When I did my first copywriting jobs for Volkswagen in 1973, I heard to my great amazement that the Passat wasn’t designed in Wolfsburg. It was designed in Turin (“Isn’t that where Fiat is?” “Don’t ask stupid questions, Schmitt”) by someone called Giorgetto Giugiaro. Lo and behold, the Golf thereafter looked a little bit like the Fiat 128, but nobody cared. Volkswagen and Giugiaro‘s Italdesign worked together ever since. Now Volkswagen will buy a controlling stake in Italdesign, if industry sources who whispered it to Automotive News[sub] are not totally mistaken. If the deal happens (and an announcement could come next week), Volkswagen will formalize old friendships.
In Germany, Automobilwoche [sub] reports that Ferdinand Piech is well connected with Italy’s largest design house. What’s more, “Martin Winterkorn and his chief designer Walter de Silva are old friends of the Giugiaros,” said a VW-insider to Automobilwoche. Not too long ago, Winterkorn had said that “Volkswagen wants and needs to recruit the brightest.” In this year alone, Volkswagen will introduce nearly 70 new models.
Italdesign has 975 employees, working on 800 computer CAD workstations at the company’s headquarters in Moncalieri, 15km south of Turin. The company is owned by Giorgetto Giugiaro, 71, and his son Fabrizio, 45. Having worked for nearly every European carmaker (and some Far-Eastern also,) Italdesign represents the highest concentration of design know-how money can buy.
I’m sorry Mr. Schmitt but the correct name is Giorgetto Giugiaro.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giorgetto_Giugiaro
Read the last paragraph…BS spelled the name correctly. I’m assuming the misspelling in the first paragraph was simply a typo (dicke Daumen!).
As for the styling, the original Golf was quite clean (the pictured example is lovely). Would hope to see more good things coming sylistically from VW and Giugiaro. Now if VW can markedly improve their reliability…
He’s also well-known for iconic Fiat designs. From where I sit, I see that Fiat many times uses Italdesign. More so than VW.
So what does this mean? Will other manufacturers have access, or will VW shut them out. And, will other manufacturer’s even want to use the studio as VW will be able to anticipate their competitors’ designs?
Curious minds want to know.
I think it’s safe to assume that Volkswagen will become Italdesign’s sole automotive client. There are certainly enough brands, projects and models to keep them busy.
Scania by Giorgetto Giugiaro, anyone?
P.S. I still think the original Scirocco is one of the prettiest Giugiaro designs:
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Silver_VW_Scirocco_I.jpg
Italdesign also did the first iteration of the Aveo. Not that I mind. The first Aveo was actually a reasonably attractive car for what it was.
That said, he also did the Suzuki X-90. Which I also like, but for the same reason I like Plan 9 From Outer Space.
Surely: Fiat Uno, Fiat 127 (I think), Fiat Palio/Siena, Iveco EuroCargo, EuroTech, Stralis, Fiat Panda and those are the ones I remember.
The Daewoo Matiz was going to be a Fiat but they refused the design.
Scania has had their truck designed by Italdesign too.
I recommend you to check its site and see. It’s full of WIN
@Stingray, I think your list is pretty much correct, except for the Fiat 127 — I believe that was an internal Fiat design.
@Stingray
You forgot the Maserati-like New Punto. Beautiful. Do you get them in Venezuela? Sublime suspension. 1.4 engine weak. 1.8 thirsty though torquey. Wait for the ones that’ll come w/ the new Tritec engines.
“I’m assuming the misspelling in the first paragraph was simply a typo (dicke Daumen!).”
Nah, it’s part of the feng shui of the article, just like leaving out the “k” in Volkswagen (see title).
Proofreading is not something done by Real Automotive Guyz.
[typo corrections now done and noted]
As a make good for my typoes, a bonus: “Horrilble Accident.” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L1akPA1BxSI
What a colpempty horibelle asciident!
“Don’t ask stupid questions, Schmitt”
Good to know that in all countries at all times of history, when someone is told that, they’re usually asking exactly the right question.
Interesting. But it can’t be good for design. I fear that giant VW will engulf and destroy every bit of creative talent they possess. Piech isn’t known to inspire freedom and freethinkers. And there are known examples of what happens when car makers botch a Giugiaro design, They have done some design work and consulting for the Korean makers, with end results so watered down there aren’t anything left.
Didn’t Italdesign also do the glass-roof Mustang show car a couple of years ago?
Yes-
At the LA Auto Show, the presenter on the turntable told us that “The dash board sweeps from door to door”.
I still feel this is quite the innovation in dash board design.
ummm…don’t most dashboards sweep from door to door?? Or at least A-pillar to A-pillar? Or was your comment laced in sarcasm that I just somehow missed? :)
It’s my deadpan delivery; you should hear me in person. Yep, sarcasm all the way.
To be fair, outside of a gorgeous body, there wasn’t much to talk up on the Italdesign Mustang. Some PR person needed a five paragraph presentation for the car, and they chose to describe basic car design in flowery terms.
When they got to interior design, that statement stopped me in my tracks. I thought to myself “Did I really hear that right?” It so intrigued me, I stuck around for the next presentation. Sure enough they said it again: “The dash board sweeps from door to door”.
“the Golf thereafter looked a little bit like the Fiat 128, but nobody cared” That little bit being the fact that both were FWD, right?
As Marcelo said, It will be interesting to see what happens with all the work Ital Design was doing for many other clients. All these Italian “carrozzieri” had a huge influence on the car design for the last at least 5-6 decades. They always brought a fresh, innovative perspective in the business and it’s sad seeing them fading away. Italians in particular were very strong in the full spectrum, from show cars (Pininfarina Modulo comes to mind)to dream cars like Miura and Espada to the average daily commuter like the Golf.
@ Bertel Schmitt
Bertel, I still have the original VW brochures from the ’70s, from Europe and US, with the cover having a different color for each model. When you have time can you give us the story behind them? Thanks.
No problem. If they are from the 70’s and have different colors, then I wrote most of them, or (later) oversaw the writing of them.
See also: https://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/autobiography-of-bs-how-car-catalogs-killed-creatives/
It would be very sad that they only work for VW from now onwards.
Not to continue to nit-pick the grammar/spelling, but wouldn’t the title be more correct in saying “Volkswagen to Buy ItalDesign-Giugiaro?” As it stands, the title implies they are buying the man/founder/designer, not the design firm.
They are buying the man, actually, the men. Father and son need to stay on.
Wait til Sergio finds out! Now who’s going to design the next Sebring?
The original Rabbit still looks good to me.
Simply great designs. Giugiaro was for VW what Bruno Sacco was for Mercedes. Consequent “less is more” design. Still up to date.
But what’s the rationale behind VW’s decision? They already should have some designers?
Has Giugiaro ever drawn a car that didn’t age well?
My personal Italdesign favorite is the original Lotus Esprit.
The Morris Ital is one that Giugiaro should have left on the drawing board.
I’ve also never liked the Lexus GS, though I heard that it was originally going to be a Jaguar but Jag wouldn’t/couldn’t buy it and Toyota took the design instead.
Except Giugiaro didn’t design the Morris Ital. In any case the Marina/Ital was awful for so many reasons, but for all that it wasn’t actually an ugly car, at least compared to most 70’s dross.
Hmmm, the ’93 Lexus GS was a terribly boring design. Very unlike something you would expect from Giugiaro.
It would be sad to see Giugiaro become just an in house design group for any one company. I think that the outsider status of such companies has always led to an additional bit of necessary creative tension.
Feel free to do a review of the first generation Scirocco. Please.
“In this year alone, Volkswagen will introduce nearly 70 new models.”
That sounds like an awful lot. How is that figured? 7 new models times 10 sedan/hatch/wagon/microvan/cute-ute configurations?