The Greatest Automobile Designer You’ve Never Heard Of
What if I told you there’s been someone who styled an incredible 1200 different cars almost singlehandedly?
I think it’s fair to say that, between the 1950s and 1980s, Italy has “owned” car design more than any other nation.
Most enthusiasts know well the names most associated with Italy’s mastery of the discipline: from the great houses of Bertone and Pininfarina to Giugiaro’s Italdesign. But what if I told you there’s been someone who styled an incredible 1200 different cars almost singlehandedly?
The Most Prolific Designer
That man was Giovanni Michelotti and, on the hundredth year from his birth, Turin’s National Automobile Museum dedicated a long-overdue homage to his work and legacy. Michelotti could create such a disproportionate body of work thanks to a combination of sheer talent and hard work, but also thanks to unique circumstances.
After years of work at Stabilimenti Farina, Giovanni Michelotti opened his own studio in Turin around 1949, and there couldn’t have been a better time and place to do so. Dozens of small coachbuilding firms each year showed their wares at Turin’s motor show, and many took advantage of Michelotti’s talent, like Vignale…
