, at the end-of-year exhibition of the technical drawing course.
Giacosa had a sharp eye and was quick to observe a talent behind these sketches and, in September 1955, Giorgetto joined Fiat in its Special Vehicle Design Study Department led by Fabio Luigi Rapi.
However, finding it impossible, in a large organisation such as Fiat, to grow rapidly, he took a giant step and, in December 1959, became Head of the Bertone Styling Centre. >

Nuccio Bertone invested everything in this twenty-one-year-old prodigy and excellent results were the reward for his apparently risky decision. At the same time, Giugiaro readily acknowledges that he owes his career as a designer to Nuccio Bertone, for his guidance and his advice. The years he spent under his wing, in fact, were fundamental for his training and allowed him to carve out a niche for himself on the Turin design scene. He first made his name with designs for both concept cars (Aston Martin DB4 GT Jet of 1961, Maserati 5000 GT dated 1961, Ferrari 250 GT developed in 1962, Chevrolet Corvair Testudo presented in 1963, A.R. Canguro unveiled in 1964) and production models (A.R. 2000/2600 Sprint - 1960, BMW 3200 CS - 1961, Iso Rivolta Grifo 300/340 GT - 1962, A.R. Giulia GT - 1963, Fiat 850 spider - 1965, Mazda Luce 1500/1800 - 1965, Fiat Dino coupe – 1967).After six highly intense years, in November 1965, he left to join the management of Ghia, another firm of coachbuilders. Here, he was responsible for the styling centre and the prototyping division: Maserati Ghibli and De Tomaso Mangusta date back to this period (they were both presented at the Turin Motor Show in 1966). Some of the research prototypes developed while working for Ghia are Fiat 850 Vanessa (1966) and Oldsmobile Toronado Thor (1967); as for the production cars noteworthy are Isuzu 117 coupe (1966) and Iso Rivolta Fidia (1967). >

This association was extremely fertile, but, more and more, Giugiaro was nurturing a desire for independence and tension mounted with the arrival of new ownership.
On 7th February 1967, Giugiaro founded his first company, Ital Styling, where he continued to work with Ghia on a freelance basis but where he also prepared to take a leap into the unknown. He would invest his professional and financial capital in a global challenge, a professional services company for the motor industry. And hence ITALDESIGN was born.
Under the ITALDESIGN-GIUGIARO trademark Giugiaro has officially styled over 200 cars then mass-produced, besides developing many others under wraps for the world's top manufacturers.
Giugiaro-designed production cars include Maserati Bora, Merak and Quattroporte (1971-1976), A.R. Alfasud, Alfetta GT/GTV and Alfasud Sprint (1971-1976), Lotus Esprit (1972), Hyundai Pony, Stellar, Pony Excel, Presto and Sonata (1974- 1988), Audi 80 4000 (1978), BMW M1 (1978), De Lorean DMC 12 (1981), Isuzu Piazza, Gemini- Spectrum and Gemini (1981-1984), Saab 9000 Turbo 16 (1984), Seat Ibiza, first and second series (1984/1993), Malaga, Toledo first and second series (1991/1998), Cordoba and Cordoba coupe (1985-1995), Renault 21 and 19 (1986/1988), Chrysler Eagle Premier (1987), ZCZ Florida (1988), Subaru SVX (1991), Lexus GS 300 (1993); >

Daihatsu Move (1998) and Mira (2003), Daewoo Lanos notchback and hatchback, Leganza (1997), Matiz (1998) and Magnus/Evanda (2000), Kalos (2002) and Lacetti (2003).
He also designed Volkswagen's new-look cars for the 70s: Passat (1973), Scirocco (1974) and Golf (1974). The model Gallardo for Lamboghini was launched in 2003.
Collaboration with Fiat Group, which began in 1975, led to the creation of the new Lancia range - Delta ("Car of the Year 1980"), Prisma and Thema (1982/1984) -, the Fiat Panda ("Golden Compasses '81"), the Uno ("Car of the Year 1984"), the Croma (1985), the Punto ("Car of the Year 1995") and the Punto convertible (1993), plus Maserati 3200GT (1998), and the restyling of Fiat Palio, Palio Weekend and Siena (2000), Maserati 4200 GT and Maserati Spyder (2001), Fiat Idea (2003), Alfa 156 (2003) the new Fiat Palio (2003).
Noteworthy among Giugiaro's advanced research prototypes for sports cars are the Bizzarrini Manta (1968), Volkswagen-Porsche Tapiro (1970), Maserati Boomerang (1972), Audi Karmann Asso di Picche (1973), Lotus Etna (1984), Ford Maya (1984), Aztec (1988), the Nazca project (1991-1993), Lamborghini Calà (1995), A.R. Scighera and Scighera GT (1997), W12 Syncro and Roadster (1997/1998) Aston Martin Twenty Twenty (2001). >

His innovative concept cars include Lancia Medusa (1980), Lancia Orca (1982), Marlin (1984), Oldsmobile Incas (1986), Machimoto (1986), Jaguar Kensington (1990) and Lexus Landau (1994). The two citycars Biga (1992) and Lucciola (1993), both hybrid prototypes with electric traction, reveal Giugiaro's sensitivity to the pressing problem of the environment, while his Bugatti EB112 won the widest critical acclaim. Over the years Giugiaro has also developed the space-wagon theme with the A.R. New York Taxi (1976), the Lancia Megagamma (1978), the Capsula (1982), the Together (1984), the Asgard (1988), the Columbus (1992), the Structura (1998), the Maserati Buran (2000), the offroader ID Touareg (2000).
At the 2002 edition of the Geneva International Motor Show, Giorgetto Giugiaro unveiled the Alfa Romeo Brera , a two-seater plus room for two children coupe, with bodyshell entirely in carbon fiber and a powerful 90° V-shaped mid-front eight-cylinder engine of more than 4,000 cm3 delivering 400 HP. The car was recently awarded as “Concept Car of the Year” and “Best Exterior Concept” by the international magazine Automotive News.
At the 2003 NAIAS – Detroit Auto Show, Giorgetto Giugiaro presented the Kubang Maserati Concept, a GT Wagon concept, a pure GT and a real Wagon, named after a Javan wind, as is traditional for Maseratis, the Kubang is the result of the combination of a 390 bhp Maserati eight-cylinder “V” engine and a versatile body that promises the same standard of safety and >

efficiency as a thoroughbred sports car.
At the yearly rendez-vous with the Geneva Motor Show, Fabrizio and Giorgetto Giugiaro unveiled on March 4th 2003 the Moray project, embodying the homage that the Giugiaros wished to pay to the fifty-year era of the Chevrolet Corvette, the supreme symbol of the American sports car.
For the 2004 edition of the Geneva Show, Giorgetto Giugiaro created in the throw of freedom Visconti , proposal for an Alfa Romeo flagship with innovative architecture that may also go straight into series production. In truth of word, the Visconti sees inception from a specific evolution of the Premium Platform, as put in place by Alfa Romeo for the Alfa 156 new generation and for the Brera Coupé production. In the same edition of the Geneva Motor Show Italdesign Giugiaro unveiled a 3 seats Hybrid powered sport coupe with Toyota brand.
The car, named Alessandro Volta and designed by Mr. Giugiaro’s son Fabrizio, represents a perfect example of how a green power plants can also be high performance car. Thank to a combination of internal combustion engine and two electric motors, one on each axle, the car has a total output of about 300 Kw/408 hp with a top speed of about 250 Km/h and an acceleration from 0 to 100 Km/h in 4 .03 seconds. >

Since 1974 Giugiaro set up an Industrial Design Business Unit co-operating with prestigious national and international companies to develop medium- and large-scale production projects for many industrial sectors: Aermec, Agusta Costruzioni Aeronautiche, Alstom Ferroviaria, Ansaldo Breda, Apple, Baglietto, Bridgestone, Bburago, Beretta, Cantieri Nautici Cranchi, Castrol, Cinova, Comar, Del Tongo, Ferrero, Fiam, Guangzhou Motors Group, Japan Science and Technology Corporation, L’Oreal, Luxottica, Merloni Indesit, Nikon, Okamura, Piaggio, Seiko, Sanpellegrino, Shiseido, Swatch, Telecom, Telepiù, Telit, Trenitalia, Urmet and many more.
Giugiaro has won numerous design awards, the most prestigious of which include the SIAD Silver Medal of the British Society of Artists and Industrial Designers in 1980 and the special ADI “Golden Compasses” for coachwork design in 1984. In the same year the Royal College of Art in London awarded him an honorary degree in design "in acknowledgement of the great esteem his work commands in the United Kingdom". In November 1995 “The Golden Steering-Wheel” was awarded to his figure and career and a second one to his Fiat Punto design.
In July 1996 Giugiaro got an honorary degree in design by the University of Rousse (Bulgaria) “for his extraordinary creative contribution to the contemporary industrial design”. >

In 1998 he became President of the Bid Committee of Turin as candidate city for Olympic Winter Games in 2006; on June 19th 1999 the CIO Commission in Seoul assigned the Games to Turin.
Giugiaro is a public figure whose views are sought internationally, not only with regard to cars and design, but also to world affairs. Worthy of particular mention have been his speeches to the International Design Conference in Aspen (Colorado) and the world congresses of the ICSID (International Council of Societies of Industrial Design) in Milan in 1983 and Nagoya in 1989, and his report on the future of cars to the "Assises Mondiales de l'Automobile" in Paris (1989).
In 1985 Giugiaro was elected to the Management Committee of ADI (Italian Industrial Design Association), and held a course on design at the Faculty of Architecture in Turin.
In 1999 the Italian President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi awarded Giorgetto Giugiaro the title of “Cavaliere del Lavoro” in recognition of its achievements in the sphere of Employment relations.
In 1999, on December 18th, in Las Vegas, a jury of more than 120 journalists coming from all over the world, has elected Giorgetto Giugiaro as Car Designer of the Century. >

In 2000 the magazine “Automotive News Europe” has nominated Giorgetto Giugiaro, among other 12 “immortals” of the European Car Industry, in the European Hall of Fame in Geneva Palexpo, site of the annual International Motor Show. On June 17th 2001 Giorgetto Giugiaro gets the Lifetime Design Achievement Award by the Detroit Eyes on Design.
On October 15th 2002 Giorgetto Giugiaro was awarded place of honor at the Detroit “AUTOMOTIVE HALL OF FAME”. His name is now engraved for eternity among the heritage of personalities that made, and continue to make, masterly automobile excellence. On November 22nd 2002: Giugiaro got an honorary degree in architecture by the Naples Seconda Università di Napoli.
May 2003: the UNC Cordoba University di Cordoba (in Argentina) and the College for Creative Studies in Detroit conferred Giugiaro an Honorary Degree in Architecture. Frankfurt 2003: Giorgetto Giugiaro is one of the 16 Automotive News Europe “Eurostar” 2003 winners.
Bruxssels Auto Show – January 14th 2004 : Prince Philip of Belgium awarded Giorgetto Giugiaro the European Automotive Design Award for his career. On September 16th 2004 : Giugiaro got the XX Award ADI “Golden Compasses” for the Alfa Romeo Brera design.
Giugiaro is a public figure whose views are sought internationally, not only with regard to cars and design, but also to world affairs. >

Worthy of particular mention have been his speeches to the International Design Conference in Aspen (Colorado) and the world congresses of the ICSID (International Council of Societies of Industrial Design) in Milan in 1983 and Nagoya in 1989, and his report on the future of cars to the "Assises Mondiales de l'Automobile" in Paris (1989). In 1985 Giugiaro was elected to the Management Committee of ADI (Italian Industrial Design Association) and held a course on design at the Faculty of Architecture in Turin. >