Aldo Brovarone (24 June 1926 – 12 October 2020) was an Italian automobile designer and the chief stylist with Carrozzeria Pininfarina (1974-1988) – widely known for a prominent range of work including the Dino 206 GT, Lancia Gamma Coupé and the

Peugeot 504 The Peugeot 504 is a mid-size, front-engine, rear-wheel-drive automobile manufactured and marketed by Peugeot from 1968 to 1983 over a single generation, primarily in four-door sedan and wagon configurations – but also as twin two-door coupé ...

(sedan).

Background

Brovarone was born on 24 June 1926, in

Vigliano Biellese Vigliano Biellese is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Biella in the Italian region Piedmont, located about northeast of Turin and about southeast of Biella. Vigliano Biellese borders the following municipalities: Biella, Candelo, C ...

, in Italy's Piedmont textile region. He demonstrated artistic talent at an early age, and was fascinated by airplanes and dreamed of becoming a pilot. He later studied at the state commercial and technical institute, considering a career in the textile industry. His studies were interrupted by

WWII World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, and he was deported by the Germans and imprisoned for one year in a German concentration camp in occupied Poland. Having managed to survive, he later worked as a designer with a refrigerator company.

Career

In 1949 Brovarone expatriated to

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

, Argentina and worked as a graphic designer at an advertising firm, later working with AUTOAR (Automotores Argentinos) until it ended operations in 1953. Brovarone returned to Italy to work with

Piero Dusio Piero Dusio (13 October 1899 – 7 November 1975) was an Italian footballer, businessman and racing driver.Donatella Biffignandi, Piero Dusio' from museoauto.it, an online museum for automotive issues, last accessed on 12 November 2016. Biograph ...

Cisitalia Cisitalia was an Italian sports and racing car brand. The name "Cisitalia" derives from "Compagnia Industriale Sportiva Italia", a business conglomerate founded in Turin in 1946 and controlled by the wealthy industrialist and sportsman Piero Dusio ...

, where he first developed brochure illustrations and began his career as an automobile designer. On introduction from Dusio, Brovarone met Battista "Pinin" Farina and in 1952, he joined Carrozzeria Pinin Farina (later simply ''Pininfarina'') first as assistant stylist to Francesco Salomone and Franco Martinengo. He subsequently became lead designer, beginning with the design of the Ferrari Superamerica II, presented at the 1960

Turin Auto Show The Turin Motor Show ( it, Salone dell'Automobile di Torino) was an auto show held annually in Turin, Italy. The first official show took place between 21 and 24 April 1900, at the Castle of Valentino, becoming a permanent fixture in Turin from ...

. At Pininfarina, Brovarone designed the sedan variant of the

. In 2007 he verified that he did not design the coupe and cabriolet variants, confirming these were designed at Pininfarina, but under the direction of Franco Martinegno, from sketches by Peugeot. At Pininfarina, he collaborated on the 1987

Ferrari F40 The Ferrari F40 (''tipo'' F120) is a mid-engine, rear-wheel drive sports car engineered by Nicola Materazzi with styling by Pininfarina. It was built from 1987 until 1992, with the LM and GTE race car versions continuing production until 199 ...

with its designer Pietro Camardella, just before retiring.

Later years

After his retirement from Pininfarina in 1988, Brovarone consulted as a stylist with

Stola The stola () (pl. ''stolae'') was the traditional garment of Roman women, corresponding to the toga that was worn by men. It was also called ''vestis longa'' in Latin literary sources, pointing to its length. History The ''stola'' was a staple ...

, later contributing to the design of Studiotorino's Porsche Boxster-based Ruf RK Spyder, named at the 2005 Milan Triennale as ''the most beautiful car in the world''. At Studiotorino, Broverone secretly penned a coupe variant that management later accepted. He continued to live in Turin, without computer or cellphone, and continued to make pencil sketches and

tempera Tempera (), also known as egg tempera, is a permanent, fast-drying painting medium consisting of colored pigments mixed with a water-soluble binder medium, usually glutinous material such as egg yolk. Tempera also refers to the paintings done ...

illustrations which were printed as collectible postcards. He died at 94 on 12 October 2020 at Molinette hospital in

Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The ...

, several days after the death of his wife Martarita, and was survived by his son Enrico Brovarone and nephew Cesare Brovarone. He was a member of the Auto Moto Club Storico Italiano (AMSAP) and judge for two ''concours d'elegance'' organized by the club, at Villa La Malpenga in Vigliano Biellese (in 2016) and at Ricetto di Candelo (in 2017). His life and work was recounted in the 2019 book, ''Stile & raffinatezza. Le creazioni di Aldo Brovarone ("Style & Refinement. The Creations of Aldo Brovarone)'' by Giuliano Silli, presented at the Third Annual Parco del Valentino Concours d'Elegance.

Design work

* Alfa Romeo 6C 3000 CM Superflow (1955–1960

concept Concepts are defined as abstract ideas. They are understood to be the fundamental building blocks of the concept behind principles, thoughts and beliefs. They play an important role in all aspects of cognition. As such, concepts are studied by ...

). A series of four consecutive bodies on the same chassis. * Alfa Romeo Eagle * Alfa Romeo Giulia 1600 Sport *

Alfa Romeo Spider The Alfa Romeo Spider (105/115 series) is a two-seater, front engine, rear drive roadster manufactured and marketed by Alfa Romeo from 1966 to 1994 in four distinct generations, or ''Series'', each with modifications ranging from modest to exte ...

(Duetto) with Martinengo, Salomone, and Carli of Pininfarina *

33DF Voloradente *

Ford Ford commonly refers to: * Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford * Ford (crossing), a shallow crossing on a river Ford may also refer to: Ford Motor Company * Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company * Ford F ...

808 coupé * Dino 206 GT * Dino Berlinetta GT *

Dino Berlinetta Speciale Dino () was a marque best known for mid-engined, rear-drive sports cars produced by Ferrari from 1957 to 1976. The marque came into existence in late 1956 with a front-engined Formula Two racer powered by a brand new '' Dino'' V6 engine. The name ...

Ferrari 250 LM The Ferrari P was a series of Italian sports prototype racing cars produced by Ferrari during the 1960s and early 1970s. Although Enzo Ferrari resisted the move even with Cooper dominating F1, Ferrari began producing mid-engined racing cars i ...

* Ferrari 365 GT 2+2 * Ferrari 365 P Berlinetta Speciale Speciale * Ferrari 375 America Coupe Speciale (1954 for

Gianni Agnelli Giovanni "Gianni" Agnelli (; 12 March 192124 January 2003), nicknamed ("The Lawyer"), was an Italian industrialist and principal shareholder of Fiat. As the head of Fiat, he controlled 4.4% of Italy's GDP, 3.1% of its industrial workforce a ...

) * Ferrari 400 Superamerica Pinin Farina Coupé (1959 for

) *

Maserati 5000 GT The Maserati 5000 GT is a 2-door coupé car, made by Italian automobile manufacturer Maserati from 1959–1966. A total of thirty-four were produced with bodies made by eight different Italian coach builders. The first car in the ''Tipo 103'' ...

Pinin Farina Coupé (1961 for

) * Ferrari 400 Superamerica Coupé Aerodinamico * Ferrari Superfast II–IV (1960–1962 concept). A series of three consecutive bodies on the same chassis. * Ferrari 500 Superfast * Lancia Gamma Coupé * Maserati A6GCS Pinin Farina Berlinetta *

(berlina/sedan) *

Peugeot 604 The Peugeot 604 is an executive car produced by the French manufacturer Peugeot from 1975 to 1985. 153,252 cars were sold during its 10-year production life. It was made in France and also assembled by Kia in South Korea. The Pininfarina-designed ...

* Stola Dedica * Stola Abarth Monotipo *

Stola S82 Spyder Stola is an Italian automotive company founded in 1919. From its start it realized concept cars, prototypes and style models, master models and engineering consultancy for some of the biggest manufacturers in the automotive industry. In 2004 it ...

* Stola GTS * Ruf RK Coupé and Spyder * Ruf R Spyder File:Cisitaliaav.jpg,

Type 33 DF Volo Radente File:Lancia Gamma Coupé 2500 1979 Bailly Mars 2011.jpg, Lancia Gamma Coupé File:Peugeot 604 (6100200213).jpg,

File:Peugeot 504 000.jpg,

File:Paris - Bonhams 2015 - Ferrari 365 GT 2+2 Coupé - 1968 - 002.jpg, Ferrari 365 GT 2+2 File:Ferrari 375 America.jpg, 1955 Ferrari 375 America Coupé Speciale for

File:1962 Ferrari 400 Superamerica Aerodinamico - Flickr - exfordy.jpg, Ferrari 400 Superamerica Aerodinamico Coupé File:1954-10-07 Paris Ferrari 375 0456AM Bergman Rossellini.jpg,

Ferrari 375 MM :''See Ferrari 375 F1 for the 375 used in Formula 1 racing, and 375 America, a GT car'' The Ferrari 375 MM, was a sports racing car produced by Ferrari in 1953 up to 1955 for the road cars. It was named "375" for the unitary displacement of one ...

Berlinetta Speciale, for actress Ingrid Bergman File:Ferrari 400 Superamerica Coupé Speciale (4).jpg, Ferrari 400 Superamerica Pinin Farina Coupé, for Fiat CEO

File:2013-03-05 Geneva Motor Show 7865.JPG,

File:1964 Ferrari 500 Superfast.jpg, Ferrari 500 Superfast File:SC06 1972 Ferrari 365 GTC 4.jpg,

Ferrari 365 GTC/4 The Ferrari 365 GTC/4 (Type F101) is a 2+2 grand tourer produced by Ferrari from 1971 to 1972. It was based on the chassis of the Ferrari 365 GTB/4 "Daytona". In the very short two-year production run 505 examples of the GTC/4 were produced. Its c ...

File:Collection Panini Maserati 0093.JPG, Maserati A6GCS Pinin Farina

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brovarone, Aldo Italian automobile designers Pininfarina people Cisitalia people 2020 deaths 1926 births People from the Province of Biella Alfa Romeo people Ferrari people