Giovanni Michelotti (6 October 1921 – 23 January 1980) was one of the most prolific designers of sports cars in the 20th century. His notable contributions were for Ferrari, Lancia, Maserati and Triumph marques. He was also associated with truck designs for Leyland Motors, and with designs for British Leyland (including the Leyland National bus) after the merger of Leyland and BMC.

Born in Turin, Italy, Michelotti worked for coachbuilders, including Stabilimenti Farina, Vignale and Carrozzeria Allemano, before opening his own design studio in 1959.

Towards the end of his life, asked whether he had ever designed anything other than cars, Michelotti acknowledged that virtually all of his design work had involved cars, but he admitted to having designed a coffee making machine shortly after the war.

Ferrari

Ferrari 166 Inter Coupé and Cabriolet for Stabilimenti Farina; Coupé for Ghia; Coupé for Vignale
Ferrari 166 MM Coupé and Spider for Vignale
Ferrari 212 Inter Coupé, Spider and Cabriolet for Ghia; Coupé, Spider and Convertible for Vignale; Coupé for Ghia-Aigle
Ferrari 212 Export Barchetta, Spider, Convertible and Coupé for Vignale
Ferrari 225 Sport Coupé and Spider for Vignale
Ferrari 225 Export Barchetta, Spider and Coupé for Vignale
Ferrari 250 MM Coupé and Spider for Vignale
Ferrari 250 Europa Coupé and Spider for Vignale
Ferrari 340 America Coupé and 2+2 Coupé for Ghia; Coupé and Spider for Vignale
Ferrari 340 Mexico Coupé and Spider for Vignale
Ferrari 340 MM Spider for Vignale (some later uprated to 375 MM spec)
Ferrari 342 America Convertible for Vignale
Ferrari 375 MM Coupé for Ghia
Ferrari 375 America Coupé for Vignale
Ferrari 330 GT Michelotti Coupé
Ferrari 365 GTB/4 Michelotti N.A.R.T. Spyder
Ferrari 275 P

Maserati

Maserati A6G/54 2000 Allemano Coupé
Maserati 3500 GT Spyder, for Vignale
Maserati 5000 GT Coupé, for Carrozzeria Allemano and Carrozzeria Michelotti
Maserati Sebring (1962, for Vignale)[2]
Maserati Indy for Vignale
Maserati Mistral Spyder

Standard Triumph

From the late 1950s Michelotti was responsible for all new models produced by the British company Standard Triumph, starting with a facelift of the Standard Vanguard and going on to design models for Triumph such as the Herald, Spitfire, GT6, TR4, 2000, 1300, Stag, and Dolomite. He also created a number of prototypes which did not go into production, such as the Fury. The only Triumphs after 1960 that were not his work were the TR6 and the TR7, plus the Honda-based Acclaim.

British Leyland

After Triumph’s parent company Leyland Motors became a part of British Leyland, Michelotti undertook a facelift of the BMC 1100 – which became the Spanish-built Austin Victoria and also the South African-built Austin Apache. He also designed the Leyland National bus and the Australian-made Leyland P76.

Scammell

In the 1960s, Michelotti designed a glass-reinforced plastic (GRP) cab for certain lorries made by Scammell, who had become part of Leyland Motors in 1955. The cab was used for the Routeman, Handyman and Trunker models

BMW

Giovanni Michelotti’s BMW association started with the BMW 700 (1959) and later the successful BMW New Class series of designs of which the most notable is the BMW 2002. His sport sedan designs later became the BMW design language, that was continued and refined by Ercole Spada well into the 1980s.

DAF/Volvo

Michelotti also worked with the Dutch firm DAF, starting in 1963 with redesigning the ageing Daffodil 31 model into the Daffodil 32. The Shellette beach car was also originally developed to use DAF underpinnings.[4] The DAF 44 (1966) was a completely new design from his hand and he also helped form its derivatives, which culminated in the Volvo 66 (1975).

Own work

Michelotti did present a few cars under its own name. The “Shellette” was a beach car with wicker seats and dashboard, in the spirit of Ghia’s Fiat 500 and 600 “Jolly”s, but designed in a collaboration with yacht designer Philip Schell. Originally constructed with DAF underpinnings, it was later built with Fiat 850 mechanicals. Unlike the Ghia Jolly, the 47 PS (35 kW) Shellette was a reasonably useful car capable of a 60 mph (97 km/h) cruising speed and had a heater and various other creature comforts. Only about 80 were built, with around ten still extant. Famous buyers include the Dutch Royal Family, who used an early DAF-based Shellette at their summer property in Porto Ercole, and Jacqueline Onassis, who employed a later model Shellette on the Onassis’ private island Skorpios.[4]

Around 1980, the Fiat 127-based “Every” appeared, a light buggy-styled vehicle. Michelotti also marketed a luxurious version of the Daihatsu Taft.[5] In 1985 the Michelotti PAC was presented, a one-off citycar prototype (PAC = “Project Automotive Commuter”) based on the Daihatsu Cuore.[6]

Other manufacturers

For other companies he designed the following (incomplete):

Alfa Romeo Giulietta Sprint Veloce ‘Goccia’ (1961)
Alfa Romeo 2600 Berlina De Luxe for OSI
Alfa Romeo 2000 Coupé Vignale
Triumph Herald
Triumph TR4
Triumph Dolomite Sprint
Triumph GT6
Triumph Stag
Matra 530 (1970) facelift
Alpine A106 (1955)
Alpine A108
Alpine A110
Lancia Aprilia Coupé (1949)
Lancia Appia Convertible (1957)
Lancia Flavia Convertible
Lancia Aurelia B50 and B52 Vignale Coupé

Lancia Aurelia B52
Lancia Aurelia B53 Allemano Coupé
Lancia Aurelia Nardi Blue Ray 1 and 2, for Vignale
Hino Contessa Sprint 900 (1962)
Hino Contessa 1300 (1965)
Prince Skyline Sport (1960)
Armstrong Siddeley (a one off car based on the Sapphire 234 chassis for a Spanish client).
Reliant Scimitar SS1 (1984) which was his last design to reach production, four years after his death.

Scimitar SS1
Fiat 8V Coupé, Convertible and Demon Rouge for Vignale
Siata 208S (Bertone)