Image: Mitjagodnic / CC BY-SA 4.0
Giorgetto Giugiaro
Italian industrial designer who worked at Bertone and Ghia, founded Italdesign, and designed the Isuzu 117 Coupé, the Piazza and the second-generation Gemini
Timeline
- 1955
Fiat Design division (Centro Stile)
- 1959
BertoneChief Stylist
- 1965
Carrozzeria GhiaChief Designer
- 1968
Even after leaving Ghia, he refined it for production himself
Isuzu entrusted the 117 Coupé's concept, design, packaging and styling to Carrozzeria Ghia, where Giugiaro, then Ghia's chief designer, took charge. Giugiaro later left Ghia to go independent and founded Italdesign, but his work with Isuzu continued. In response to Isuzu's top management, who wanted at all costs to sell the 117 Sport show car, Giugiaro himself carried out the revisions for production, mainly increasing the interior height while keeping the original beauty as far as possible. Guiding the car into mass production became Italdesign's first job.
Body panels that could not be pressed, finished by hand
The body panels Giugiaro drew could not be reproduced with presses using Isuzu's manufacturing technology of the time, and the company, in financial difficulty, had no room for capital investment. Isuzu decided to press only the rough lines and to do most of the process, such as trimming and drilling holes, by hand, and so brought the car to market. This is why the early model is called the "Handmade"; automation of assembly never progressed, and total production over three years came to only 2,458 units.
Italdesign
- 1981
Piazza 1st generation1981–1991Design lead
Asso di Fiori
Isuzu, planning a successor to the 117 Coupé, asked Giugiaro for a design. The following March, Giugiaro showed the "Asso di Fiori" at the Geneva show, the culmination of the "Asso series" he had worked on since the early 1970s. Its styling theme was the fusion of aerodynamics and roominess through perfectly flush surfaces and a wedge-shaped form. After the "Isuzu X," which enlarged its dimensions and refined its details, it went into production as the "Piazza."
Giugiaro Design
- 1985
Gemini 2nd generation1985–1990Design lead
A design whose author went unnamed
The body design of the second-generation Gemini was by Giugiaro, who had close ties with Isuzu through the 117 Coupé and the Piazza. However, because Giugiaro objected to a redesign done in-house at Isuzu, the fact that it was his design was withheld at the launch.
- 1991
Lines drawn before the Jaguar prototype
The exterior of the first-generation Aristo was the work of Italdesign, led by Giugiaro. Italdesign tried to bring a judicious European balance to Japan's top-of-the-range sedans, which had been weighed down with too much superfluous decoration. The car is often said to be based on Jaguar's Kensington prototype, but Italdesign explains that its first drawings came earlier. Toyota developed this prototype further and finished it as a refined four-door luxury car.
- 1991
Alcyone 2nd generation Alcyone SVX1991–1996Design lead
Connections
Profile
A world-renowned car designer. He has had a very close relationship with Isuzu since the late sixties, and designed the Piazza as well as the 117 Coupe and the second-generation Gemini. The Asso di Fiori, unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show, went on sale as the Piazza two years after its unveiling.
Translated from Japanese sources.