THE PEOPLE BEHIND IT ALL

Nowadays when looking at cars, while soaking up and enjoying as the beautiful lines, curves and symmetry conjoin into an exactness that leads to Automotive Perfection, The Maestros behind these beautiful Designs are more often than not left within the Wilderness of the minds of the People who Admire or even Patronize and use the their works. Now, in this write-up, I choose to bring to the forefront the works in pictures and a little biography into the Lives, Designs and achievements of three Profoundly Great Architects behind the Designs of the Most Popular Automotive marques and cars we either crave to own or see gracing the streets everyday in the names of Giorgetto Giugiaro, Paul Bracq and My Personal Best Bruno Sacco. Please Enjoy...

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                                          Giorgetto Giugiaro

Born:	August 7, 1938 (age 80)
Nationality:	Italian
Occupation:	Automobile designer
Partner(s):	Maria Teresa Serra
Children:	Fabrizio Giugiaro, Laura Giugiaro
Parent(s):	Mario Giugiaro, Maria Giugiaro

Giugiaro is widely known for the DeLorean DMC-12, featured prominently in the Hollywood blockbuster series Back to the Future. His most commercially successful design was the first Volkswagen Golf Mk1.

In addition to cars, Giugiaro is so good at designing that Nikon, the Camera making Firm, Hired him to make Camera bodies for them, Giugiaro has also made computer prototypes for Apple, Motorcycles, Wristwatches and developed a new pasta shape "Marille", as well as office furniture for Okamura Corporation

  

Giorgetto Giugiaro has worked on supercars and popular everyday vehicles. Giugiaro was named Car Designer of the Century in 1999 and inducted into the Automotive Hall of Fame in 2002.

Popular Cars Designed by G.G include Volkswagens Golf, Passat, Jetta, The Hyundai Sonata, The Ford Mustang, The Lexus GS and The Maserati Spyder and has Produced numerous cars for Automotive Firms such as Aston Martin, Alfa Romeo, Audi, BMW, Buick, Cadillac, Daewoo, Ferrari, Fiat, Lamborghini, Lancia, Mazda, Porsche, Renault, SAAB, SEAT, Skoda, Subaru, Suzuki and Toyota.

Below are some photos of Giugiaro and his work

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                                       Paul Bracq

Born:                    December 13, 1933 (85)

Nationality:        French

Occupation:       Automobile designer

Paul Bracq  is an automotive designer noted for his work at Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Citroën and Peugeot.

Bracq began his career in the design studio of Philippe Charbonneaux, serving as his assistant in 1953 and 1954. During this period, the studio produced the designs for the French Presidential limousine built by Citroën, a one-off Pegaso coupe, and other automobiles.

Bracq served his mandatory military service from late 1954 through 1957 then He Subsequently worked for Daimler-Benz, heading its design studio in Sindelfingen, a post he would hold for ten years. Bracq styled the Mercedes 600(Grosser), 230SL/250SL/280SL roadster, the 220S coupé, the 250 and 220D, the W108 and W114 coupe series, and its stablemate the W115 – all from the '60s and '70s.

Upon his return to France in 1967, Bracq worked for Brissonneau and Lotz, where he worked on the design of the TGV high-speed passenger train led by Jacques Cooper. During this time, Bracq was also responsible for prototypes of a sports car based on the BMW 1600Ti and a coupé based on the Simca 1100.

In 1970, Bracq was appointed design director of BMW, where he was responsible for the initial designs of the top-of-the-line 7 Series. His 1973 "Turbo" concept car won "Concept Car of the Year" by the Revue Automobile Suisse that year; the car repeated the feat in 1992 in the Bagatelle Concours d'Elegance.

Bracq began with Peugeot in 1974, going on to design personal transportation for the Pope and the interiors of the Peugeot 604 and the Peugeot 505.

Bracq is also active as a judge in many automotive concours, including the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance.

Below are some photos of Paul Bracq and his work

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                                   Bruno Sacco

Born:	12 November 1933 (age 84)
Nationality:	Italian
Education:	Polytechnic University of Turin
Occupation:	Engineer
Spouse(s):	Pauline Sacco
Engineering career
Discipline:	Car design

According to Sacco himself, he was first inspired towards car design as an eighteen-year-old, after seeing a Raymond Loewy-styled 1950 Studebaker Commander Regal as he cycled through the streets of Tarvisio in 1951. Afterwards he could not get the car out of his head, and "knew [his] life had been decided." 

After studying mechanical engineering at the Polytechnic University of Turin he attempted to seek work at the renowned Ghia and Pininfarina carrozzerie, before moving to Germany when his efforts proved unsuccessful. Mercedes-Benz hired him as a stylist in 1958,and although he intended to stay only briefly, his marriage to Berliner Annemarie lbe in 1959 and the birth of their daughter Marina the following year made him reassess his plans.

Sacco rose through the corporate ranks at Mercedes-Benz over the next fifteen years, becoming chief engineer in 1974, before taking over from Friedrich Geiger as head of the Daimler-Benz styling center at Sindelfingen(The Mercedes-Benz Headquarters) in 1975. For the next quarter century until he retired in 1999 he was responsible for the design of every Mercedes road car, bus, and truck.

 Among his numerous works are the C111 concept car, three successive iterations of the S-Class luxury car (the W126 aka-Shagari or Concorde, W140 aka-Beast, and the W220), the R129 SL convertible, the 1st C-Class W202 compact executive car, the W124 aka-VBoot and W210 aka-Oju Opolo versions of the E-Class sedan, the CLK and SLK sports cars, the M-Class luxury sport utility vehicle, and second generation C-Class W203. Bruno made significant contribution to the design of the W123 aka-Regular Benz, the best ever selling Mercedes, as well as his very last design, The R230 SL convertible (in 1997).  

Bruno Sacco’s favourite design, because of its significance to the company, is the Mercedes-Benz 190 aka-BabyBenz introduced in 1982, while he confesses dissatisfaction with the 1991 S-Class(Beast), which he considers to be "four inches too tall" but had to leave it that way for Practically and comfort. In his retirement he has given up his old red SLK convertible in favour of a black Mercedes-Benz 560SEC coupé (Shagari Coupe)

It took several years for Sacco to fully understand the culture at Mercedes-Benz, since by his own attestation there were no "written [styling or design] laws". After following the philosophy of company co-founder Gottlieb Daimler, 'Nothing but the best', he began to better appreciate the direction he should follow.

He has long advocated "horizontal homogeneity" and "vertical affinity", terms he uses to describe the continuity and homogeneity of Mercedes designs. Horizontal homogeneity is the common styling cues between different models in the manufacturer's range; there should be a strong visual relationship between the smallest and largest cars. Vertical affinity is the requirement for cars not to be rendered “stylistically obsolete” by their successors, ensuring greater timelessness of design. Sacco felt this was of special importance to Mercedes, whose cars' reputation for longevity meant that their typical life cycle was 20 to 30 years.

Below are some photos of Bruno Sacco and his work

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