Marcello Gandini 1938-2024: his most brilliant designs in pictures

The legendary car designer Marcello Gandini, who shaped some of the best known and most revered Italian cars of all time, and many beyond Italy too, has died at the age of 85.

The Turin native, widely recognised as one of the most prolific and influential car designers of his era, made a name for himself in the mid-1960s while working for the storied Bertone design house, where he was responsible for such icons as the Lamborghini Miura, Lancia Stratos and Ferrari 308/GT4 - Maranello's only Bertone-designed car.

We pay tribute to Sr Gandini and his great work by looking at his finest designs:

Lamborghini Miura (1966)

This one's a bit controversial because Gandini designed the Miura when he was working for the Bertone design studio, after he'd replaced Giorgetto Giugiaro. The latter claims he's responsible for at least some of the Miura's design but Gandini says no – and that's something Lamborghini agrees with.

Porsche 911 Roadster (1966)

If you had to put money on what underpinned this concept, you'd probably lose your bet as Gandini's rendition of the 911 couldn't have been much different from Porsche's own.

The car was commissioned by Porsche's Californian distributor Johnny von Neumann, who reckoned there was a market for a two-seater convertible – but there wasn't, as nobody ordered one once the concept had been unveiled at the 1966 Geneva motor show.

Jaguar FT 3.8 (1966)

As with the Porsche 911 Roadster, there were few visual clues to give away what provided the basis for the FT 3.8; it was a Jaguar S-Type.

Commissioned by Italian Jaguar importer Ferruccio Tarchini (hence the name FT 3.8), the plan was to offer a luxurious four-seat coupé with modern looks. But once the car had been unveiled at the 1966 Geneva salon just one more car was made, this time based on a Jaguar 420 platform.

BMW E3 (1966)

BMW was going through radical changes during the mid-1960s, the company having to reinvent itself to stave off bankruptcy. First came the Neu Klasse saloons, above which sat the New Six, codenamed E3.

The initial plan was to have power supplied by a 1.8- or 2.0-litre four-cylinder engine, but by the time the car reached production in 1968 it came with six-cylinder powerplants that displaced between 2.5 and 3.3 litres.

Alfa Romeo Montreal (1967)

In 1967 the World Fair was held in Montreal, Canada and to mark the occasion Alfa Romeo commissioned the Italian carrozzeria Bertone to design and build two examples of a concept.

The brief was "to express man's ultimate aspirations in the field of motor cars" and a rather sleek coupé was the result. Based on a 1.6-litre Alfa Romeo Giulia Sprint coupé, the unnamed concepts went down a storm with visitors and the media, who clamoured for the car to be built. A production version was unveiled in 1970, now powered by a 2.6-litre V8. Production ended in 1977 with fewer than 4000 sold.

Fiat 125 Executive (1967)

Gandini reckoned that it wasn't necessary for a waistline to go from the nose of a car right through to the tail. He wanted to break from tradition with a car that featured a raised boot lid to increase carrying capacity, so when he came up with the Fiat 125 Executive in 1967, the styling was pretty radical for the time.

Although elements of the 125 Executive were used in later designs, the car itself remained unique.

Lamborghini Marzal (1967)

In silhouette the Marzal wasn't especially crazy – but in detail it most definitely was. From the slatted rear window to the fully glazed gull-wing doors and glass roof this concept was the result of a truly fertile imagination.

A fully running prototype, the Marzal broke cover at the 1967 Geneva motor show and was fitted with a 175bhp 2.0-litre straight-six – one half of a Miura 4.0-litre V12.

Jaguar Pirana (1967)

Once more Gandini did a brilliant job of masking the donor car for the Pirana, which was a Jaguar E-Type. The car was commissioned by The Daily Telegraph which was also the main sponsor of the Earls Court Motor Show; the Pirana would be the headline act at the 1967 show.

Bertone was given just five months to design and build the Pirana, with a budget for both of £20,000. Once the show was over the car was sold on; it's now in private hands in the US.

Lamborghini Miura Roadster (1968)

When Bertone made its Brussels Motor Show debut in 1968 it wanted something to display that would really wow the crowds. It had been thinking about an open-topped Miura since the car had been unveiled in 1966; in January 1968 the Miura Roadster was revealed.

Now with a V12 on full display, the windscreen was lowered along with the rear roof section. The air intake slats on the C-pillar were also widened and the rear spoiler reworked to accommodate redesigned tail lights. The car remained a one-off.

Alfa Romeo Carabo (1968)

When it comes to outlandish concepts, few are as out there as the Carabo which was the work once more of Bertone, using an Alfa Romeo Tipo 33 as its base.

With its scissor-action doors, extreme wedge profile and pop-up headlights the Carabo was futuristic and it was fast too, thanks to the fitment of a 230bhp 2.0-litre V8 mounted in the middle.

Lamborghini Espada (1968)

Just five years after Lamborghini came into being, it introduced its first four-seater to sell alongside a two-seater (Miura) and 2+2 (400GT).

Clearly derived from the Marzal show car, the Espada featured the same Bizzarrini-designed V12 as Lamborghini's other cars, mounted up front, rated at 325bhp and driving the rear wheels via a five-speed manual gearbox. At 155mph it was the world's fastest four-seater; by the time the final car was made in 1978, production ran to 1217 examples.

Fiat 128 Coupé Shopping (1969)

The 128 represented something of a turning point for Fiat as it was the company's first front-engined front-wheel drive car.

Liberated by this fact, Gandini went all-out to make something of it with a car that featured a slide-out shopping trolley or pram which could slot under the boot when it was packed away. An idea that resolutely refused to take off.

Autobianchi Runabout (1969)

The rear-engined Fiat 850 Spider had been introduced in 1965 and in anticipation of its replacement, this mid-engined concept was unveiled at the 1969 Turin salon to test reaction.

Inspired by the design of speedboats, the Runabout was badged as an Autobianchi, a marque that Fiat had recently acquired. The Runabout was a resounding success and as a result it went into production, albeit with a few subtle changes...

Lancia Stratos HF Zero (1970)

Concepts come no more dramatic than here, with a madly impractical wedge that was never destined for production, but it provided some escapism from the real world.

Powered by nothing more exciting than a 1.6-litre V4 engine taken from a crashed Lancia Fulvia, the Stratos Zero featured a row of 10 ultra-slim headlights in the razor-sharp nose; at the rear 84 bulbs created a ring of light. Now in private hands, the Stratos Zero was sold for €761,600 in 2011.

Lamborghini Jarama (1970)

Unless you're a serious Lamborghini afficionado you'd probably forgotten about the Jarama, which took over where the Islero took off (itself the replacement for the 400GT 2+2).

As before there was a 3929cc V12 in the nose and the car was littered with neat design details from the small spoiler above the rear window to the partially hidden headlights. But it wasn't a big seller; just 327 examples found buyers between 1970 and 1976.

Lancia Stratos (1971)

In 1971 Lancia was doing pretty well in rallying with its Fulvia coupé, but the car was getting on and rivals such as the Porsche 911 and Alpine A110 were giving it a hard time.

What was needed was a car built from the outset as a rally weapon, and the Stratos was the result. Fitted with the same 2.4-litre V6 as the Ferrari 246GT 'Dino', the Stratos made its motor sport debut in November 1972. By 1974 it was dominating road racing and rallying – it won the World Rally Championship in 1974, 1975 and 1976.

Citroën Camargue (1972)

Based on the contemporary Citroën GS, the Camargue represented the first time that Bertone worked with Citroën. First seen at the 1972 Geneva motor show, this sleek coupé was essentially a GS 2+2 proposal aimed at style-conscious young buyers who didn't care much about practicality.

But Citroën was in dire straits and by 1973 the company was on its knees. Peugeot bought a stake in the company in 1974 and in 1976 the two companies merged to create PSA.

BMW 5 Series (E12, 1972)

Still a staple of the BMW range, 46 years after it was first seen, this is where the 5 Series bloodline began. After the success of the E3 saloons BMW needed to replace the Neu Klasse saloons that had brought it back from the brink in the 1960s.

The 5 Series was that car, offered with a range of four- and six-cylinder petrol engines and only in saloon form. However, late in production there was a hot edition: the M535i which was the precursor to the M5 that arrived with the next generation of 5-Series, the E28 – which looked barely different from the E12.

Audi 50 (1972)

In the late 1960s and early 1970s, across Europe car makers were turning to hatchbacks with a vengeance. Front-wheel drive was becoming increasingly popular and to keep up with this trend Volkswagen and Audi wanted to develop a range of family-focused FWD hatches.

To kick things off Italdesign was commissioned to build a small family hatch (the Golf) while Bertone was asked to create a supermini. Working for Bertone, Gandini came up with the Audi 50 which soon after would also be offered as the VW Polo; by 1978 the car was offered only as a Volkswagen as Audi moved upmarket.

Fiat X1/9 (1972)

Clearly derived from the Autobianchi A112 Runabout, the X1/9 was a breath of fresh air for sports car fans as it was the first truly affordable mid-engined sportster.

Initially powered by a 1.3-litre engine, later would come a 1.5-litre unit. By the time the final cars were made (now badged as Bertones rather than Fiats), production totalled around 160,000.

NSU Trapeze (1973)

Now long forgotten, just like the marque that sired it, the NSU Trapeze was based on the ill-fated NSU Ro80 – a car that scooped the 1968 Car of the Year award but then went on to bankrupt its maker.

Featuring a rotary engine and front-wheel drive, the Trapeze borrowed much from the Lancia Stratos with its deep wrap-around windscreen and pronounced wedge profile. But unlike the Stratos the Trapeze had its compact engine mounted over the rear axle, which allowed the rear seats to be pushed further back.

By moving the front seats to the centre of the car the rear seats were on either side of the engine to provide a massive amount of leg room, to one side of each front seat. It's an idea that failed to catch on though...

Lamborghini Urraco (1973)

First seen at the 1970 Turin salon, it would be another three years before the Urraco 2+2 went on sale. When it did so it failed to capture the imagination of buyers who were underwhelmed by the performance of its 217bhp mid-mounted 2.5-litre V8.

The car was badly built too; the 247bhp Urraco P300 tackled the disappointing performance but it was still really badly built so buyers stayed away. Just 791 Urracos were made between 1973 and 1979.

Lamborghini Espada four-door (1973)

After five years on sale the Espada was still in demand, but Lamborghini needed to plan a replacement. The problem is that the company couldn't afford to develop something all new, so Gandini was tasked with coming up with an evolution of the Espada.

The result was a four-door coupé with pop-up headlamps and a wheelbase stretched by four inches over the production car. But sadly the car didn't get beyond the drawing board.

Ferrari Dino 308 GT4 (1973)

Enzo Ferrari was famously opposed to putting the engine in a car anywhere other than the front. He felt it was wrong to put it behind the car's occupants, but when the Miura kick-started a mid-engined sports car revolution he was forced to take notice.

The 206 GT 'Dino' was the result in 1968, then in 1973 came Ferrari's first car with a mid-mounted V8. The 308GT4 2+2 marked the start of a continuous line of mid-engined V8s, although Ferrari gave up on mid-engined four-seaters with the demise of the Mondial in 1993.

Lamborghini Countach (1974)

When it comes to production cars with visual drama, nothing can top the original Lamborghini Countach, unveiled in concept form at the 1971 Geneva motor show.

When the car went into production three years later it looked no less dramatic, carrying over the Miura's 4.0-litre mid-mounted V12. By the time the final car was made in 1990, the engine had grown to 5.2 litres.

Maserati Khamsin (1974)

Probably the lowest-profile Maserati of the last 40 years, the Khamsin used the same 4.9-litre V8 as the Bora, but whereas that car featured a mid-mounted powerplant, in the Khamsin the V8 was in the front. This was to free up space further back as the Khamsin was a 2+2 which came in manual or automatic forms.

Production ran from 1974 until 1982, with 435 examples made.

Lamborghini Bravo (1974)

Bertone and Lamborghini were working very closely in the early 1970s. The former was building the Urraco for the latter so when Bertone wanted to come up with a tasty concept to unveil at the Turin motor show, a two-seater Urraco with a chopped wheelbase was just the job.

Lamborghini even came up with a beefier 3.0-litre V8, rated at 300bhp. Fully driveable, there were glorious details everywhere you looked, but sadly the car remained a one-off, although it does survive in private hands.

Innocenti 90/120 (1974)

Better known for its Lambretta scooters, Innocenti built the Mini under licence from 1961 until 1976; by 1972 British Leyland had taken over Innocenti altogether.

Innocenti had been working on a new supermini with a two-cylinder 750cc engine, but when BL got involved it ditched the planned powertrain and instead fitted Mini mechanicals in the form of a 998cc or 1275cc A-Series engine. The result was a mechanically simple hatchback that looked modern and stylish.

Maserati Quattroporte II (1974)

The original Quattroporte did pretty well for Maserati. In production for eight years and with 776 examples sold, a replacement was overdue when the Quattroporte II (QPII) was unveiled in 1974.

But by this point Citroën had acquired Maserati and insisted on the QPII being based on the front-wheel drive SM, powered by a 3.0-litre V6. Then Citroën went belly up and Maserati was sold to De Tomaso which was already building the rival Deauville. As a result just a dozen or so QPIIs were made, for sale outside Europe where the car wasn't homologated for sale.

Fiat Visitors Bus (1975)

Fiat had been the first to market with a people carrier, with its 600-based Multipla, superseded by the slightly bigger 850T in 1965. By 1975 that MPV was starting to look dated so it tasked Bertone with penning a replacement.

Gandini came up with the weirdly named Visitors Bus, still based on the 850 platform and complete with six doors for easier access to the three rows of seats. It remained a fully driveable one-off though, and was used by Fiat for conducting tours of its factories.

Lamborghini Silhouette (1976)

Lamborghini was in dire straits throughout pretty much the whole of the 1970s and when its Urraco refused to be a sales success the decision was made to create a two-seater junior supercar which might prove more popular.

But there wasn't the cash to develop a new car from scratch so a Urraco spin-off was needed. That was the Silhouette which featured the same 3.0-litre V8 as the Urraco, now tuned to give 260bhp. But the targa-roofed Silhouette proved even harder to sell and just 52 were made by the time Lamborghini went into receivership in 1979.

Ferrari 308GT Rainbow (1976)

With Ferrari working so closely with Pininfarina, as it had done for years, Bertone wasn't in a position to get involved in any major collaboration with the Maranello-based car maker.

So instead of coming up with yet another lithe prancing horse, Bertone opted for something more provocative with its 308GT Rainbow, unveiled at the 1976 Turin Salon. A mass of straight lines and intersecting planes, the Rainbow was based on a 308GT4 platform shortened by four inches. While it was hardly beautiful it was innovative, as the roof panel could be rotated to stow behind the two seats to create an open-topped sports car.

Alfa Romeo Navajo (1976)

This is what concept cars used to be all about – flights of fancy that never stood a chance of going into production. In the case of the Navajo it was the Alfa Romeo 33 Stradale that donated its platform and vital organs, which meant there was a mid-mounted 230bhp 2.0-litre V8.

The headlights flipped out sideways, the rear spoiler was adjustable depending on the Navajo's speed while inside, the minimalist cabin featured a dashboard inspired by those of contemporary fighter jets.

Jaguar Ascot (1977)

Gandini was clearly in love with straight lines throughout the 1970s, because with his designs there wasn't a curve in sight. Take the Ascot for example; if you had to hazard a guess as to what it was based on the chances are that you'd never guess it was the Jaguar XJ-S.

As a result the Ascot packed a 5.3-litre V12, there was hatchback practicality and an interior swathed in suede that looked nothing like the Jaguar offering.

Lancia Sibilo (1978)

If you were at the 2018 Geneva motor show you'll have seen this concept, now looking terribly dated. But when it was first shown four decades earlier the Sibilo looked amazing.

Based on the Lancia Stratos and fitted with that car's 2.4-litre V6, the Sibilo's wedge profile was typical of the time, as were the pop-up headlights. Inside was a digital dash, which hopefully was more reliable than the contemporary Aston Martin Lagonda's, but probably wasn’t.

Volvo Tundra (1979)

When Volvo launched its 300 Series in 1976 it was everything you'd expect of this very conservative Swedish car maker; dull to look at, dull to drive and decidedly non-sporting.

Bertone saw an opportunity to court the company by reclothing a 343; the result was the Tundra. Power came from a 1.4-litre engine that drove the rear wheels via a four-speed manual transmission. Nothing like conservative enough for the suits at Volvo, the Tundra remained a one-off, but Bertone would dust down the designs a few years later for a five-door production hatch...

Renault 5 Turbo (1980)

The Renault 5 was a brilliant design, but by 1980 it was starting to look rather familiar. Something was needed to sex things up a bit; a mid-engined edition with pumped-up bodywork would be just the job.

Gandini was tasked with creating a design that shared virtually nothing with the original 5; pretty much every panel was changed along with the powertrain and running gear. Originally intended to be a show car to revitalise the 5 turned into a rally champ, and by the time production of the Renault 5 Turbo was wound up in 1983, a healthy 1690 examples had been sold.

The Turbo 2 that followed lasted until 1986, with another 3176 units made.

Mazda Luce (1981)

We wonder how many of these are left. The Mazda Luce/929/Cosmo was the last piece of work that Gandini undertook for Bertone, before he went freelance in 1980.

The brief was to come up with two different four-door saloons (one conventional, one more sporty) plus a two-door coupé. While the design was pleasant enough, it was the mechanicals that were the most interesting as this was the only car ever made that was offered with petrol or diesel piston engines along with a range of rotary units. But not all together.

Citroën BX (1982)

For years Gandini had been designing angular concepts, none of which had got anywhere near production. They were all far too radical for conservative car makers – but not Citroën, which embraced the boxy look wholeheartedly.

Created to take over where the GSA left off, the BX came in hatchback or estate flavours, both with five doors. Key requirements for the car were light weight (900kg for the base model) and long service intervals, the latter leading to the advertising strapline "loves driving, hates garages".

Renault 5 Mk2 (1984)

The original 5 had been such a huge success for Renault that a successor didn't need to be radically different, just more modern. With 5.5 million sold over 14 years, more of the same was required and Gandini did a brilliant job of taking the original Michel Boué design and bringing it into the 1980s.

In came flush glazing, improved aerodynamics, a stronger bodyshell and 20% more glazing. This second take on the formula didn't capture the imagination of buyers as its predecessor had done, but it was still a great success for Renault.

Cizeta V16T (1988)

In the late 1980s the global economy was on a high. There was more wealth about than ever and a whole raft of luxury car companies sprang up to meet the demand.

One of them was Cizeta, initially bankrolled by musician Giorgio Moroder and created by legendary automotive engineer Claudio Zampolli. The ex-Lamborghini development team wanted to create the ultimate supercar and it's fair to say that their V16-engined beat all rivals, with its 520bhp output and claimed 204mph top speed. But just 20 or so were made before the company was wound up.

Maserati Shamal (1989)

When Alejandro de Tomaso bought Maserati from Citroën in the 1970s he decided to chase volume by building a BMW 3-Series rival. The result was the Biturbo which was badly made, unreliable, expensive and dull to look at.

Amazingly, it sold badly and by the end of the 1980s Fiat had taken a 49% stake in a sick Maserati. The decision was taken to take the Biturbo upmarket with the two-door Karif, then to take that car even further upmarket with the pumped-up 326bhp Shamal. But once again sales success proved elusive and just 369 Shamals were made between 1989 and 1996.

Lamborghini Diablo (1990)

Taking over where the Countach left off, the Diablo might have looked slightly less scary but it was still a monster. The first 5.7-litre cars packed a 485bhp punch; by the time the last Diablo was built in 2001 the engine had grown to six litres with a power output of as much as 575bhp.

De Tomaso Pantera Si (1991)

Two decades after the De Tomaso Pantera first hit the road, a rehashed version by Gandini was revealed. Called the Si, the brief was to retain the original car's structure, doors and windscreen but the rest could be modified to bring the car as up to date as possible.

With softer lines but heavier looks, the revamped Pantera looked superb. But just 44 were made, four of which were converted into targas by the coachbuilder Pavesi.

Bugatti 035 (1991)

When Bugatti was revived by Romano Artioli in the late 1980s, he briefed four designers to come up with something special for his proposed supercar.

Paolo Martin, Giorgetto Giugiaro, Nuccio Bertone and Marcello Gandini was commissioned and it was the latter's design that was chosen. Angular and dramatic, four prototypes were made before the finished design was produced – the production EB110 as we know it. However, while the prototypes (as pictured) were the work of Gandini, the production car was penned by Giampolo Benedini.

Nissan AP-X (1993)

It may have looked futuristic at first glance, but the intention with the AP-X was that if Nissan had wanted to put the car into production, it could have done so pretty much straight away.

Potentially capable of replacing the S-13 200SX and 240SX along with the Z32 300ZX, the AP-X featured a 3.0-litre V6 up front driving the rear wheels via a CVT. With hatchback practicality and a surprisingly conservative interior the AP-X could have been a great addition to the Nissan product range, but sadly it wasn't to be.

Maserati Quattroporte IV (1994)

Gandini's Maserati II proposal may have gone nowhere but his design for a fourth-generation Quattroporte was rather more successful. Whereas previous QPs were intended to be luxury saloons along the lines of the Mercedes S-Class, the QP IV was intended to go up against the BMW M5, which had got most of the sports saloon market to itself.

Based on a stretched Ghibli II platform the QP IV featured a twin-turbo 2.8-litre V6 rated at 287bhp; later would come a 3.2 V8 rated at 335bhp.

De Tomaso Bigua (1996)

Just 284 of these two-seater coupé-cabriolets were made, initially wearing De Tomaso Bigua badges. De Tomaso then revived the Mangusta label from the 1960s, but when that company ducked out of the project the car became known as the Qvale Mangusta; Qvale was the company that had built the car all along.

By 2002 it was all over and Qvale sold the Mangusta project to MG-Rover which then redesigned it to become the SV – which went on to become another sales disaster.

Stola S81 (2000)

Founded in 1919, Stola has enjoyed a century of success in design and prototyping despite its rather low profile. Stola's relationship with Gandini had begun in the late 1980s with the development of the Bugatti EB110. In 1996 Stola decided to start producing concept cars to promote its skills; four years later, at the 2000 Turin Salon, the S81 was unveiled.

As it was 30 years since Gandini's original Stratos design was shown he was asked to do a 21st century version of that car. The result was a non-running prototype designed to accommodate a mid-mounted Maserati V8 from the Quattroporte.

Stola S86 Diamante (2005)

Unveiled at Geneva in 2005, this project was signed off just five weeks before the show opened so Gandini didn't have much time to come up with a design for this interesting non-running concept car.

Marcello Gandini, born in Turin 26 August 1938, died in Rivoli, 13 March 2024