The 5 Best Car Designers In History

History is full of great designers from the automotive world, references to which all the brands wanted to tie to improve their sales. Among the best car designers of all time there are five who occupy a special place:

5th Nuccio Bertone

In 1912, Giovanni Bertone founded, in the Italian city of Turin, a workshop where carriages were built and repaired. In 1933 his son, Nuccio Bertone, joined the company and would go on to become a successful builder and designer.

But his journey, like that of his fellow professionals, was interrupted by the Second World War.

In the 1950s, after the war, the company consolidated itself as a vehicle factory instead of mere body builders, opening up a range of possibilities for Nuccio’s creativity.

One of its first successful models was the Alfa Romeo Giulietta Sprint, derived from the Berlina Aerodinamica Tecnica (BAT) prototypes, a beautiful coupe that came to have a competition version with an extraordinary aerodynamics of 0.29 Cx, a low figure even for current models.

The 1960s were even better with the successful Seat 850 Spider. The following years made the leap to the design of supercars such as the Lamborghini Countach, Ferrari Dino 308 GT4 or Lancia Stratos. Models that have gone down in automobile history.

Less striking, but just as important, are the Citroën BX or the XM, models that accompanied the French brand in the late 80s and early 90s. In 1997, Nuccio Bertone passed away.

4th Giorgetto Giugiaro

Also Italian, Giorgetto Giugiaro received in 1999 the ‘Car Designer of the Century’ award, the best designer of the century. But he will go down in history as one of the best car designers in the world due to the large number of successful works behind him.

In the 1970s, Giugiaro opened his own design studio, in which he continues to work today for the Volkswagen Group. From this cradle of the automobile, more than 200 works have emerged, many of which have occupied their own showcase in the history of the motor world.

Some of them you will not know as much, as is the case of the Iso Grifo, Lotus Esprit or Maserati Bora. Others you will have admired, such as the De Lorean DMC-12 or the BMW M1, and others you see daily, such as the 1999 Seat León, the first generation Seat Ibiza (1984) among many others.

3rd Carlo Abarth

Italian nationalized but born in Austria, Carlo Abarth began his career as a designer of bicycle frames and motorcycle chassis.

A few years later, in 1934, he met someone who would radically change his life: Ferdinand Anton Ernst Porsche. With him he founded the Compagnia Industriale Sportiva Italia ,  in collaboration with Porsche Konstruktionen  and specialized in racing vehicles.

In 1949 he created the Abarth firm in the Italian city of Turin, a name well known today for bringing a sporty preparation to the model of the Fiat brand. It used a scorpion as its corporate logo, which remains today.

Self Carlo Abarth set several speed records at the Autodromo Nazionale Monza in 1965 as one of the many exploits as a pilot.

In 1971, Carlo sold the sports preparation company to the Italian Fiat group, but continues as director of the firm.

2nd Sergio Pininfarina

How could it be otherwise, another Italian adorns our list, and it is that for car design they have always been a step above.

Sergio Pininfarina is considered one of the best car designers in the world. He worked for brands such as Cadillac or Peugeot, but it is not that type of car that takes you to the top in this profession and, of course, his collaborations with Ferrari or Masserati are better known.

His father founded the company in 1930: Carrozzeria Pininfarina, and began working with top brands such as Touring Superleggera. After the stoppage suffered by the Second World War, the son, Sergio Pininfarina took the reins and managed to raise the company to the top.

Today it is still one of the most prestigious firms that a car brand can count on, but in everyone’s memory there will remain models of the likes of Ferraris such as the F40, the 288 GTO, the Testarossa, the Dino or the Daytona, without forgetting the Alfa Romeo Giulietta Spider, or the Lancia Aurelia.

1st Ferdinand Porsche

Known as Ferry Porsche, this iconic German designer went down in history as one of the greatest car designers for founding one of the most named companies of the century: Porsche.

In addition, it created the lines of one of the most recognized models worldwide, such as the Volkswagen Beetle. A small utility vehicle created so that the people could access a first-hand vehicle, which until then was a too distant dream.

One of his first successes was the Mercedes-Benz SSK, a beautiful classic convertible that today reaches exorbitant figures in the second-hand market, and it is not surprising, since this sports car swept the world of competition in the 1920s.

In 1931 he created his own company and brought to the world such famous models as ‘the silver arrows’, sports cars that were all the rage at the time.

Shortly after reaching the top of the world of design, World War II broke out and he was forced to collaborate in the design of military vehicles.

After the war, he continued with the design of the Porsche 356 and established himself as one of the best car designers in history with a model that would be key in the evolution of the brand, so much so that its lines continue to inspire today’s Porsches.