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Giorgetto Giugiaro is a public figure whose views are sought internationally, not only with regard to cars and design, but also to world affairs. Worthy of particular mention have been his speeches to the International Design Conference in Aspen (Colorado) and the world congresses of the ICSID (International Council of Societies of Industrial Design) in Milan in 1983 and Nagoya in 1989, and his report on the future of cars to the "Assises Mondiales de l'Automobile" in Paris (1989). In 1985 Giugiaro was elected to the Management Committee of ADI (Italian Industrial Design Association) and held a course on design at the Faculty of Architecture in Turin.
Born on 7th August 1938 in Garessio, Giorgetto was always likely to have an artistic future. His grandfather, Luigi, painted church frescoes.
His father, Mario,alternated between decorative religious art and oil painting. Giorgetto was clearly born into a family steeped in the arts; nevertheless, his career came about more by accident than by deliberate choice.
After moving to Turin, Giorgetto switched between art, at the specialist school he attended by day, and technical design, at evening classes. June 1955 marked a turning point: Giorgetto indulged a passion for sketching automobiles and his drawings were seen by Dante Giacosa, Technical Director of Fiat, at the end-of-year exhibition of the technical drawing course.
Giacosa had a sharp eye and was quick to observe a talent behind these sketches and, in September 1955, Giorgetto joined Fiat in its Special Vehicle Design Study Department led by Fabio Luigi Rapi.
Finding it impossible, in a large organisation such as Fiat, to grow rapidly, he took a giant step and, in December 1959, became Head of the Bertone Styling Centre. Nuccio Bertone invested everything in this twenty-one-year-old prodigy and excellent results were the reward for his apparently risky decision. At the same time, Giugiaro readily acknowledges that he owes his career as a designer to Nuccio Bertone, for his guidance and his advice. The years he spent under his wing, in fact, were fundamental for his training and allowed him to carve out a niche for himself on the Turin design scene.
1961 - Aston Martin DB4 GT Jet 1961 - Maserati 5000 GT
1962 - Ferrari 250 GT
1963 - Chevrolet Corvair Testudo
1964 - A.R. Canguro
1960 - A.R. 2000/2600 Sprint
1961 - BMW 3200 CS
1962 - Iso Rivolta Grifo 300/340 GT
1963 - A.R. Giulia GT
1965 - Fiat 850 spider
1965 - Mazda Luce 1500/1800
1967 - Fiat Dino coupe
After six highly intense years, in November 1965, Giorgetto left to join the management of Ghia, another firm of coachbuilders. Here, he was responsible for the styling centre and the prototyping division: Maserati Ghibli and De Tomaso Mangusta date back to this period (they were both presented at the Turin Motor Show in 1966). Some of the research prototypes developed while working for Ghia are Fiat 850 Vanessa (1966) and Oldsmobile Toronado Thor (1967); as for the production cars noteworthy are Isuzu 117 coupe (1966) and Iso Rivolta Fidia (1967). This association was extremely fertile, but, more and more, Giugiaro was nurturing a desire for independence and tension mounted with the arrival of new ownership.
On 7th February 1967, Giugiaro founded his first company, Ital Styling, where he continued to work with Ghia on a freelance basis but where he also prepared to take a leap into the unknown. He would invest his professional and financial capital in a global challenge, a professional services company for the motor industry. And hence ITALDESIGN was born.
Under the ITALDESIGN-GIUGIARO trademark Giugiaro has officially styled over 200 cars then mass-produced, besides developing many others under wraps for the world's top manufacturers.
1971-76 - Maserati Bora, Merak and Quattroporte
1971-76 - A.R. Alfasud, Alfetta GT/GTV and Alfasud Sprint
1972 - Lotus Esprit
1974-88 - Hyundai Pony, Stellar, Pony Excel, Presto and Sonata
1978 - Audi 80 4000
1978 - BMW M1
1981 - De Lorean DMC 12
1981-84 - Isuzu Piazza, GeminiSpectrum and Gemini
1984 - Saab 9000 Turbo 16
1984-93 - Seat Ibiza, first and second series
1991-98 - Malaga, Toledo first and second series
1985-95 - Cordoba and Cordoba coupe
1986-88 - Renault 21 and 19
1987 - Chrysler Eagle Premier
1988 - ZCZ Florida
1991 - Subaru SVX
1993 - Lexus GS 300
1998 - Daihatsu Move
2003 - Daihatsu Mira
1997 - Daewoo Lanos notchback and hatchback, Leganza
1998 - Daewoo Matiz (1998)
2000 - Daewoo Magnus/Evanda
2002 - Daewoo
2003 - Daewoo Lacetti
1973 - Passat
1974 - Scirocco and Golf
The model Gallardo for Lamboghini was launched in 2003.
1980 - New Lancia Delta that won the "Car of the Year 1980”
1981 Fiat Panda that won the "Golden Compasses”
1982/1984 Lancia Prisma and Thema
1984 - Fiat Uno, that won "Car of the Year 1984"
1985/2005 – Fiat Croma
1993/95 – Fiat Punto, that won "Car of the Year 1995" and the Punto convertible
1998 - Maserati 3200GT
2000 - the restyling of Fiat Palio, Palio Weekend and Siena
2000 - Maserati 4200 GT
2001 - Maserati Spyder (2001)
2003 - Fiat Idea
2003 - Alfa 156 and the new Fiat Palio.
In 2004 Giorgetto Giugiaro worked on the Maserati MC 12 project and on the Alfa Romeo 147 revamping. In 2005 the Grande Punto, the Alfa Romeo 159 and 59 SportWagon and Brera coupe got Giugiaro design.
1968 - the Bizzarrini Manta
1970 - Volkswagen-Porsche Tapiro
1972 - Maserati Boomerang
1973 - Audi Karmann Asso di Picche
1984 - Lotus Etna
1984 - Ford Maya
1988 - Aztec
1991/93 - the Nazca project
1995 - Lamborghini Calà
1997 - A.R. Scighera and Scighera GT
1997/98 - W12 Syncro and Roadster
2001 Aston Martin Twenty Twenty
1980 - Lancia Medusa
1982 - Lancia Orca
1984 - Marlin
1986 - Oldsmobile Incas
1986 - Machimoto
1990 - Jaguar Kensington
1994 - Lexus Landau
The two citycars Biga (1992) and Lucciola (1993), both hybrid prototypes with electric traction, reveal Giugiaro's sensitivity to the pressing problem of the environment, while his Bugatti EB112 won the widest critical acclaim.
1976 - A.R. New York Taxi
1978 - Lancia Megagamma
1982 - Capsula
1984 - Together
1988 - Asgard
1992 - Columbus
1998 - Structura
2000 - Maserati Buran and the offroader ID Touareg.
At the 2002 edition of the Geneva International Motor Show, Giorgetto Giugiaro unveiled the Alfa Romeo Brera , a two-seater plus room for two children coupe, with bodyshell entirely in carbon fiber and a power- ful 90° V-shaped mid-front eight-cylinder engine of more than 4,000 cm3 delivering 400 HP.
The car was awarded as “Concept Car of the Year” and “Best Exterior Concept” by the international magazine Automotive News. The 2+2 coupé Brera concept car was so successful that it will be launched onto the market in 2005 as the GTV heir.
At the 2003 NAIAS – Detroit Auto Show, Giorgetto Giugiaro presented the Kubang Maserati Concept, a GT Wagon concept, a pure GT and a real Wagon, named after a Javan wind, as is traditional for Maseratis.
The Kubang is the result of the combination of a 390 bhp Maserati eight-cylinder “V” engine and a versatile body that promises the same standard of safety and efficiency as a thoroughbred sports car.
At the yearly rendez-vous with the Geneva Motor Show, Fabrizio and Giorgetto Giugiaro unveiled on March 4th 2003 the Moray project, embodying the homage that the Giugiaros wished to pay to the fifty-year era of the Chevrolet Corvette, the supreme symbol of the American sports car.
For the 2004 edition of the Geneva Show, Giorgetto Giugiaro created in the throw of freedom Visconti , proposal for an Alfa Romeo flagship with innovative architecture that may also go straight into series production. In truth of word, the Visconti sees inception from a specific evolution of the Premium Platform, as put in place by Alfa Romeo for the Alfa 156 new generation and for the Brera Coupé production.
In the same edition of the Geneva Motor Show Italdesign Giugiaro unveiled a 3 seats hybrid powered sport coupé with Toyota brand. The car, named Alessandro Volta and designed by Mr. Giugiaro’s son Fabrizio, represents a perfect example of how a green power plants can also be high performance car. Thanks to a combination of internal combustion engine and two electric motors, one on each axle, the car has a total output of about 300 Kw/408 hp with a top speed of about 250 Km/h and an acceleration from 0 to 100 Km/h in 4 .03 seconds.
To mark 50 years of activity in the world of car design, Giorgetto Giugiaro decided to sculpture a Ferrari to the memory of that great adventure and enjoy it with his family. The GG50 has been premiered at the 39th 2005 Tokyo Motor Show.
Created along the lines of the Ferrari 612 Scaglietti, and retaining the same basic mechanics, the Ferrari GG50 is a little shorter in length than the original model, with a fastback tail conspired to conceal the underlying hatchback lid. The rear seatbacks can be folded down to create, thanks to the new fuel tank, a flat trunk platform one meter and 40 centimetres deep.
The Geneva Show yearly offers the opportunity to develop research on form and contents that break away from the industrial approach that Italdesign Giugiaro adopt daily in order to supply their worldwide clients with designs that best suit their markets.
The 2007 challenging “diversion” was conceived out of the traditional ‘box’ of sports car design: VAD.HO is a super-sporty extreme two-seater inspired by aeronautics, with a cockpit enclosing pilot and passenger in tandem. The steering-wheel being removed, the pilot functions are located on two joystick planted on the armrests of the by-wire seat-pedal block-unit. VAD.HO was meant to be an open “work in progress": it was positively welcome by BMW that accepted to provide for it their series 7 12 cylinders hydrogen powered engine.
Finally, to celebrate the 40 years of activity of Group, at the 2008 Geneva Motor Show Giugiaro presents ‘Quaranta’ , an ‘extreme’, ecological, 4WD super-sports car, the first hybrid car with mid-engine and driving position and a roomy cabin able to accomodate three adults plus a baby in complete comfort. A concept car marking the Italdesign Giugiaro 40 years of total commitment to the automotive styling research and technology.
In 2010 Italdesign Giugiaro became part of the Volkswagen Group and started working with all the VW brands.
In September 2015 Giorgetto and Fabrizio Giugiaro relinquished all their positions in Italdesign and founded GFG Style, a company totally dedicated to styling projects in the automotive and mobility sectors.
Giugiaro has won numerous design awards, the most prestigious of which include the SIAD Silver Medal of the British Society of Artists and Industrial Designers in 1980 and the special ADI “Golden Compasses” for coachwork design in 1984. In the same year the Royal College of Art in London awarded him an honorary degree in design "in acknowledgement of the great esteem his work commands in the United Kingdom". In November 1995 “The Golden Steering-Wheel” was awarded to his figure and career and a second one to his Fiat Punto design. In July 1996 Giugiaro got an honorary degree in design by the University of Rousse (Bulgaria) “for his extraordinary creative contribution to the contemporary industrial design”.
- In 1998 he became President of the Bid Committee of Turin as candidate city for Olympic Winter Games in 2006; on June 19th 1999 the CIO Commission in Seoul assigned the Games to Turin.
- In 1985 Giugiaro was elected to the Management Committee of ADI (Italian Industrial Design Association), and held a course on design at the Faculty of Architecture in Turin.
- In 1999 the Italian President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi awarded Giorgetto Giugiaro the title of “Cavaliere del Lavoro” in recognition of its achievements in the sphere of Employment relations.
- In 1999, on December 18th, in Las Vegas, a jury of more than 120 journalists coming from all over the world, has elected Giorgetto Giugiaro as Car Designer of the Century.
- In 2000 the magazine “Automotive News Europe” has nominated Giorgetto Giugiaro, among other 12 “immortals” of the European Car Industry, in the European Hall of Fame in Geneva Palexpo, site of the annual International Motor Show.
- On June 17th 2001 Giorgetto Giugiaro gets the Lifetime Design Achievement Award by the Detroit Eyes on Design.
- On October 15th 2002 Giorgetto Giugiaro was awarded place of honor at the Detroit “AUTOMOTIVE HALL OF FAME”. His name is now engraved for eternity among the heritage of personalities that made, and continue to make, masterly automobile excellence.
- On November 22nd 2002: Giugiaro got an honorary degree in architecture by the Naples Seconda Università di Napoli.
- May 2003: the UNC Cordoba University di Cordoba (in Argentina) and the College for Creative Studies in Detroit conferred Giugiaro an Honorary Degree in Architecture.
- Frankfurt 2003: Giorgetto Giugiaro is one of the 16 Automotive News Europe “Eurostar” 2003 winners.
- Brussels Auto Show – January 14th 2004: Prince Philip of Belgium awarded Giorgetto Giugiaro the European Automotive Design Award for his career
- On September 16th 2004: Giugiaro got the XX Award ADI “Golden Compasses” for the Alfa Romeo Brera design.
- November 14th, 2005: Autocar Award to Giugiaro for his career
- January 17th, 2006 – XXI Festival Automobile International - Grand Palais Paris – “Grand Prix du Design” for Giugiaro’s 50 years in the automotive field
- 2006 Okamura/Baron office chair – IF Award
- 2006 Okamura/Baron office chair – Red Dot Design Award
- June 30th, 2006 he was given the freedom of Moncalieri town
- November 22nd, 2006 : « Trophée de la création » from « L’Automobile Magazine »
- January 26th, 2007: Italdesign Giugiaro was awarded the BEST SERVICE AWARD from the Bocconi University in Milan;
- May 16th, 2007: “Grand Prix de l’Innovation 2007” for Indesit Moon washing machine
- 2007 Indesit/Moon washing machine: Prix JANUS de L’INDUSTRIE – Institut National Français de Design
- 2007 Indesit/Moon washing machine: Kitchen product of the Year – London Designer Awards
- 2007 Indesit/Moon washing machine: Golden Villa Award 8Zlota Villa” – awarded by the prestigious Polish magazine of interior design “Villa”
- November 14th, 2007: Giugiaro is awarded the prestigious “Lions Civitas” by Lions International
- November 29th, 2007: at Palazzo del Quirinale the President of the Italian Republic, Giorgio Napolitano, awarded Giorgetto Giugiaro the ‘Premio Leonardo’ for his being ‘Ambassador of the Italian Image around the world, for his valuable international role and for the results he has achieved in being testimonial of the Italian excellence at work.
Since 1974 Giugiaro set up an Industrial Design Business Unit co-operating with prestigious national and international companies to develop medium and large-scale production projects for many industrial sectors: ABB, ACE, Aermec, Alenia Aeronautica, Alcatel Space, Agusta Costruzioni Aeronautiche, Alstom Ferroviaria, Ansaldo Breda, Apple, Baglietto, Barilla, BCube, Bridgestone, Beretta, Cantieri Nautici Cranchi, Castrol, Cinova, China Jialing Industrial Group, Comar, Del Tongo, Eurodent, Ferrero, Fiam, Fiat Engineering, Fiera di Milano, Foster & Partners, Turin’s Egyptian Museum Foundation, Guangzhou Motors Group, Guzzini, Japan Science and Technology Corporation, JVC, Lagostina, LG Electronics, L’Oreal, Luxottica, Martini & Rossi, Merloni Indesit, Mitsubishi Estate Home Co., Molten, Castello di Rivoli Museum of Contemporary Art, Nikon, Okamura, Piaggio Motor Vehicles, Piaggio Aeronautics, Richard Ginori 1785, Samsonite, Samsung Electronics, Sanpellegrino-Nestlé, Sanyo, Scavolini, Seiko, Shiseido, Siemens, Swatch, Telecom, Sky Group, Telit, Trenitalia, Cantieri Tullio Abbate, University of Kyoto, Urmet, Vredestein-Amtel and many more.