Giorgetto Giugiaro Wins Italian Equivalent of Nobel Prize

Giorgetto Giugiaro was behind more iconic cars in the latter half of the 20th century than any designer. From ubiquitous cars like the original Volkswagen GolfVolkswagen Golf Gen.1Germany, 1974 > 19849 versions
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to supercars like the BMW M1 and Maserati BoraMaserati BoraItaly, 1971 > 19781 photo
, Giugiaro had his hand in dozens of cars from the 60s through the 90s. He eventually founded ItaldesignItaldesignItaly, 1968 > present25 models
173 photos
. His latest accolade is winning the Premio Feltrinelli, which is awarded every five years and considered the Italian Nobel Prize.

Giugiaro won in the Art category, and the award committee said its reason was that “he can be considered the top living designer for his ability to apply the Italian creative fanciness in the area of the automobile, trains and industrial products, harmonizing aesthetics and engineering.”

Giugiaro started his career at FiatFiatItaly, 1899 > present159 models
4864 photos
35 videos
but moved to BertoneBertoneItaly, 1912 > present11 models
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relatively quickly and created the Alfa Romeo Giulia SprintAlfa Romeo Giulia Sprint GTItaly, 1963 > 1966 as its first car for the company. He created the De Tomaso MangustaDe Tomaso MangustaItaly, 1967 > 19711 photo
, and eventually went to work for the coachbuilder GhiaGhiaItaly, 1914 > present2 models
4 photos
. By 1968, Giugiaro had already founded Italdesign and took the contract from Volkswagen to create the Golf, which launched the already well known designer into the stratosphere. At roughly the same time, he also penned the VW SciroccoVolkswagen Scirocco Gen.1Germany, 1974 > 19825 versions
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and PassatVolkswagen Passat Gen.1 [B1]Germany, 1973 > 198114 versions
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.

Giugiaro had a distinctive style for much of his career with angular lines on low-slung cars. Compare the looks of the Mangusta, Lotus EspritLotus EspritUnited Kingdom, 1975 > present1 photo
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, Delorean DMC-12De Lorean DMC-12United States of America, 1981 > 19823 photos
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and BMW M1 to notice the similarities.

Combining the work of Giugiaro and Italdesign, it is estimated that it has developed 200 car designs for production vehicles and concepts. Italdesign has also created the industrial design for a variety of products from liquor bottles to espresso makers. Volkswagen Group bought 90% of Italdesign in 2010, and the Giugiaro owns the remaining shares of the company. He is still has an active roll in the company and its designs.

Giugiaro was also named the Car Designer of the Century in 1999 by a jury of 132 auto journalists.

Source: Hemmings