Supercars

Legendary designer of world’s first supercar Marcello Gandini has sadly passed away

  • Marcello Gandini, the Italian automotive designer who penned some of the world’s most iconic cars, has sadly died
  • From the Renault 5 Turbo to several supercars, Gandini was behind a variety of legendary cars
  • More importantly, he designed what is commonly referred to as the ‘first’ supercar

Published on Mar 15, 2024 at 8:42 PM (UTC+4)
by Alessandro Renesis

Last updated on Mar 18, 2024 at 1:28 PM (UTC+4)
Edited by Amelia Jean Hershman-Jones

Italian car designer Marcello Gandini died on March 13, 2024, aged 85.

Gandini penned some of the most iconic sports car in the world, including the world’s first supercar.

READ MORE: Multi-million dollar Tahoe estate is being sold with a free Tesla Cybertruck

Marcello Gandini began his career at Bertone, replacing fellow designer, Giorgetto Giugiaro, the man who gave us the Fiat Panda and the Lotus Esprit, as chief designer.

Gandini was one of the most accomplished and influential car designers of all time, and through the years, he sketched some of the most legendary cars you can think of.

Among others, he’s the guy that gave us the Lamborghini Diablo, Lamborghini Urraco, Lancia Stratos and Renault 5 Turbo.

Lamborghini-Diablo
Lamborghini

Gandini also designed an early prototype of the Bugatti EB 110, the mythological Bugatti on which the modern Centodieci (that Ronaldo owns) is based, and the Ferrari 308 GT4.

More importantly, Gandini designed the two most important Lamborghini models ever made.

He penned the Countach, named for a Piedmontese expression that roughly translates to ‘wow’, which is also the car that provided the inspiration for the modern Countach LPI-800 4, and the Miura.

Lamborghini Miura
Jorgens.mi / Wikipedia Commons
Marcello Gandini Lamborghini Countach
Lamborghini

The Lamborghini Miura regularly features in the top 10 list of most beautiful cars ever made, often making the top five, if not the top three.

More importantly, some people, both car fans and industry experts, see the Lamborghini Miura as the first ever ‘supercar’ as we know them today.

The Miura was the first car with a rear mid-engined, two-seat layout, which is what today we consider the textbook definition of what a supercar is, or should be.

Without the Lamborghini Miura, and therefore without Marcello Gandini, we wouldn’t have the supercars we love today.

Or not the way we know them, anyway.

DISCOVER SBX CARS: The global premium car auction platform powered by Supercar Blondie

user

Experienced content creator with a strong focus on cars and watches. Alessandro penned the first-ever post on the Supercar Blondie website and covers cars, watches, yachts, real estate and crypto. Former DriveTribe writer, fixed gear bike owner, obsessed with ducks for some reason.