Detroit Free Press
By Mark Phelan
FREE PRESS AUTO CRITIC
June 17, 2004

The Chevrolet Aveo's winning exterior and stunningly roomy interior come from the same Italian design studio responsible for a wide array of things from the Maserati Bora sports car to the Volkswagen Golf and the most highly engineered piece of pasta in the history of noodles.

ItalDesign-Giugiaro S.p.A. is among the most celebrated of Italy's legendary freelance engineering and design companies.

The company put itself on the map in the early 1970s with designs for breakthrough small cars like the Alfa Romeo Alfasud and the Volkswagen Golf.

The Golf became the definitive European small car and the cornerstone of VW's success, thanks to its crisp lines, roomy interior and good value. ItalDesign cofounder Giorgio Giugiaro went on to oversee designs for diverse products ranging from sports cars to farm tractors to a line of Barilla pasta with grooves inside the noodles to hold the sauce. ItalDesign claims to have created the designs for more than 200 production cars that have sold more than 40 million units.

ItalDesign and a small group of exclusive design and engineering specialists - most of them based in Turin, traditional home of Italian auto design - are pens for hire, providing designs, engineering and manufacturing for automakers around the world.

"Some automakers get legitimacy from working with the big boys like ItalDesign," said Jim Hall, vice president for industry analysis at the Southfield office of consultant AutoPacific. "Others may not have the design staff or expertise for a project, or they may want an outsider to give them fresh ideas.

"Independent design and engineering houses include ItalDesign, Pininfarina, Bertone and I.D.E.A. in Italy, Karmann in Germany and Heuliez in France. Southgate-based ASC and Canadian supplier Magna have also supplied some of the same services, but their names lack the panache that goes with a design penned by the same people who created cars for Ferrari, Maserati and Lamborghini.

"Turin is the center of Italian design," said Chris Sawyer, executive editor of Automotive Design and Production magazine. "If you want to see miracles there, you go to see either the Shroud or the design houses."

Contact MARK PHELAN at 313-222-6731 or phelan@freepress.com.

MARK PHELAN: Italian studio makes a pretty good car -- and a good noodle
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