Did Marcello Gandini REALLY Design The Miura? (Industry Icons)

Marcello Gandini is credited with what some consider the most beautiful car ever made; the Lamborghini Miura. The mid-engine supercar put the company into the minds of enthusiasts and thrust the young designer into the spotlight. It has defined his legacy in a way. But he’s done more than the Miura. Much more. He’s been in the industry for 55 years and counting, and in that time he’s designed a few of the most iconic cars in history and spearheaded the aesthetic of an entire generation. Welcome to episode 4 of Industry Icons.

CHAPTERS

00:00: Intro
00:43: Formative Years
02:46: Porsche 911 Roadster
05:07: Lamborghini Miura
14:15: Lamborghini Marzal
15:39: Alfa Romeo Montreal
16:25: Alfa Romeo Carabo
18:02: Autobianchi Runabout
19:43: Lancia Stratos HF Zero
22:48: Lamborghini Countach
24:08: Lamborghini Urraco/Bravo
25:29: Ferrari 308 GT4/Rainbow
26:04: Fiat Visitors Bus
26:32: Alfa Romeo Navajo
26:50: Lancia Sibilo
27:35: Citroen BX
29:34: Later Career

Marcello Gandini was born in Turn on August 26, 1938, mere weeks before Giorgetto Giugiaro and a few months after Leonardo Fioravanti. The son of an orchestral conductor, gandini was nudged to follow in his father's footsteps. He began learning to play the piano at the age of 4, but he soon became disenchanted with that life and turned his attention elsewhere.

His father bought him an Erector set when he was a child. They allowed him to build scale models of cars, trucks, and airplanes. He was captivated. Not just by the aesthetics, but also by the structure and mechanics of objects.

He soon had his mind made up: he wanted to be a car designer. There weren't any schools nearby that could provide formal training in this line of work, so he went freelance, taking on a number of odd jobs to support himself. It wouldn’t be until 1959 that he would really dip his toes into transportation design for the first time.

A well off friend of his owned a Fiat OSCA 1500S that he raced often. In an effort to keep pace with the competition, He asked Gandini to perform a few modifications to the engine. Partway through the process, the friend suggested that he design a new, more aerodynamic body for the car as well.
Lamborghini had made a bit of headway in the automotive world with the 350GT. The touring coupe gave Ferrari some healthy competition, but engineer Gian Paolo Dallara wanted to make something more extreme. Prior to coming to Lamborghini, Dallara worked for Ferrari and Maserati, brands with very prominent racing programs. He vocalized his desire to build a racing car. Ferruccio Lamborghini wasn’t quite the racing fanatic that Enzo Ferrari was. He was initially opposed to the idea. He thought it would be too expensive to produce and take attention away from their main focus. Still, he allowed Dallara and fellow engineers Paolo Stanzani and Bob Wallace to work on a prototype chassis in their spare time

The car would use the same Bizzarrini-designed V12 from the 350GT, but it would be mounted transversely behind the seats. It brought the weight inward and freed up enough space for a 5 foot cargo area at the rear of the car. They spent six months working on the engineering drawings and a prototype was completed soon after. Lamborghini originally went to Carrozzeria Touring to skin the car. They had worked together on the 350GT, so they hoped that this collaboration would produce equally pleasing results. Touring produced 2 asymmetrical scale models, with each side showing a different design, making for 4 proposals in total. None of them impressed Ferrucio. The company decided to put the bare chassis on display at Turin in 1965.

At any rate, the Lamborghini Miura P400 made a splash at the Geneva motor show. We’ve already touched on the retractable headlights. They’re flush with the body to reduce drag and tilt up slightly when activated. The lights themselves are actually sourced from the Fiat 850 spider. At the top and bottom of the headlight enclosure are thin black forks. Because of the way they curl up onto the body slightly and how light interacts with them, many enthusiasts refer to them as eyebrows. These were removed with the introduction of the SV in 1971.

There are very minimal bumpers on the nose and boot of the car, and they’re de-emphasized because they’re integrated into the grilles. They stick out ever so slightly on the side view, but they’re still within the rhythm of the design. One thing you won’t see on the body is a door handle. They’re the very bottom slat in the intake behind the door.

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