| Giorgetto
Giugiaro
Car
Design History - Automobile and Industrial Designer
Introduced
in 1974, the Volkswagen Golf "(called the Rabbit in the U.S. until
1985) quickly become one of the most successful German cars in history.
It had been designed by Giorgetto Giugiaro, one of Italy's leading body
makers. At the time, Giugiaro could already look back at an impressive
career. As an automobile designer at Fiat's Centro Stile
and later at Bertone and Ghia, he had
specialized in luxury cars. In 1968 he established his own firm, Italdesign,
with Aldo Mantovani. Italdesign ushered in a new era in automobile design
- the company offered an unprecedented range of preproduction services,
from the development of models and prototypes to the calculation of production
schedules and processes to plans for automation and implementation. Since
then, Italdesign has worked for BMW, Hyundai, Renault, and Audi and has
developed such
highly successful models as the Alfasud, Fiat Panda,
Fiat Uno, VW Passat, and VW Scirocco.
In the early 1970s, Giugiaro realized that the market, suffering from
the effects of the oil crisis and a general recession, was ready for inexpensive
small and mid-sized cars. And he has always held that the automobile industry,
where large quantities of a very expensive object must be sold in a highly
competitive market, needs to subject the design process to a continuous
reality check. Giugiaro believes that "within a company's decision-making
structure, the designer must have the courage to question whether it makes
sense to launch a new product, whether it will appeal to the consumer.
This may sound like marketing theory but without good design marketing
is rarely successful."
His firm, Giugiaro Design, founded in 1981, is committed
to functional, user-oriented products, and has developed cameras, watches,
dishwashers, furniture, racing boats, trains, sewing machines, and even
a new pasta shape. The firm e mphasizes technological innovation; for example,
its F4 for Nikon, developed in 1988, was the first camera equipped
with auto focus. The firm's work does not end with the development of
a product but extends to naming, packaging, and promoting it. In recent
years, Giugiaro has further broadened his scope by establishing Giugiaro
spa, which produces clothing and accessories. His daughter, Laura, following
in Giugiaro's footsteps, has recently introduced successful fashion and
jewelry collections of her own.
|
Giorgetto
Giugiaro Car History
Giugiaro
History |
| 1938 |
Born
in Garessio Cuneo |
| 1955 |
Joins
Centro Stile Fiat after graduating from school art anf technology,
Turin |
| 1959 |
Joins
Bertone |
| 1965 |
Becomes
director at Ghia |
| 1968 |
Italdesign
founded |
| 1981 |
Giugiaro
Design founded; Compasso d'oro ( also 1984, 1991, 1995) |
| 1987 |
Giugiaro
spa founded: accessories, clothing |
Giugiaro
Car Models History |
| 1961 |
BMW
3200 CS |
| 1963 |
Alfa
Romeo Giulia GT |
| 1965 |
Fiat
850 Spider; all for Bertone |
| 1967 |
Fiat
Dino Coupe for Ghia; Maseratti Ghibli |
| 1971 |
Alfasud |
| 1974 |
Golf
for Volkswagen |
| 1982 |
Speedmaster
Sport watch for SEIKO; Logica sewing machine for Necchi |
| 1983 |
UNO
for Fiat; Pr 55 office furniture for Tecno |
| 1988 |
F4
camera for Nikon |
| 1995 |
Lamborghini
Cala |
| 1998 |
Maserati
Coupe 3200 GT |
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