The name Robert Opron may not be widely known, even among car enthusiasts, but the extraordinary sweep of his achievements is still greatly admired by those who appreciate the craft of styling. A colorful man with a fondness for brash bow ties, his remarkable designs...
A colossus in the world of design, Giorgetto Giugiaro is often regarded as the greatest car stylist of all time. A precocious talent, he showed an aptitude for design while still a teenager, and created some of the most beautiful car shapes in history. He...
One of the great visionaries of the car world, Colin Chapman was a born competitor. To fund his passion for building race-winning cars, he created a string of dazzlingly brilliant Lotus sports cars for road drivers. Chapman was a magician when it came to weight...
In Sir Alec Issigonis the world witnessed a true genius of automotive design, who single-handedly set the template for the modern small car. He was an exceptional talent with genuinely unique and radical ideas. An iconoclast and an outsider, Issigonis was also an individualist, and...
At his peak, Virgil Exner’s influence over Detroit was as significant as any designer’s. A true artist endowed with an air of sophistication, he brought vision, innovation, and a much-needed sense of restraint to 1950s’ American car design. Exner’s ideas breathed new life into Chrysler’s...
Pininfarina is one of Italy’s towering giants of car design, but it was founded by someone very short—being only 5ft (152cm) tall, Battista Farina’s nickname of Pinin, or “tiny”, was apt. His design empire became a hallmark of quality and genius, as well as a...
Over three generations, the Zagato family has forged a coach-building dynasty with a century-long history. A Zagato design is utterly unmistakable, characterized by extremes of shape, construction, and performance. Today the Milanese company’s work—especially with prestige marques such as Alfa Romeo, Maserati, Ferrari, Aston Martin,...
Porsche is a name ingrained in sports car enthusiasts. Yet its founder, Ferdinand Porsche, was so much more than the creator of one of the world’s most recognizable marques. A man of inventiveness and rare skill, he designed the Volkswagen Beetle, pioneered hybrid vehicles, and...
Bombastic, chintzy, overblown—these are some of the criticisms regularly levelled at the designs of Harley J. Earl. But this undoubted overlord of 1950s’ American auto styling certainly knew how to design cars that the public craved. In doing so, he created some of the most...