Giovanni Michelotti

Michelotti at right, with Enrico Nardi and the 1960 Plymouth Silver Ray.

Giovanni Michelotti (6 October 1921 – 23 January 1980 ) was one of the most prolific designers of sports cars in the 20th century. His notable contributions were for Ferrari, Lancia, Maserati and Triumph marques. He was also associated with truck designs for Leyland Motors, and with designs for British Leyland (including the Leyland National bus) after the merger of Leyland and BMC.

Early life and career Born in Turin, Italy, Michelotti worked for coachbuilders, including Stabilimenti Farina, Vignale, Allemano, Bertone, Ghia, Ghia-Aigle, Scioneri, Monterosa, Viotti, Fissore and OSI, before opening his own design studio in 1959. He also cooperated with manufacturers producing their own cars based on Fiat or other mechanicals, like Siata, Moretti, Francis Lombardi and Nardi. From 1962, Michelotti concluded cooperation with Carrozzeria Vignale and began his own coachbuilding activities.

Personal life Towards the end of his life, asked whether he had ever designed anything other than cars, Michelotti acknowledged that virtually all of his design work had involved cars, but he admitted to having designed a coffee making machine shortly after the war.

Alfa Romeo

Alfa Romeo 6C 2500 SS Coupè and Cabriolet for Stabilimenti Farina Alfa Romeo 2000 Vignale Coupé, Ghia-Aigle Coupé and Cabriolet Alfa Romeo Giulietta Sprint Veloce Michelotti Goccia, 1961 Alfa Romeo 2600 Berlina De Luxe for OSI

Lancia

Lancia Astura Stabilimenti Farina Coupé, 1946; Cabriolet, 1947 Lancia Aprilia Berlina Gran Lusso and Cabriolet for Stabilimenti Farina, 1947; Coupé for Vignale, 1949 Lancia Aurelia B50 Vignale Coupé; B52 Vignale Coupé, Bertone Coupé, Balbo Coupé 2+2; B53 Allemano Coupé Lancia Aurelia Nardi Blue Ray 1 and 2, for Vignale, commissioned by Enrico Nardi Lancia Appia Allemano Coupé; Cabriolet, 1957; Lusso Coupé, prototype and series production cars for Vignale Lancia Flavia Vignale Cabriolet, would become the last Michelotti design for Vignale. Ferrari 365 GTC/4 Beach Car for Felber, 1976 Ferrari 400i Meera S, 1983 Ferrari 365 GTB/4 Michelotti N.A.R.T. Spider (re-body of an existing Ferrari 365 GTB/4 commissioned by Luigi Chinetti, 4 built for road use) Ferrari 365 GTB/4 Michelotti N.A.R.T. Spider Competizione (re-body of an existing Ferrari 365 GTB/4 commissioned by Luigi Chinetti, 1 built for N.A.R.T.'s entry in the 1975 24 hours of Le Mans)

Maserati

Maserati A6G 2000 Vignale Coupé, Paris Show car. Maserati A6G/54 2000 Allemano Coupé. Maserati A6GCS/53 Vignale Spider Corsa, commissioned by Tony Parravano and rebodied by Scaglietti in 1955.

Standard Triumph

From the late 1950s Michelotti was responsible for all new models produced by the British company Standard Triumph, starting with a facelift of the Standard Vanguard and going on to design other models for Triumph such as: Triumph Herald Triumph Spitfire Triumph GT6 Triumph Italia 2000 Coupé Triumph TR4 Triumph TR5 Ginevra Triumph 2000 Triumph 1300 Triumph Vitesse Triumph Stag Triumph Dolomite He also created a number of prototypes which did not go into production, such as the Triumph Fury. The only Triumphs after 1960 that were not his work were the TR6 and the TR7, plus the Honda-based Acclaim.

British Leyland

After Triumph's parent company Leyland Motors became a part of British Leyland, Michelotti undertook a facelift of the BMC 1100 – which became the Spanish-built Austin Victoria and also the South African-built Austin Apache. He also designed the Leyland National bus and the Australian-made Leyland P76.

BMW

Giovanni Michelotti's BMW association started with the BMW 700 (1959) and later the successful BMW New Class series of designs of which the most notable is the BMW 2002. He also created the 02-Series 2000 Touring model. His sport sedan designs later became the BMW design language, that was continued and refined by Ercole Spada well into the 1980s.

Own work

Michelotti did present a few cars under his own name. The Shellette was a beach car with wicker seats and dashboard in the spirit of Ghia's, Fiat 500 and 600 Jollys. The Shellette was designed in collaboration with yacht designer Philip Schell. Originally constructed with DAF underpinnings, this was later changed to Fiat 850 mechanicals. Unlike the Ghia Jolly, the more powerful Shellette was a reasonably useful car having a heater and various other creature comforts. It was also capable of a cruising speed. Only about 80 were built, with around ten still in existence. Famous buyers included the Dutch Royal Family, who used an early DAF-based Shellette at their summer property in Porto Ercole, and Jacqueline Onassis, who employed a later model on the Onassis' private island Skorpios.

Around 1980, the Fiat 127-based "Every" appeared, a light buggy-styled vehicle. Michelotti also marketed a luxurious version of the Daihatsu Taft. In 1985 the Michelotti PAC was presented, a one-off citycar prototype (PAC = "Project Automotive Commuter") based on the Daihatsu Cuore.

Scammell

In the 1960s, Michelotti designed a glass-reinforced plastic (GRP) cab for certain lorries made by Scammell, who had become part of Leyland Motors in 1955. The cab was used for the Routeman, Handyman and Trunker models. The Townsman also had a Michelotti designed cab.

Other manufacturers

For other companies he designed the following (this is an incomplete list): Abarth 205A Berlinetta Arnolt MG for Bertone Arnolt-Bentley for Bertone Aston Martin DB2/4 Bertone Drophead Coupé Aston Martin DB2/4 Vignale Coupé Alpine A106 (1955) Alpine A108 Alpine A110 Armstrong Siddeley (a one-off car based on the Sapphire 234 chassis for a Spanish client) Bugatti Type 252 Cunningham C-3 Vignale Coupé and Cabriolet Duple Dominant II coach body Fiat 8V Coupé, Cabriolet and Demon Rouge for Vignale Ford Anglia Anglia Torino 105E Ford-Cisitalia 808 roadster Jaguar XK140 Coupé Ghia Jaguar XK-D, 1963 Lola Ultimo concept, 1981 Matra 530 (1970) facelift Hino Contessa Sprint 900 (1962) Hino Contessa 1300 (1965) Prince Skyline Sport (1960) Reliant Scimitar SS1 (1984) which was his last design to reach production, four years after his death. Siata 208s (Bertone) Siata 1500 TS Plymouth Silver Ray commissioned in 1960 by Enrico Nardi Packard Eight 'Victoria' Vignale Cabriolet