21 of Gandini’s greatest hits

21 Gandini designs that prove there’s more to Marcello than the Countach

Marcello Gandini is probably more closely associated with supercars than any human being in history bar the men whose names are on the badges of cars like the Testarossa and Countach.

Born in Turin in 1938, Gandini worked at Bertone, eventually heading up the crayon-wielding side of the legendary Italian design house, before forging a solo career in the 1980s.

He’s best known for styling the iconic Lamborghini Countach, first as a concept shown in 1971, and later, refining the design ready for production in 1973. But there’s so much more to Gandini than Lamborghini’s infamous wedge.

Over the years he’s either styled or overseen the design of dozens of other cars, with – it has to be said – varying results. So read on to discover 21 cars that prove there’s more to Marcello than the Countach.

1. Audi 50

Even in his early 1970s supercar heyday, Gandini was busy working on cars from the very opposite end of the automotive spectrum.

Although Volkswagen contracted Gandini’s former Bertone colleague, Gorgietto Guigiaro, to create the Golf, Scirocco and Passat, VW’s design team worked with Gandini to produce the Audi 50, which achieved greater fame as the Mk1 Polo.

2. Maserati Shamal

Maserati was desperate to update its Bi-turbo in the late 1980s but didn’t have the cash to develop an all-new car so asked Gandini to work his magic.

The Shamal featured a new twin-turbo V8, but the early Countach LP400-style slash-cut arches, strange external roll bar, and even stranger spoiler at the base of the windscreen were its most striking features.

3. De Tomaso Pantera Si

The original Pantera was designed by Ghia’s Tom Tjaarda and unveiled in 1970, meaning it predated famous ‘70s wedges like the Esprit and Countach.

But by 1990 it simply looked dated, so De Tomaso hired Gandini to give it a facelift in preparation for a re-launch as the Pantera Si.

4. Lamborghini Urraco

A year before Lamborghini took the wraps off the production version of the Gandini-designed Countach, it was pulling the covers off another much smaller wedge dreamed up by the same brain.

The Urraco’s combination of mid-engined V8 power and 2+2 seating was unusual, but Ferrari was hot on its heels with a very similar rival sports car.

5. Ferrari Dino 308GT4

The Urraco’s Ferrari rival was the 308GT4, designed, as you’ve probably guessed, by Gandini at Bertone.

The GT4 might have been fashionably straight-edged, but with its awkward profile and messy rear end it was uglier than the Urraco, and, many argued, downright hideous compared with the Dino 246 it replaced.

True, packaging a mid-engined 2+2 is tricky – even Pininfarina struggled with the Mondial – but Giugiaro proved with the Maserati Merak that it could be done without looking like a dog’s dinner.

Needless to say, Ferrari was back in bed with Pininfarina in short order.

6. Lancia Stratos

The Stratos HF was a much happier marriage of Gandini design and Ferrari power.

Evolved from an earlier Gandini concept, the Stratos Zero, the Stratos road car used its tiny wheelbase and 2.4-litre Ferrari V6 to dominate rallying in the mid-1970s.

7. Alfa Romeo Montreal

Alfa’s Montreal was another road car developed from a show-stopping Gandini concept.

The Italian car maker asked Bertone to come up with something to draw crowds at the 1966 Montreal Expo, and the unnamed concept (seen here) was such a hit it was in showrooms four years later, but now featuring an exotic 2.6-litre V8 derived from the 33 Stradale supercar’s engine.

8. Maserati Khamsin

Gandini’s first work for Maserati was the successor to the beautiful Ghibli, designed by his one-time colleague and rival, Giorgetto Giugiaro.

The kammback rear end featured a full-width glass tail panel, a trick already used on the conceptually similar, but V12-powered, Lamborghini Espada.

9. Citroën BX

Who remembers the Citroën TV ad where Gandini strides past his Countach to climb into a BX GTI 16v for his trip to work?

The BX arrived in 1982, but the design bears an uncanny resemblance to the Tundra concept Gandini created for Volvo three years earlier, and the stillborn Reliant FW11 from 1977.

10. Qvale Mangusta

Was Gandini having an off-day, or was he simply past his best by 1996? Either way, it’s safe to say the Mangusta wasn’t his finest hour.

This Italian take on a TVR Griffith started life as the De Tomaso Bigua before money troubles meant the project was taken over by Bruce Qvale.

When that didn’t work out, the car was sold to MG Rover, who used it to create the even uglier (and even less successful) MG SV.

11. Bertone Pirana

Lamborghini’s Espada, a GT as eye-catching as any supercar thanks to Gandini’s handiwork, was unveiled to the world at the 1968 Geneva motor show.

But it was inspired by two earlier cars, one of which was the 1967 Bertone Pirana, a one-off commissioned by The Daily Telegraph and based on Jaguar E-type running gear.

12. Lamborghini Marzal

The other source of inspiration for the Espada was the Marzal, one of Lamborghini’s most famous and best-loved concept cars.

The huge glazed gullwing doors and mid-engine straight-six (actually half a Miura V12) didn’t make it to production, but the silhouette did, and Lamborghini still uses the hexagon styling motifs in its current designs.

13. Innocenti 90/120

Innocenti was famous for its scooters in the post-war years, but developed a side business selling BMC-based cars, including a rebodied Austin-Healey Sprite and Minis tweaked to suit the local market.

But going one further than the Brits (who were dithering with their own Mini replacement, but by the early 1970s owned Innocenti), the Italians hired Gandini to create a modern hatchback body for the Mini platform and running gear.

Unfortunately, British Leyland went bust shortly after, but De Tomaso stepped in to save the Anglo-Italian box.

14. Cizeta V16T

Sticking with tradition, Lamborghini asked Gandini to come up with a design for the Countach replacement in the mid 1980s.

But when Chrysler bought Lamborghini it wasn’t impressed and brought its own team in to rework the design. A disgruntled Gandini later recycled the design for the short-lived Cizeta V16T.

15. Alfa Romeo Carabo

Meet the Countach’s godfather, the Carabo.

This landmark concept, featuring a razor-sharp nose, near-flat ’screen and scissor doors, was first shown at the 1968 Paris show, and went on to influence car design across the world for the following two decades.

16. Renault 5 Turbo

Gandini can’t claim all the credit for the way Renault’s crazy mid-engined 5 Turbo turned out – the exterior design was credited to Marc Deschamps.

But Gandini did apparently design the distinctive rear treatment, which is unarguably the best bit.

17. Renault 5 Mk2

Clearly happy with Gandini’s work on the monstrous mid-engined 5 Turbo, Renault asked him to rustle up a set of clothes for its all-new 5.

Launched in October 1984, the Supercinq was a clever update of the original 1972 5 design, but not as pretty as Pininfarina’s Peugeot 205.

18. Iso Lele

The 2+2 Lele that arrived in 1969 was the Iso Grifo’s more comfort-focused cousin, though it shared the same mix of Italian design and American V8 power.

The Lele’s headlamp brows would reappear the following year on the Lamborghini Jarama, another front-engined Italian GT designed by Gandini.

19. Autobianchi A112 Runabout

A mid-engined design study intended to show how a successor to the Fiat 850 Spider could look, the Runabout featured an integral rollover hoop, like Porsche’s 911 targa.

It was too outlandish for production, but it did form the basis for an affordable sports car that was almost as exciting: the Fiat X1/9.

20. BMW Garmisch

Gandini laid out a design framework for the next 20 years of BMWs when he created the lean, dynamic 1970 Garmisch concept.

You can see its influence most immediately in the 1972 5 Series, but do a Google image search for the 2021 4 Series coupé and you’ll see the same striking oversize kidney grilles.

The original concept’s fate is unknown, but, incredibly, BMW recreated it from scratch for the 2019 Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este, using only a handful of photographs as a reference.

21. Lamborghini Miura

We couldn’t finish our look at Gandini’s cars without mentioning the glorious Miura. When Lamborghini showed it first as a bare chassis in 1965 the transversely mounted V12 certainly caused a bit of a stir, but it was the reveal of the fully clothed Gandini-designed production car a year later that really put Lamborghini on the map.

The thing is, not everyone believes Gandini did design the Miura. Some claim Giorgetto Giugiaro began working on the Miura project before leaving Bertone, and there are other reports that Nuccio Bertone was unhappy with Gandini’s final design and changed it before the Geneva unveil.

Most of the evidence points to it being Gandini’s work, but whatever the truth is, it’s safe to say Gandini did play a key role in creating the original supercar – and dozens of other important cars.