RIP Aldo Brovarone

F1 is in Imola today and my mind traveled back in time, many years ago when a young boy (me) was dreaming of designing such masterpieces like the ones created by the amazing talent of Aldo Brovarone, who passed away on October 12, at the age of ninety-four. His name might not sound particularly familiar to all, but he was responsible for the design of some of the most iconic show and production cars ever made. There was no mention of his name on any of these cars; they simply wore the badge of Pinin Farina (known as Pininfarina from 1961 onwards). Brovarone worked for the Italian carrozzeria from 1952 through to his retirement in 1988. From 1974, he was the company’s design manager.

Young Brovarone’s parents had a career in mind for him in the local textile industry and sent him to a business school. He started his working career after the war designing refrigerators and later worked as a graphic designer for an advertising company in Buenos Aires, Argentina. In 1952, he was recalled to Italy by Argentinean Piero Dusio, the founder of the Cisitalia. Dusio and Brovarone had met during the war when they were both held in an internment camp in Poland. When Cisitalia folded in 1954, it was Dusio himself who encouraged Battista “Pinin” Farina to hire the talented Brovarone.

Not trained as an automotive designer, Brovarone stood out for his artistic talent. He started as an assistant to Pinin Farina’s more senior designers, converting their ideas to paper. It wasn’t long before he started adding his own touches to the designs and, by the end of the 1950s, Brovarone was putting those designs to paper. Among his most famous designs for Pininfarina are the Ferrari Dino 246 GT, Peugeot 504 Coupe, and Lancia Gamma Coupe. Following his retirement from Pininfarina, Brovarone offered his talents to Stola and StudioTorino into the mid-2000s. He also continued to draw, making cards with beautiful illustrations of airplanes and classic cars.

To celebrate the career of this singular talent here is one of the finest creations from his hand, the "Maserati A6GCS/53 Pinin Farina".

The Berlinetta body created for the Maserati A6GCS/53 chassis was commissioned not by Maserati but by the Rome distributor “Mimmo” Dei. This design has gone into history as one of the all-time greats. Four examples were built and the first one was shown at the Turin Motor Show in 1954. The combination of the achingly beautiful Pinin Farina lines with the racing car underpinnings make these rare machines among the most desirable Maseratis of all time. One of the reasons these cars were created directly for Maserati was Pinin Farina’s quickly growing partnership with Ferrari. As a result, the A6GCS/53 Berlinetta would remain the last Maserati clothed by the Turinese company for fifty years. That changed when Pininfarina was hired to design the Quattroporte and GranTurismo, which both include clear cues inspired by the A6GCS/53.

May he rest in peace. His designs will continue to inspire us forever.