Wherever Italian design is discussed throughout world, particularly in the US and Japan, the first name which comes to mind is Giorgetto Giugiaro of Torino. Many a car born of his genial pen-strokes is to be found parked in the driveways of Hollywood mansions, blocked on the off-ramps to fashionable suburban areas, and displayed in several museums. Just the mention of a few names gives you an impression: Ferrari, Oldsmobile, Maserati, Alfa Romeo, Fiat, Volkswagen, Bmw etc.

It is not widely known that many "normal" automobiles currently on the roads are actually Giugiaro projects, but legal arrangements do not include the designer’s signature. Anyone more interested in boats or planes than cars, would do well to remember that the Torinese designer created helicopters for Agusta, interiors for airplanes and motorboats for Tullio Abbate, Baglietto and Comar. Ecologists have no grounds for complaint, Giugiaro has also designed bicycles and hiking boots.

All designs for man in motion? No, indeed. His recently renamed studio Italdesign, (www.italdesign.it) is behind domestic furnishings and accessories, appliances, cameras, computers and pasta!

But how does a design genius like Giugiaro go widely unrecognized in his home country? That he is a gifted designer is uncontested and his Italdesign company is firmly established as a proper design company in its own right, providing a service to prominent manufacturers. This is miles away from the traditional Italian attitude which still sees design as a craftsman’s activity. The image still holds strong of the artisan in his Renaissance "bottega" (workshop) who, amidst tiny wooden models and scattered notes produces the extraordinary.

Perhaps the great success Giugiaro is experiencing around the world is due to precisely his capacity to have accurately combined Italian styling with the business concepts and production processes of large international companies.

Various Giugiaro-designed automobiles, including the 1974 Golf, 1980 Fiat Uno and the 1993 Fiat Punto were the most sold automobiles of their respective production years.

Italdesign also designs functional prototypes. The Formula project is a case in point. From the basic components of the Fiat Brava, it has been possible to develop three more vehicles: a two-passenger convertible, a four-passenger convertible, and a sedan. Here pictured, the Formula 4 convertible with space for four.

In theory, anybody with the construction kit could come up with three different cars, simply by modifying the parts that come in the box.