Bruno Sacco passed away on 28 September at the age of 90. The designer made the history of Mercedes-Benz, for which he was head of styling from 1975 to 1999, tracing the lines of many of the star’s most significant cars. Born on 12 November 1933 in Udine, Italy, Sacco always obeyed one principle: “I am a Mercedes-Benz designer not because I think “l’art pour l’art” should be my motto, but because I want the cars I am responsible for to sell successfully,” he said. Sacco came to Mercedes-Benz, after his first experiences in Turin at Ghia and Pininfarina, through Karl Wilfert, whom he got to know in Turin. Wilfert, then in charge of body development, sent him to the Sindelfingen plant at the end of 1957 and hired the young designer shortly afterwards. On 13 January 1958 Sacco started work at Daimler-Benz in Sindelfingen as second designer, following Paul Bracq, who had been hired as first designer in 1957.
During his time at Daimler-Benz, Bruno Sacco worked hard on the SL and the W 198 and R 129 series had a particularly formative influence on him. His most important works include the G-Class from 1979 to the present day, the 190, of which 1.9 million have been produced since 1982, the A-Class from 1997, with which Mercedes-Benz entered the smaller segments (1.1 million units sold), the SLK, CLK, the various generations of the S-Class and the E-Class 210 series, as well as countless experimental prototypes and research models that the public has never seen.
