Design Legend Marcello Gandini Dies at 85

Legendary Italian automotive designer Marcello Gandini died Wednesday at the age of 85.

His notable designs include the Lamborghini Countach and the BMW Garmisch, which influenced the design of the first 5 Series.

Born in Turin, the son of an orchestra conductor, Gandini spent most of his career at Italian coachbuilder Bertone, where he developed many important concept cars and production models, including the aforementioned Garmisch, as well as the Lancia Stratos and Lamborghini Miura He was instrumental in establishing Stile Bertone, an independent design house that would develop many important concept cars and production models, including the aforementioned Garmisch, the Lancia Stratos and the Lamborghini Miura.

Lamborghini was Gandini's first project at Bertone, and he went on to work on many more models for the Italian performance brand. While at Bertone, he also worked on the Ferrari Dino 308 GT4, the first and only Ferrari designed by Bertone.

But Gandini did not limit himself to luxury cars. He also worked on more mundane projects, always finding ways to add excitement. The list includes the original Volkswagen Polo, the Fiat 132, the Renault 5 Turbo, and the Citroen BX.

After leaving Bertone in 1980, he continued as an independent designer, experimenting in the 1990s with more curved designs rather than his signature wedge-like designs.

Never one to stop innovating, in recent years Gandini has focused on developing methods of manufacturing automobiles to improve efficiency and cost in the production process.