Marcello Gandini 1938-2024: his most brilliant designs in pictures

Slide of The legendary car designer Marcello Gandini, who shaped some of the best known and most revered Italian cars of all time, and many beyond Italy too, has died at the age of 85. The Turin native, widely recognised as one of the most prolific and influential car designers of his era, made a name for himself in the mid-1960s while working for the storied Bertone design house, where he was responsible for such icons as the Lamborghini Miura, Lancia Stratos and Ferrari 308/GT4 - Maranello's only Bertone-designed car. We pay tribute to Sr Gandini and his great work by looking at his finest designs: Slide of Lamborghini Miura (1966) This one's a bit controversial because Gandini designed the Miura when he was working for the Bertone design studio, after he'd replaced Giorgetto Giugiaro. The latter claims he's responsible for at least some of the Miura's design but Gandini says no – and that's something Lamborghini agrees with. Slide of Porsche 911 Roadster (1966) If you had to put money on what underpinned this concept, you'd probably lose your bet as Gandini's rendition of the 911 couldn't have been much different from Porsche's own. The car was commissioned by Porsche's Californian distributor Johnny von Neumann, who reckoned there was a market for a two-seater convertible – but there wasn't, as nobody ordered one once the concept had been unveiled at the 1966 Geneva motor show. Slide of Jaguar FT 3.8 (1966) As with the Porsche 911 Roadster, there were few visual clues to give away what provided the basis for the FT 3.8; it was a Jaguar S-Type. Commissioned by Italian Jaguar importer Ferruccio Tarchini (hence the name FT 3.8), the plan was to offer a luxurious four-seat coupé with modern looks. But once the car had been unveiled at the 1966 Geneva salon just one more car was made, this time based on a Jaguar 420 platform. Slide of BMW E3 (1966) BMW was going through radical changes during the mid-1960s, the company having to reinvent itself to stave off bankruptcy. First came the Neu Klasse saloons, above which sat the New Six, codenamed E3. The initial plan was to have power supplied by a 1.8- or 2.0-litre four-cylinder engine, but by the time the car reached production in 1968 it came with six-cylinder powerplants that displaced between 2.5 and 3.3 litres. Slide of Alfa Romeo Montreal (1967) In 1967 the World Fair was held in Montreal, Canada and to mark the occasion Alfa Romeo commissioned the Italian carrozzeria Bertone to design and build two examples of a concept. The brief was "to express man's ultimate aspirations in the field of motor cars" and a rather sleek coupé was the result. Based on a 1.6-litre Alfa Romeo Giulia Sprint coupé, the unnamed concepts went down a storm with visitors and the media, who clamoured for the car to be built. A production version was unveiled in 1970, now powered by a 2.6-litre V8. Production ended in 1977 with fewer than 4000 sold. Slide of Fiat 125 Executive (1967) Gandini reckoned that it wasn't necessary for a waistline to go from the nose of a car right through to the tail. He wanted to break from tradition with a car that featured a raised boot lid to increase carrying capacity, so when he came up with the Fiat 125 Executive in 1967, the styling was pretty radical for the time. Although elements of the 125 Executive were used in later designs, the car itself remained unique. Slide of Lamborghini Marzal (1967) In silhouette the Marzal wasn't especially crazy – but in detail it most definitely was. From the slatted rear window to the fully glazed gull-wing doors and glass roof this concept was the result of a truly fertile imagination. A fully running prototype, the Marzal broke cover at the 1967 Geneva motor show and was fitted with a 175bhp 2.0-litre straight-six – one half of a Miura 4.0-litre V12. Slide of Jaguar Pirana (1967) Once more Gandini did a brilliant job of masking the donor car for the Pirana, which was a Jaguar E-Type. The car was commissioned by The Daily Telegraph which was also the main sponsor of the Earls Court Motor Show; the Pirana would be the headline act at the 1967 show. Bertone was given just five months to design and build the Pirana, with a budget for both of £20,000. Once the show was over the car was sold on; it's now in private hands in the US. Slide of Lamborghini Miura Roadster (1968) When Bertone made its Brussels Motor Show debut in 1968 it wanted something to display that would really wow the crowds. It had been thinking about an open-topped Miura since the car had been unveiled in 1966; in January 1968 the Miura Roadster was revealed. Now with a V12 on full display, the windscreen was lowered along with the rear roof section. The air intake slats on the C-pillar were also widened and the rear spoiler reworked to accommodate redesigned tail lights. The car remained a one-off. Slide of Alfa Romeo C