Photo credit: Wheelsage
Great cars, just like paintings, deserve to be signed by the artists who designed them. Yes it’s true that a designer works in a team, but even artists have assistants and a workshop. This thought came to mind today as we heard the sad news of the death of Aldo Brovarone, a great man whose fame was limited to the world of specialists but whom we wish to remember with the greatest of respect.
An Italian who emigrated to Argentina after the War, where he met Piero Dusio, the founder of Cisitalia who wanted to relaunch his business in South America through Autoar (Automotores Argentinos). He was employed as a sketch artist. The project, however, failed to take off and Dusio, who sensed his innate talent, presented him to Battista Pinin Farina who, in turn, invited him to Turin.
The first task entrusted to him by “Pinin” in 1953 was to adapt a project previously destined for Cisitalia, which in the meantime had closed, to the mechanics of the Maserati A6GCS. It was to be his first masterpiece. We’re talking about the car that won the Best of the Best 2018 award from among the world’s finest Concours d’Elegance events.
Three years later and his hand was once again seen on the Alfa Romeo “Super Flow”, a hugely influential design study into aerodynamic progress that introduced innovative design cues such faired headlights, rear fins and a transparent Perspex roof. Magnificent ideas that would later appear on many Pininfarina-bodied production cars.
Pininfarina, meanwhile, had become Ferrari’s official coachbuilder and Brovarone pulled off a veritable manifesto of style: the “Superfast II” which went on to influence many later models wearing the Cavallino shield.
In 1966 yet another milestone: the Ferrari 365 P Pininfarina Berlinetta Speciale. The name derived from the fact that much of the mechanics came from the 365 P2 racing car, but the project was designed to fulfil two objectives: the introduction of the style planned for the upcoming Dino, and to satisfy the request of the President of Fiat, Giovanni Agnelli, for whom it was intended. Objectives clearly met.
1968 was the debut year of the Dino, a masterpiece of harmony strongly influenced by Brovarone’s elegant hand.
Among his many masterpieces, we should not forget the Alfa Romeo Duetto, known to many as the “cuttlefish bone” and so loved the world across, and many more models produced at Cambiano where he remained until 1987.
In the final years of his life, he passed on his knowledge to students of the IAAD in Turin through the Studiotorino design studio. At the same time he also collaborated with the German tuner RUF and the Turin-based coachbuilder Stola. He left us aged 94 but his cars will make him immortal. Thank you Aldo.
