Alfredo Vignale, who at one time didn’t drive or even like to ride in cars, died in an automobile accident in November of 1969. According to his brother Giuseppe, interviewed in 1956, “Alfredo’s passion for automobiles begins and ends with his coachwork. He doesn’t own a car, won’t drive a car, and only rides in one with great reluctance.” It is perhaps ironic, but the man who was Vignale and Company was responsible for some of the finest and fastest automotive sculptures of our the twentieth century.
By Pete Vack
From 1946 to 1969, the workshop of Alfredo Vignale of Turin, Italy, was among the vanguard of a number of illustrious and creative Italian carrozzeria which included Allemano, Bertone, Ghia, Motto, Pininfarina, Touring, Viotti and others. In 1947 he created the amazing and advanced Cisitalia MM from the drawings of Giovanni Savonuzzi and by 1950 became Enzo Ferrari’s primary coachbuilder, usurping Touring for the honor.
Vignale Ferraris – tight, gorgeous little coupes – won the Mille Miglia in 1951, ‘52 and ‘53. With the aid of artist Giovanni Michelotti, from late 40s to early 1960s Vignale created masterworks which were totally unique, some absolutely beautiful, others on the margin of ugly, but today each one an individual work of art. Having been replaced by Pininfarina by the fickle Ferrari, Vignale began a long relationship with Maserati that flourished until the day the factory closed in 1974. Photo of 1952 Ferrari 225S by Hugues Vanhoolandt.