A Biography of Giovanni Michelotti

Review by Aldo Zana

It’s a difficult task to recap life and work of a car designer, particularly when he is Turin-born Giovanni Michelotti, who designed 1200-plus vehicles, according to a partial survey by Giovanni’s son Edgardo, co-author of this great new biography.

The new book is published by Fondazione Negri of Brescia, today at the top of content and editorial quality among the Italian automotive, transportation, industrial history books. Giovanni Michelotti, a free stylist, shines a light on Michelotti with a 288-page, hardbound volume with slipcase, presenting 200-plus photos, plans, renderings of vehicles. It is co-authored by Giancarlo Cavallini, who is a freelance writer and an expert on design and the history of the automotive industry. The authors and publisher are well up to that difficult task of collecting, sorting, analyzing and printing the massive amount of material left behind by one of Italy’s finest and most prolific automotive artists.

Giovanni Michelotti was confined in the dark in Italy until the turn of this century, when, finally, interest of the past glories of Italian, namely Turin, carrozzieri found a well-deserved revival. Like many other Italian businesses which were products both of mind and hands, the art of coachbuilding had already disappeared and the unique flow of skilled workers, buck-makers, panel-beaters, finishers, painters dried up. But a new generation of books started a renewed interest in the top designers. And at last, Giovanni Michelotti emerges in a leading role.

Michelotti (Turin October 6, 1921 – Turin January 23, 1980) was a designer, a stylist of unique skill and art: such is the point of view of the authors. And the reader could easily agree. Like a true Turinese gentleman in post-war Italy, Michelotti always wore jacket and tie at work. Then, when back in his own workshop, he would hang up the jacket, roll up the white shirt sleeves and started designing cars. The story goes (and the authors confirm it) that he received the briefing of some client, told him to enjoy just a sip of coffee in the closest caffè and when they returned, there would already be a sketch of the client’s car-to-be.

Prior to opening his own design studio, Michelotti started his career with the carrozzieri at Stabilimenti Farina just before the war as an apprentice helper in the design department. His unique skill was noted by the great Mario Revelli de Beaumont, but the war and the Army service put an end to his youth and career. He was lucky to come out unscathed and joined the workshop of Serafino Allemano until 1949 when he took the difficult path of becoming a freelance designer. It was the right choice, but with the flaw of remaining unknown to the automotive community and general public. The rule of the game was that brand matters, not the stylist.

His long contribution to Carrozzeria Vignale produced some 150 Ferrari (according to the authors) built by Vignale, including the gothic-like 340 Mexico for the 1952 Carrera Panamericana, the clean 212 Export Spider for the Marzotto brothers in 1951, the timeless lines of the 250 GT s/n 0359 for Liliane de Rethy, wife of King Leopold of Belgium in 1954. A unique styling exercise was the flamboyant Demon Rouge on an OttoVu Fiat, shown at the 1956 Turin Car Expo.

The book presents arts and plans of many other vehicles, including beefed-up and enhanced versions of “utilitarie” (i.e., entry-level small cars) like the Fiat 600 and the Fiat 1100 Giardinetta “Sleeping” by Viotti, a rather ugly Moretti 750 Familiare and the beautiful Moretti coupe of 1955.

The versatility and creativity also appear in the Chinetti-ordered Ferrari 365 GTB/4 Spyder of the Seventies, in the interiors for some Toyota and Honda, and, first and foremost, in the Neue Klasse BMWs that in the Seventies propelled the marque to the heights where it still stands. Many pages focus on these classic Bimmers.

In 1967 Michelotti opened his own carrozzeria in Orbassano, near Turin, to produce prototypes and full-size models of the cars he designed. His work was requested by the Dutch DAF company. His contribution to the British-old-fashioned Triumph produced celebrated models like the 1959 Herald saloon, the 1962 TR4 roadster, the 1962-63 Spitfire roadster and coupé.

The final years of Michelotti mark the subtle yet visible change (evolution?) from the free creativity of an artist to the mass-manufacturing approach of an industrial designer. Gone were the days of the personal styling of a one-off car to please the single customer. In addition, one can see the parameters set by the British approach and behavior in the Triumphs he designed.

Michelotti lived across the times of the build-up of the Italian carrozzieri golden age, the conversion to the industrialized products and, finally, the constraints of mass-production and marketing. The book enlightens the path better through the self-speaking language of images than the words.

[VeloceToday strongly recommends this book, depsite lack of source references and an index.]

For customners in the U.S., you can order a copy from Donald E.Toms Booksellers, for $110 US Postpaid. Contact Donald directly at don@bugattibooks.com or call 941-727-8667, Bradenton, Florida.

For all others:

Edgardo Michelotti, Giancarlo Cavallini : “Giovanni Michelotti a free stylist”.
Fondazione Negri, Brescia 2019
Two editions: English and Italian, pages 288, size 25×28 cm (10×11”) , hardbound in hard case, € 58.00.
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