070910 Running Shapes

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The word “carrozziere” comes long before cars, being “coach builders” active in Italy since the 17th

Century. The four-wheeled suspended coach with open coffer came probably from Hungary, and it had

its first diffusion in Lomabrdy.

Lombardy and Milan perdominance in body-work was long, lasting until the end of the 19 th

Century. Touring Superleggera, Colli, Zagato, Boneschi, Belloni, Castagna, Sala, are just the most

important names of “carrozzieri” who stretched their activity until the car era.

But Torino, on the other hand, with its royal court, and consequently with a good catchment area,

was since the beginning one of the most important poles in the field, and saw more and more its

activity prevailng in comparison to Milano.

A headstone reminds the old roots, ratifying the birth of a craft-guild:

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The Royal Borgo Dora Workshop came to a yearly production of 6-800 coaches around 1860.

When automobiles appeared, in Torino several dozens of FDUUR]]HULH were already working (some

fifty together with Milan); in those workshops technicians did not just take care of the style, but also of

the mechanical bearing structure. In the following years, the relationship between the mechanical

engineer and the carrozziere would be a key point to produce good cars.

Such an enviroment (it could be called a district) determined, already in 1899, the presence of seven

motor builders; they became 21 in 1907 (on an overall number of 61 in Italy). Wars, first of all the

Lybian Campaign, and then the two World conflicts, gave another impulse to production, although at



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the same time many builders were merged in Fiat, which was almost a monopoly actor already in the

Twenties.

The period spanning from the beginnings of the car era and World War I saw some evident

features in the field of car shaping (we mainly refer to medium and big cars):

- an independent and portante chassis,on which the body is mounted;

- a good availability of qualified craftsmen;

- a low mechanization level in the bodies’ production, also in the case of large series cars;

- a subsequent diffusion of car bodies customisation, also through the direct contact between the

producer and the customer.

On the other hand, the period between the two World Wars saw the birth of some fifty further

FDUUR]]HULH in Torino. The prevailing line in the Twenties was the “Weymann” body, with wooden

structure and “pegamoid” fake leather covering, while in 1922 Lancia introduced the monocoque-type

body with Lambda. The chassis took a structural function, and for this reason the whole design and

construction of the car was to be accomplished within the factory itself. This forced the constitution of

a stronger link (if not a coincidence, as above mentioned) between designers and FDUUR]]LHUL .

In these years a typical phenomenon took place: in 1925 Michele Lanza’s (the first motor builder in

Torino) “Bizzarria” was conceived. Its body was so before expected times that it had to be called in,dismantled andreplaced with another more appropriate to times. The “fuoriserie” was born.

Some other works, especially due to war times, are worth reminding: fridge trucks, ambulances,

hospital trucks, tank trucks, buses, coaches and others. These are small productive niches, where some

names continued their activity for decades: among those, Conta, Farina and Fissore.

Despite since the late Twenties most car producers stopped producing and selling automotive

chassises, Fiat kept them on their price lists still for at least a decade. When the unitized body became

the only item produced by almost all car factories, the only opportunity to survive for the FDUUR]]LHUL was

the availability of the automotive chassises and the opportunity to rely on the dealers’ network of the

producer. All of this was possible with Fiat, that also let FDUUR]]LHUL use the communication facilities

embedded in its network.

In a world that, in the Thirties, substituted harness makers, body makers, plate shapers, painters

and upholsterers with huge tools, the small and suffering Italian car market kept the FDUUR]]LHUL alive.

At European and American level, car designers not only served the domestic market, but also had

foreign customers, as abroad they could have some “exotic” appeal. Two examples: the Alfa Romeo



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RLSS built in 1924 by Carrozzeria Castagna for the prince of Siam, and the Cadillac built in 1931 by

Pininfarina for Orcha’s marajah.

In those years there were mainly three kinds of actor in the European market:

- the “monotype cars” producers, with uniform bodies all built by the brand;

- the high-level chassis builders, which only seldom produced original bodies;

- the FDUUR]]LHUL , who worked for single customers or for small lots on high-level base structures.

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After World War II, the resumption of the activity for a defeated country as Italy was even more

difficult: in 1946 Italian car manufacturers were ostracized from the 6DORQGHO·DXWRPRELOH in Paris.

Pininfarina took advantage of this exclusion to set up a media event: with two cars parked in front

of the Grand Palais he obtained the attention of the newspapers, which will give the name of

“Antisalon” to this exhibit.

The following is an excerpt from Pininfarina’s autobiography 1DWRFRQO·DXWRPRELOH (“Born with the

car”), that talks about the epidose:

“With the deference of two IOLFV we found place for the two cars right in front of the exhibition

entrance. Therefore people that went in and out from the Grand Palais stopped to take a look.

Pleased of the comments, I started counting the hundreds of onlookers who were interested to the

Lancia or the Alfa… The morning after a newspaper published the news and some pictures of the

«Antisalon du carrossier turinois Pinin Farina»… Some orders followed; the agreements were

concluded «en plein air», in Genoa style; with strong hand tights and the business card exchange…

Oftimes someone in the crowd shouted: «Bravo Pinin Farina».

Every morning we got back to the Hall, and continued until the end of the exhibition. The last day,

the exhibition director, monsieur Mautin, said to me: «You have just earned a central place for the

next year». To me the war, not meaning only strafings, cannon shots and bread cards [but also the

powerlessness to put into practice his ideas], seemed to be ended that very day. I would not

perhaps have had greater succeess if we had assigned a stand in the first line of the Grand Palais.

But I must admit that in those times, with those particular political conditions, as soon as we

moved away from home we felt as migrant workers. And mortified migrant workers.

I would like to remind the importance that exhibitions had in those years, an importance that

lessened more and more until the loss of Torino exhibition, in favor of a more appealing kermesse

such as Bologna’s Motor Show. The exhibitions were the occasion for the public to see in the same

place and at the same time automobiles that were not simple to see, because there were not so

many official car dealers, and especially foreing cars were a rarity. They were also the chance for the



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constructors to broaden their visions and to match a wider context. They were places where getting

known, to tighten job relationships, to make transactions.”

In the international exhibitions Italian FDUUR]]LHUL rose to the occasion of leading the new shapes’

revolution, proving to be eclectic in embellishing cars from several brands (and of disparate

dimensions) and dynamic for the amount of models that they produced.

Drawing an Italy-France parallel we can clearly see it.

Let us consider four automobiles between 1947 and 1949: 1947 Cisitalia 202 Pininfarina; 1947

Delahaye 135 MS Letourneur et Marchand; 1949 Alfa Romeo 6C 2500 “Villa d’Este” Touring; 1949

Talbot-Lago T26 Figoni & Falaschi. Considering the two ’47 cars, the French one has typical pre-war

shapes and colour, while the car body is separated from the mudguards (obviously aerodynamic and

rounded) and from the headlights; on the other hand the Cisitalia introduces an integrated body, with a

very modern window / flank ratio, with the hood lower than the mudguards and an horizontal radiator

grill.

From top left, clockwise: Cisitalia 202 Pininfarina (1947); Delahaye 135 MS Letourneur et Marchand (1947); AlfaRomeo 6C 2500 “Villa d’Este” Touring (1949); Talbot-Lago T26 Figoni & Falaschi (1949)

It is true that Cisitalia was a very important concept, that started a new era in car body design (New

York MOMA still exhibits one), and is therefore a particular case.

But, as one looks at the production of the age, other cars had an advanced style as much and even

more than the Cisitalia. As an example, a 1947 Maserati prototype with rollaway headlights, barge flank

and waterdrop pavilion. Cisitalia was not therefore an unique case; it indeed was part of an integral

design philosophy, of a style tradition.



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Delahaye chassis was old, although prestigious. Cisitalia, on the other hand, was a compact

dimensions car, with less important mechanical features (the engine was just an upgraded 1100). Italians

had to adapt themselves to what they had.

Similar considerations stand for the two 1949 models: the Touring “Villa d’Este” also displayed a

curvy shape, a little more modeled and decorated in comaprision to the Cisitalia, but always of a great

modernity and beauty, while Figoni and Falaschi continued adopting an old formal approach, trying

furthermore to integrate the radiator grill and the headlights, although with a disputable result.

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At this point, FDUUR]]LHUL had to partially reinvent their work, on the one hand still designing the

external shape of car bodies, and on the other dedicating to the design of limited series cars which

would be built by the “big names”.

The challenge they had to face was not only design and to construct special pieces for special

customers, but also to design for the constructors who would produce in huge lots, in amounts of an

other order of magnitude, thus making the Italian style popular worldwide.

The transition of the FDUUR]]LHUL from the activity of designers-constructors to the one of pure “style

advisers” took place in the late Forties and during the following decade.

Since the Thirties the automotive industry had experienced some massive changes, especially in theUnited States, where almost all constructors created specific inner structures in order to redefine shapes

in a continuous way. The design process was systematic and embedded into the development process

and the commercial strategies: as an example, the “year model” strategy was a kind of “planned

obsolescence” in order to speed up change, and give way to a continuous activity of style centres.

Harley Earl was the first “style director” of an automotive company. Already in 1927 GM opened

an “art and colour” office, so that style becomed one of the more important issues at GM, as Earl

directly reported to the President, Alfred Sloan.

Already in the Thirties, in an American atelier several models could be seen inproduction process at

the same time, by the means of techniques which would be seen in Europe some thirty or forty years

later, like the reference planes, special equipments in order to measure and to check the bodies’

symmetry, or like the the clay prototypes. In those years in the USA took origin the idea of “concept

car”, a car that has nothing to do with production (an example is the 1938 Buick Y-Job), but is devoted

to promote the producers’ image demonstrating their innovation culture and rise the public interest.

In Europe, the situation was completely different. Creativity was not yet an embedded business

process; it still was something exceptional that could be entrusted to a talented person (like Bertoni at

Citröen or Revelli at Fiat), but that however was submitted to the technical direction.



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Big manufacturers had to design their cars for a market not clearly defined yet, with technologies

still to be proved (unitized body vehicles in molded plate, with integrated shapes) and for productive

volumes to which they were not used; but nearly nobody had the competences in order to design the

shapes.

For the FDUUR]]LHUL , on the contrary, creativity was the basic tool; they did not have to convince an

anonymous public, faceless, but real customers, with their tastes. They had to invent seductive shapes

and show the ability to anticipate them in the preliminary drawings in a convincing way. If there was

someone that could overwhelm the industry creative gap, these were the FDUUR]]LHUL .

In Italy the late Forties saw an general need of mobility; while at the same time the network of

handicraft excellence re-emerged from war ruins. Adventures like Cisitalia and Ferrari (although very

different since the beginning) took place, Maserati started back again in those years with some

ambition.

Pininfarina talks about the period: “In the same year (1948), Austin Motor Company asked me to

cooperate for the A40 and the A70 design; and some negotiation took place with the technical

manager. I started some relationship with the Bayerische Motoren Werke in Munich and, subsequently,

with Volkswagen: professor Heinz Nordhoff, who leaded Volkswagen for many years, and still is its

president, told me about his intention «to join in a car the Germanic technical experience with the Latin

sense for the harmonic and classic lines and shapes». In 1951, while the «Nash» was designed, it was the

time of Peugeot. Since then the French house lion was placed side by side to my «f» to a long-lasting and fecund relationship”.

Nash-Healy (1951)

At a time when European customs on imports were heavy, a foreign car was a rarity; national tastes

waere well defined, and the decision to entrust a car design abroad, and moreover in Italy, was not so

simple.

Some examples can give an idea of those times.



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Pininfarina was maybe the most representative of the Italian FDUUR]]LHUL ; along its activity we have

examples of successes and failures, famous models and unknown prototypes. Pininfarina, together with

the other FDUUR]]LHUL , carried out studies for almost all car manufacturers, in Europe, America and Asia.

Pininfarina was asked to work on a new Volkswagen prototype in 1952; this was an important

attempt to redefine Beetle mechanics. A 1960 advertisement showed the car from behind, while the

headline said: “We have thought to put our hands on the Beetle and we went to Pininfarina, who told

us: enlarge the rear window”. Instead of the classic two-pieces rear window, a bigger rectangular rear

window was introduced. The cooperation between the two companies had been therefore used like a

sales promotion tool1.

The 1948 Bentley Mk IV was not successful either: it is the unknown prototype of a car withEnglish chassis and mechanics, while the body had been designed by Pininfarina that should have been

produced in small series in France by French manufacturer Daninos, owner of a plate molding

company (the Facel Metallon) and future founder of Facel Vega, together with the Bentley importer for

France.

Peugeot 403 (conceived in 1951 and released in 1955) was on the other hand produced in 1,2

million units, thanks to the big French colonies market. Its prototype, still kept in Pininfarina

collection, was based on Fiat 1400 mechanics.

Some pictures of Peugeot 403 (1955)

Peugeot 404 (1960) furthermore represented an enormous success, with 2,4 million units produced.

The 1956 BMC Austin A50 was the first model of a style which would be also used by the other

brands (Austin A55 Cambridge, MG Magnette III, Morris Oxford IV and Riley 4/68) of the group,

starting the so called badge-engineering It is a typical Pininfarina style for that age, with a search for

differentiation through the two-coloured pavilion (took back in A105 Saloon) and back mudguard. In

1961 the model was restyled and took the name of A 60.

1 On the contrary, in some interviews, Pininfarina denied the operation: “Thinking of the functions that it had tooperate, this car could not have another form. Personally, I would not be able to change any single line of it”.



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BMC Austin A50 (1956, left) and BMC Austin A105 Saloon (1956, right)

At the same time, Pininfarina also designed the largest car of the brand, the BMC Austin A90; this

car was restyled in 1961 too, and took the name of A110, with a similar two-coloured pavilion and the

bead dipping towards the back; the flank was smooth, ending with typical small fins.

BMC Austin A110 (1961)

In 1958, as a fulfillment of the range of the English group, the BMC Austin A40 was released; it

was very innovative, as it is one of the first “two volumes”, a sort of small “station wagon”. From the

second series it was equipped with a back door. The A40 was the first model to be produced also in

Italy by Innocenti.



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BMC Austin A40 (1958)

At those times all Pininfarina models resembled to each other, but we have to keep in mind thatmarkets were much more isolated, thus a FDUUR]]LHUH had to face an established national style; on the

contrary, manufacturers who joined Pininfarina wanted to have a visible Italian (and Pininfarina) style

for their cars. The prevalence of the brand identity in comparison with the designer’s was not strong

like today.

The 1965 MG B GT anticipates an activity which would become usual in more recent times: the

modification of large production cars. A sedan could be modified into a convertibile or a station

wagon. The MG B had been designed in England, while the GT version was entrusted to Pininfarina,

who added to the original design a very elegant pavilion.

MG B in its original version (1962, left) and in GT version by Pininfarina (1965, right)

Peugeot 204 of 1965, built in 1,6 million units, was the French answer to Issigonis revolution. The

design of this “two and a half” volumes with front drive derived from the a Cadillac prototype named

“Jacqueline”: the style theme of a great Cadillac could also work in a small Peugeot.



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Peugeot 204 (1965)

The 1966 BMC Morris 1800 saw the application of the Issigonis (father of BMC Mini) philosophy

taken to its extreme, resulting in a model with awkward lines: the car was long and low with three

windows on the flank, a kind of a long dachshund. Watching this car one could think the talent and the

inspiration of Pininfarina had got exausted.

BMC Morris 1800 (1966)

Nevertheless, the following was a 1967 prototype on the same mechanics of BMC 1800: it was a

“two-volumes” aerodynamic sedan, a prototype from which all 1970’s “two-volumes” sedans derived.



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BMC 1800 Berlina Aerodinamica (1967)

The 1970 Citroen GS, Lancia Beta, Rover 3500 and many others followed, all derivated from this

basic concept: long cockpit, “fastback” tail and back door. Pininfarina prototype had a further strongeraerodynamic connotation and rubber front bumpers to absorbe minor collisions.

From left to right: Citröen GS (1970), Lancia Beta (1972) and Rover 3500 (1968)

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If Pininfarina represented the consolidated model of the FDUUR]]LHUH who adds to a continuous

productive activity another as style adviser, at the same time another personality established himself as

the pure adviser: Giovanni Michelotti.

Before discussing about Michelotti, another name must be introduced: Mario Revelli de Beaumont

(1805-1885), piemontese nobleman, was an atypical figure of eclectic designer, very active most of all in

the Thirties (as an example, he shaped Fiat 1500) together with all the other constructors and FDUUR]]LHUL

in Torino.

In the post-war period he was still active, and he spent some years in General Motors, where he worked at 1961 Simca 1000. The car was developed in Torino and represented what Fiat 850 could

have been if it had been conceived by a gifted designer.



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In those years, the XWLOLWDULD (“economy car”) with rear engine was by now at end and it was in order

to be supplanted by cross-sectional front engine and front-wheel drive pattern. In Simca 1000 the old

formula was re-interpreted in a more modern way: squared lines, clean surfaces, bright pavilion, four

doors, great exploitation of the inner spaces.

On the other hand, the contribution of the FDUUR]]LHUL in Fiat was limited to the special series which

they directly produced. This explains the difference between Fiat 850 or Fiat 124 off-the-shelf sedan

and coupé, and spider versions by Bertone and Pininfarina.

Mario Revelli found on his path Giovanni Michelotti (1921-1980), as young apprentice in Farina

plants, who recalls: “I was hired as apprentice designer in Farina plants, by my tasks were rather

distributing the mail rather than working at the desk. One day the designer left the company and at 17 I

was still sharpening pencils. But for whom, since the designer was gone? Then, Attilio Farina proposed

me to draw some sketches if I felt up to. I tried, and just in those days Conte Revelli came to Farina

saying that it an Alfa Romeo 2500 six cylinders hd to be done. I took care of it and drew it at full-scale,

while still in shorts. When after some days Mario Revelli came to me, he said I had to go to call the

designer, but I answered: «look, I’m the one who did the sketch». It was a 20-feet layout, with all

sections every eight inches and with all details”.

Michelotti then left Farina in order to open its style advising atelier, and fed all the FDUUR]]LHUL of the

piedmontese area: he designed more than 1,200 cars, and only in 1954 Salone di Torino displayed 40 of

his innovations.Some pictures taken in Michelotti’s atelier (the car they were working at was a DAF 44) show

working conditions in Italy during the Sixties. Comparing them with those of the American centres in

the Thirties, still the equipments were a little more obsolete: drawings were in full-scale, curves were

drawn by the means of shapes and measures were taken manually.

Michelotti working on a full-scale drawing in his atelier (1960)



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The professional figure of Michelotti, still atypical for the age, found a perfect match with the

necessities and the needs of the constructors: collaborations became numerous and long-lasting.

The first result was 1959 BMW 700, an economy car with bicylindrical back engine derived from

motorcycle (at that time BMW mainly produced economy cars, like Isetta). Both in the sedan version

and in the coupé it was a car of great formal correctness, very simple, well proportioned. Sure one of

the best ecomony cars of its age.

BMW 700 (1959)

NSU produced a similar car, whose coupé was designed and built by Bertone. Thanks to the design

correctness, also these micro-coupé, a little longer than ten feet, could have elegant proportions.

Michelotti found an English tradition in cooperating with Standard-Triumph: as a result appeared

the 1959 Triumph Herald, a light car with a complicated style also because of the use of two colours,

with chromium plated frames around to the headlights. All the front part could be opened.

Triumph Herald (1959)



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The real Michelotti masterpiece was the 1961 BMW 1500, the car from which BMW fortune started

back, not only because of the success of this model but also of the general set-up and of the details (the

double badge in the centre of the radiator grill, and the headlights at the corners). This car introduced

lines that marked BMW models until the Seventies.

Other interesting elements were a wrapping cowling, with the lateral cut skillfully disguised with a

bead running along all the side and the position of the back door with the classic “elbow”, that became

typical for BMW.

BMW 1500 (1961)

The 1961 Triumph TR4 conceived by Michelotti followed the TR3, which was typically Anglo-

Saxon style: Michelotti transformed the former in a very elegant car with a clearly Italian style but with

a unique snout: the two headlights emerging from the upper line and ending on the cowling recalled in

a much modern way the TR3 snout (in order not to completely “betray” the style).

Triumph TR4 (1961)

Michelotti directly assumed the paternity of 1962 Alpine A 110: the car, which led races for all the

Seventies, has a long-lived design that became a classic.



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The 1962 Triumph Spitfire, the smaller version of Triumph spider, was a little more ordinary than

the TR4, although the headlights style is a detail that can be found in many cars among which

Pininfarina 124 spider.

The 1962 Triumph Vitesse is not among the best creations of Michelotti’s: he had to use foils of

the Herald’s back side and to lodge a 6-cylinders engine in order to obtain a high class car. Since

Herald’s cowling of the was removable, Michelotti designed a different snout, with doubled headlights

of American taste that were becoming fashionable at the beginning of the Sixties, although skewed. The

two-coloured line shifted from the mudguards to the side.

Triumph Vitesse (1962)

The 1963 Triumph 2000 was a very innovative car, with a great and bright pavilion with three lights

and with an interesting solution of the front side, with the convex upper part that embedded the double

headlight and a thin lower air inlet (also used in Hino Contessa). In the rear, a split tail, that in those

years was replacing the classic fins.

Triumph 2000 (1963)

DAF built in Holland cars that owed their popularity for being the smallest with automatic gearshift

(Van Doorne patent for the belt drive) but also for being the ugliest on the market. Michelotti gave to

1966 DAF 44 an Italian design, with light headlights, thin posts, many windows but also the bead in the



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front part of the side with a cut of the lateral cowling hidden in the pattern. As an effect, it is the car in

the images of Michelotti atelier above mentioned.

Another example of Michelotti’s works is the 1966 Triumph GT6. It is the coupé version of

Spitfire, with a 6-cylinders engine. Also for this model Michelotti adopted his method which consisted

in drawing some “impressionist” sketches without taking care of small details (like today), but rather

focusing on the main style elements. He understood the distinction between graphic representation and

creative content, as the ever-present risk is to conceive beautiful paper model which would prove

themselves as unsatisfying real cars.

Pininfarina and Michelotti took an outstanding quota of European market, but other creative

operators exist: one of these is carrozzeria Ghia, although some of its models are difficult to ascribe in

terms of “fatherhood”.

Such a case is that of the 1955 Volkswagen Karmann type 14: at that time Volkswagen asked to

FDUUR]]LHUH Karmann to conceive a coupé, and the latter addresses to Ghia for the design. This car,

produced in 440,000 units (360,000 coupé and 80,000 convertibile), has carried the Italian style in the

USA where it became very popular.

Volkswagen Karmann type 14 by Ghia (1955)

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The shape seems the small scale reproduction of a model by Virgil Exner (1909-1973), an American

designer who at that time cooperated with Ghia most of all in developing prototypes on behalf of

Chrysler. It is a rather atypical design, because in a way it looks older than it is (the mudguards are not

completely integrated in the body). But it worked well in representing a sport version of 1938 Beetle.

Another car which cameo out of Ghia’s atelier is the 1957 Renault Floride, a very nice convertibile,

whose paternity was legally disputed between Ghia and Frua (who merged in Ghia in 1958), who had a



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professional experience at Ghia at the time this model was studied. Similar considerations can be done

about the 1960 Volvo P 1800, a car produced by Ghia with the presence of a Volvo Swedish designer,

Petterson Skin, who worked in harness with Frua.

Frua himself, after his experience at Ghia, like many important others designer (e.g. Boano, Tjaarda,

Giugiaro), he established his independent atelier, which gave birth to the 1963 Glas 1500.

Glas 1500 (1963)

It is a nice sedan, that recalls the flank and the trunk’s back post of Michelotti’s BMW 1500. The

front, the windows and the tail leading edge remind Maserati Quattroporte, also conceived by Ghia.

Life for this model was short, as a little later Glas merged into BMW and production was stopped.

Frua also designed 1964 Glas 1300 coupé, produced for some time under BMW brand. Its lines

recall a lot Bertone’s ASA 1000. Another unsuccessful model because of the company’s vicissitudes.

Glas 1300 (1964, left) and Bertone ASA 1000 (1966, right)

This review finally includes two cars from Carrozzeria Touring; both of them came out from Carlo

Felice Bianchi Anderloni pencil. They are the 1958 Aston Martin DB4, built in England under

“Superleggera” brand, and the 1966 Jensen Interceptor. According to English literature, the

Interceptor’s first series were produced by Carrozzeria Vignale, while the following would have been



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produced in England. It is undoubtedly one of the last Touring sketches, and displays several original

points, such as the big bubble rear window.

Aston Martin DB4 (1958, left) and Jensen Interceptor (1966, right)

If we place in the time and the space all these models we see that in little more than 10 years Italian

designers have worked for English, French, German, Swedish and Dutch companies. There are

economy cars, family sedans, coupé and spider; there are cars crafted in lots of some hundreds and

others mass-produced in millions units.

These figures are even more remarkable if we consider that in those years the production range

offered by car manufacturers did not have the wide extension of today, and the renewal of the models

went on at a much slower pace. There were, on the other hand, many small manufacturers, able to rely

on an external designer without feeling diminished.

Furthermore, the European market did not exist yet, and only Volkswagen achieved remarkable

sales on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean; constructors essentially addressed to their domestic

markets. In spite of that, cars designed in Italy wer produced in 7 million units.

The following years saw some old figures: the relationship between Peugeot and Pininfarina still

exists, even if in a deeply changed context. 50 years after the 403, in 2004 Peugeot 1007 was presented.

Bertone became adviser for Citröen, Gandini for Renault. In 1968, Giugiaro founded Italdesign

with some associates, and with Golf solved Volkswagen’s problem of Beetle inheritance; in a few years

Italdesign became the reference point for the Italian design in the service of European, American and

now Asian manufacturers. In a way, it continued a work begun by farther-sighted FDUUR]]LHUL which

already in the Fifties worked in the US: Pininfarina for Nash, Bertone for Arnolt Bristol.



19

Nissan Bluebird (1963, left) and Hino Contessa (1961, right)

On the Asian (Japanese) side, in the Sixties Pininfarina sketched Nissan Bluebird and Michelotti theHino Contessa, counterbalancing some awkward reduced-scale imitations of American models. Korea

in the Eighties and in the Nineties, China in the last decade followed the stream.



20

6RPHQRWHVRQWKHPRVWLPSRUWDQWFDUUR]]HULH

&DUUR]]HULD$OOHPDQR was established in 1928, during the Fascist Era, and it mainly worked on

sport cars and cabriolets based on Fiat chassis. Similar origins and field of activity were those of

&DUUR]]HULD *DUDYLQL, founded in 1908, 6WDELOLPHQWL )DULQD (1909, closed in 1953), &DUUR]]HULD

%DOER (1914), &DUUR]]HULD *KLD (1915), &DUUR]]HULD 7RXULQJ (1918, well known for its Wymann

bodies and also for “ultra light” bodies), &DUUR]]HULD 9LRWWL (1921), 6WDELOLPHQWR0RQYLVR (oddly

founded in 1944 and merged within Ghia in 1955), &DUUR]]HULD9LJQDOH (1946), and of &DUUR]]HULD

&DQWD, which had even been founded after WW II (1950).

&DUUR]]HULD%HUWRQH (1912) first worked in an extremely narrow niche, the shaping of circus cars.

Then it cooperated with all the most important car producers in Torino: SPA, FIAT, Fast, Itala,

Chiribiri, Aurea, SCAT, Ceirano and Lancia. Its dimensions, together with Pininfarina, exceeded those

of any other enterprise listed here.

&DUUR]]HULD&DVDUR was also founded in the Fascist period (1930), and it was mainly devoted to

designing and producing urban buses, “Turbocar” buses (a sort of Italian Greyhound) and pullmans.

This was the same field of activity for &DUUR]]HULD&RQWD (1923), also well known for ambulances,

2IILFLQH9LEHUWL (1924), and for &DUUR]]HULD6FDOO (1944).

An interesting case is that of &DUUR]]HULD &RULDVFR, established right before Fascism (1921).

Beside the ordinary activity in shaping trucks, buses and vans, this carrozzeria was important in thesmall niche of the advertising vehicles. Some pictures show the imagination needed to shape these

vehicles, which were commonly used as support for cyclists participating to Giro d’Italia.

A wide range of vehicles was shaped by &DUUR]]HULD)LVVRUH, also particular for being one of the

few carrozzerie not to be located in Torino (together with &DUUR]]HULD6FLRQHUL ), but in Savigliano, 50

km South from Torino. This enterprise, founded in 1920, was able of working on Fiat-based sedans,

buses, trucks and vehicles for promiscuous purposes.

&DUUR]]HULD6DYLR, founded in 1919, produced chiassises for other factories (and also for other

FDUUR]]LHUL ), and it also got some fame from its station wagons.

Another interesting story is that of &DUUR]]HULD6LDWD (established in 1919), which worked both on

the field of the car shaping and in that of the mechanical elaborations. It conceived the “Cucciolo”, one

of the first auxiliary engines for motorbikes.



%,%/,2*5$3+<

Ettore ASPETTI, Lorenzo BOSCARELLI, Stefano PRONTI, 'DOODFDUUR]]DDOO·DXWRPRELOH , Conference held

at Cappella Ducale di Palazzo Farnese - Piacenza, March 22nd, 2003

Alberto BERSANI, Paolo FISSORE, 'DOGLVHJQR DO GHVLJQ² 6WRULD GHOOD FDUUR]]HULD LQ3LHPRQWH , Torino :

Priuli e Verlucca, 1999

Carlo BISCARETTI DI R UFFIA, &DUUR]]LHUL GL LHUL H GL RJJL , Torino : ANFIA, Gruppo costruttori

carrozzerie, 1963

Ernesto C ABALLO, 1DWRFRQO·DXWRPRELOH , Milano : Palazzi, 1968

Valerio C ASTRONOVO (ed.), 6WRULDGHOOD3LQLQIDULQD XQ·LQGXVWULDLWDOLDQDQHO PRQGR, Roma -

Bari : Laterza, 2005 (see particularly Vittorio M ARCHIS, 8QDVFXRODGLGHVLJQHGLVWLOH , pp. 147-252)

Sandro COLOMBO, /·HYROX]LRQHGHOO·DXWRIUDWHFQLFDHGHVLJQ , Conference held at Collegio degli Ingegneri -

Verona, October 8th, 2001

Vittorio M ARCHIS and Filippo NIEDDU, 6FLHQFH IRU PRELOLW\ $OEHUWR 0RUHOOL D SLRQHHU LQ H[SHULPHQWDO

DHURG\QDPLFV , Fourth International Conference on the History of Transport, Traffic and Mobility – Paris

-Marne-laVallée, September 28th – October 1st, 2006

Lorenzo R AMACCIOTTI, /R VWLOH LWDOLDQR DOOD FRQTXLVWD GHOO·(XURSD , Conference held at

Milano Triennale, October 14th, 2006

R EGIONE PIEMONTE, 6KDSHPLVVLRQFDUGHVLJQLQ7XULQDQG3LHGPRQW , - Torino : Regione Piemonte,2003

Roundtable 5DSSRUWR IUD HVWHWLFD H IXQ]LRQDOLWj QHOOD VWRULD GHOOD FDUUR]]HULD LWDOLDQD , held at Museo

dell’Automobile “Carlo Biscaretti di Ruffia” - Torino, February 18th, 1989

Fredi V ALENTINI (ed.), /HVVLFRGHOODFDUUR]]HULD , Milano : Automobilia, 1979

:(%2*5$3+<

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