r.i.p

"La macchina da rally non ha bisogno di essere bella, ma se non avesse vinto sarebbe rimasto almeno il bello." - Marcello Gandini
 

Marcello Gandini was one the most famous, talented and visionary car designers. He was known for the masterpieces he created for Lamborghini, Alfa Romeo and Lancia.
For Lamborghini he designed some of the most beautiful, iconic and futuristic sports cars of the period, such as the Lamborghini Miura(1966), the Lamborghini Countach(1971) and the Lamborghini Diablo(1985).
Presented in 1966 at the Geneva Motor Show, the Lamborghini Miura was the fastest road car of the period with his 3.9 12V engine, 350 HP, five speed and the first supercar with the engine at the mid-rear position behind the driver’s seat. The Miura became famous even for the detail of the beautiful black eyelashes around the headlights.
Two years later, at the in Paris Motor Show in 1968 Gandini first introduced the future with the Alfa Romeo Carabo, a dream car made of fiberglass, the distinctive wedge-shaped lines and doors "a taglio di forbice."
But one of the most visionary supercar designed by Gandini was the Lancia Stratos Zero, presented two years later at the Salone dell’Auto in Torino. The Lancia Stratos Zero, with his body always made of fiberglass, was the first supercar without doors, just a flip-open front door and was the first to use the digital instrumentation. At the time Lancia was looking for a new winning rally car after the successful years of the Lancia Fulvia HF and one year later Gandini designed the Lancia Stratos HF which became the most winning car between the 1970’s and early 1980’s and started a new era in rallying.