Giovanni Michelotti
Giovanni Michelotti (1921-1980) was one of the most prolific designers of sports cars in the 20th century. He was also responsible for a number of saloons.
Born in Turin, Italy, Michelotti worked for a number of design houses, notably Vignale, before opening his own design studio in Italy.
From the late 1950s he was responsible for all new models produced by Standard Triumph, starting with a facelift of the Standard Vanguard and going on to design models for Triumph such as the Herald, Spitfire, GT6, TR4, 2000, 1300, Stag, and Dolomite. He also created a number of prototypes which did not go into production, such as the Fury. The only Triumphs after 1960 that were not his work were the TR6 and the TR7, plus the Honda-based Acclaim.
After Triumph became a part of British Leyland he undertook a facelift of the BMC 1100 which became the Austin Victoria, and designed the Leyland P76.
Michelotti also worked with the Dutch firm DAF, starting in 1963 with redesigning the ageing Daffodil 31 model into the Daffodil 32. The DAF 44 (1966) was a completely new design from his hand and he also helped form its derivatives, which culminated in the Volvo 66 (1975).
Other Manufacturers
For other companies he designed the
- Lancia Aprilia Coupè (1949)
- Maserati Spyder
- Alpine A106 (1955)
- BMW 700 (1959)
- Prince Skyline Sport (1958)
- Armstrong Siddeley (a one off car based on the Sapphire 234 chassis for a Spanish client).
- Reliant Scimitar SS1 (1984) which was his last design to reach production, four years after his death.
External links
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