It would be impossible to imagine the modern automobile world without taking into account the work of Giorgetto Giugiaro, a car design icon and the creator of so many of the cars that made motoring history and which we still see on the roads today. With seven honorary degrees, six “Golden Compasses”, three “Car of the Year” awards and two “Golden Steering Wheels” to his name, and nominated “Car Designer of the Century” in 1999, Giorgetto Giugiaro certainly needs no introduction.

Giorgetto Giugiaro (right) together with Rodolfo Gaffino Rossi, director of Mauto and exhibition curator

Numerous exhibitions have already been held to honour Giugiaro through the many creations produced throughout his long career. With “Giugiaro e il suo percorso” (The life and career of Giugiaro) – a title chosen by the man himself – the MAUTO Automobile Museum of Turin now retraces the creative journey of a lifetime with an exhibition organised by the automotive historian Giuliano Molineri, the journalist Giosuè Boetto Cohen and MAUTO director Rodolfo Gaffino Rossi, open to the public until February 26.

The intention of the exhibition is relate the life and experiences of Giugiaro from his apprenticeship at Fiat in the 1950s under the watchful eye of the engineer Dante Giacosa, through his years at Bertone and Ghia to the foundation of Italdesign in 1968. It is an exhibition dedicated to Giugiaro the man, revealing his passions – such as for painting and trial motorcycles – and the places he is most deeply connected with, such as the studio-think tank in his family home in Garessio, in the province of Cuneo, where he loves to spend his weekends.

It is an exhibition unlike any other, as it is not a collection of his creations but a genuine study of the creative process. A study of the process from the pencil to reality, to discover where ideas are born and how they are developed over time to fruition.

“I have always been fascinated by the path between the drawing and the actual creation itself. This exhibition is by no means the end of a journey, which will continue into the future as I still have many more ideas” said Giorgetto Giugiaro during the inauguration held on November 24, where he also thanked Italdesign, which provided many of the documents necessary to make the exhibition possible.

Photos by Andrea Guermani