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BMW Denzel

BMW’s Italian Designers Part 10

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By Jackie Jouret
Photos courtesy The BMW Archive

Following its near-death experience at the end of 1959, BMW announced its renaissance at the Frankfurt auto show of September 1961. The Giovanni Michelotti-designed 1500 drew huge crowds, and the all-new midsize sedan tended to overshadow the other cars on the BMW stand. That’s a shame, because two of those cars were also making their debut: a convertible version of the popular 700 microcar—another Michelotti design—and the 3200 CS coupe wearing stylish bodywork designed by a young Giorgetto Giugiaro at Bertone.

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BMW’s Italian Designers, Part 9

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By Jackie Jouret
Photos courtesy The BMW Archive

With his designs for the 700 and 1500, Giovanni Michelotti made an invaluable contribution to BMW’s survival at the start of the 1960s. The success of those cars put BMW on firm financial footing, which allowed the company to expand its product lineup to include a small coupe, a full-size sedan, and a larger but still sporty coupe—cars with the same kind of mass-market appeal as the 1500 sedan that also filled important niches in the marketplace. As the 1500 sedan had given BMW a recognizable brand identity, each of those cars would bear Michelotti’s imprint, to a greater or lesser degree.

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BMW’s Italian Designers, Part 8

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By Jackie Jouret
Photos courtesy The BMW Archive

The success of the Giovanni Michelotti-designed 700 microcar ensured BMW’s survival, and with it his continued collaboration with the Munich automaker. The Turin-based designer already been under contract with BMW for two years by the time the 700 premiered at the Frankfurt auto show in September 1959, and he’d created a pair of forward-looking prototypes—the 505 limousine and the 3200 CS roadster—while sketching a number of design proposals for future automobiles.

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BMW’s Italian Designers Part 7

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By Jackie Jouret
Photos courtesy The BMW Archive

As mentioned in our previous installment, the independent Turin-based Giovanni Michelotti began working for BMW in 1953, albeit indirectly. That year, working for coachbuilder Ghia-Aigle, he drafted the prototype for the 505 Diplomat sedan. In May of 1957, the BMW board offered him a contract for design consultation, and he began working directly for BMW that June, sketching the front of the 600 microcar.

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BMW’s Italian Designers Part 6

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By Jackie Jouret
Photos courtesy The BMW Archive

When it emerged from the destruction of World War II, BMW got back into business, first with motorcycles (in 1948), and then with high-end automobiles (in 1951). That was a logical strategy given BMW’s particular circumstances, but it began to fail by the mid-1950s. Even as the German economy was improving, BMW’s full-size sedans remained too expensive for most buyers. Worse, the motorcycle market was tanking, as riders abandoned two-wheelers in favor of motorcycle-engined microcars, which kept their occupants dry and warm regardless of the weather. [Read more…] about BMW’s Italian Designers Part 6

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