Overview

This portfolio set was made to recognize Giugiaro’s great artistry and uses an innovative black and white color scheme throughout—all pages on the left are white, all pages on the right are black. The portfolio set was made entirely by hand, and the slipcase and portfolio are covered with lustrous black silk. Giugiaro signed the portfolio next to a quote of his, and the photographer signed it at the conclusion of an insightful essay. The portfolio has 33 handmade prints that were hand tipped onto the pages, and concludes with the specifications of all the featured cars.

"Designer of the Century"

The name Giorgetto Giugiaro is synonymous with the greatest designs the automotive world has to offer. The son of a painter, Giugiaro was born in 1938 in a small village outside Turin, Italy. As a teenager he moved to the bustling city to live with his aunt to learn the auto industry. He began working at Fiat, then in 1959 was hired by famed coachbuilder Nuccio Bertone. The rest, as they say, is history.

At Bertone, Giugiaro was bold and creative, exhibiting a talent and flair that belied his youth. Designs for companies as diverse as Alfa, Chevrolet, Ford, Ferrari, Iso, Maserati and numerous others saw Giugiaro’s name frequent the headlines during the early to mid-1960s. Then, to everyone’s surprise in 1965 he moved to Carrozzeria Ghia and did it all over again, literally reinventing his style. Companies such as Maserati, De Tomaso, Isuzu and Fiat all benefited. By the late 1960s Giugiaro was widely recognized as one of the world’s greatest design talents.

That was just the warm up act. In 1968 Giugiaro started Ital Design with Aldo Mantovani and Giugiaro’s portfolio went from simply incredible to mind-boggling. Inventive, artistic and possessor of great self-confidence, he penned many of the postwar era’s great exotics at Ital Design. At the opposite end of the spectrum he also created the original Volkswagen Rabbit (Golf in Europe), a minivan years before the concept was "invented" by the Chrysler Corporation, and innovative buses and trucks.

By the end of the 1990s that talent and vision had become legendary. In 2000, a group of auto industry insiders named Giugiaro "Designer of the Century" and, as if to prove how right they were, two years later with son Fabrizio he created one of the most memorable showcars of the new millennium, the Alfa Romeo Brera.

The Inspiration

Award winning writer and photographer Winston Goodfellow has known Giugiaro for the better part of two decades, and admired his work for an even longer period. In late Spring 2003 Goodfellow decided to create a special present for the Maestro’s 65th birthday that would be given to him at a small, intimate party in California during the Pebble Beach Concours week when Giugiaro would be honored at the famed auto show.

"I really wanted to create something that looked like art," Goodfellow says. "During a brainstorming session with some people on my creative and production team, one of them showed me a paper stock where one side of the page was white, the other black. I knew immediately that was the final touch, one that Giugiaro would really appreciate. After all, in this age of computers he still sketches his cars by pencil on the blank sheet of paper."

The Portfolio Set

Throughout the portfolio every left-hand page is white, every right-hand page black. Text on the left pages is black, text on the right pages, white. The effect is startling and bold, making leafing through the hefty masterwork all the more pleasurable and entertaining.

The portolio set feels heavy in your hands, thanks to the thick paperstock, robust cover and slipcase. The slipcase measures 14" x 9 1/2" x 1 3/4", and is covered in lustrous black silk. It has a subtle de-bossed duplicate of Giugiaro’s immortal signature that is nicely highlighted in a silver/gray tone. Three windows reveal the prints inset into the portfolio’s cover.

The portfolio is also covered in black silk, and has a de-boss of Giugiaro’s signature that mimics the one on the cover. Above it are the hand-tipped inset prints with the logos of the featured marques: Alfa Romeo, Ferrari and Maserati.

"In the beginning it was difficult determining what creations of Giorgetto’s to feature," Goodfellow says. "I have shot so many over the years, but there needed to be some sort of coherent theme. For enthusiasts such as myself, his creations for Alfa, Ferrari and Maserati are amongst his best. Concentrating on the three allowed me to portray his career from the early 1960s up to the present day."

The essay was equally difficult. "So much has been written about the man’s creations and his style that it is difficult to say something new," Goodfellow explains. "So I decided to examine the man himself and what made him who he was. And having interviewed him numerous times, hopefully there would be some observations that might surprise his closest friends, let alone jog his own memories."

And that it did. For the first copy destined for the Maestro, Ital Design’s Lorenza Capello and Alberto Fumagalli did a masterful job translating the text into Italian, carefully capturing its nuances so Giorgetto could truly enjoy it (in portfolios Numbers 2 and 3 the text is in English). During his 65th birthday dinner in Carmel, Giugiaro immediately opened the portfolio and was soon engrossed in the text, nodding his head and grinning from ear to ear.

He then turned his attention to the 33 prints, smiling as he slowly leafed through the pages. "As I said before with the Brera Portfolio Set," Giugiaro said after setting his present down, "Goodfellow is a true artist. Bravo! Buon lavoro!"

The nine machines portrayed are 1961’s one-off Ferrari 250 SWB, a 1969 Maserati Ghibli coupe, a 1972 Maserati Bora, a 1972 Maserati Ghibli Spyder, 1997’s one-off Alfa Romeo Scighera, 2000’s Maserati Buran Limousine, the unforgettable Alfa Romeo Brera of 2002, and the current production Maserati Coupe and Spyder. The 33 prints are individually handmade, archival processed and hand mounted.

The portfolio measures 13 1/2" x 9 1/4" x 1 3/8". It begins with the title page and is followed by the quote page and signature page where Giugiaro hand-signed across from the quote. Next is the essay that is hand signed by the author/photographer at its conclusion. This is followed by a list of the cars portrayed, the 33 prints and the specifications table that offers details on the cars photographed. The portfolio concludes with the colophon; in the text it states the portfolio set is number three in an edition of three.

An Edition of Three

The first Portfolio Set was presented to Giugiaro at his 65th birthday party in August prior to Pebble Beach. At the party were close friends and the publisher and editor of the prestigious publication, Automobile Quarterly. Portfolio Sets Number 2 and 3 were autographed in the photographer’s office in Carmel on August 16 prior to the dinner party.

For the aficionado or collector who wants a unique, signed masterwork collectible that represents the work of the Designer of the Century, "Giorgetto Giugiaro: Alfa, Ferrari, Maserati" is it. Only three Portfolio Sets were made. Number 1 is owned by Giugiaro, Number 2 by the photographer, and Number 3 is now offered for sale at the price of $6,000.00.

The Giorgetto Giugiaro: Alfa, Ferrari, Maserati Portfolio Set:

• Three Sets Only: #1 to the "Maestro"; #2 to the photographer; #3 to the collector
• Silk-covered slipcase with three windows and de-boss facsimile of Giugiaro’s signature; slipcase measures 14" x 9 3/4" x 1 3/4"
• Handmade portfolio is 13 3/4" x 9 1/2" x 1 3/8". The portfolio is covered in black silk and has three 2 1/2" x 3 1/2" prints inset into the cover. The 43-page portfolio’s contents are: title page; quote page and opposing signature page, signed by Giugiaro; the essay written and signed by the photographer; list of cars photographed; 33 5" x 7 1/2" images; specifications pages on the cars photographed; colophon that includes variable imaging field numbering that states the portfolio is number three in an edition of three
• The portfolio set was made entirely by hand. All prints are individually handmade, archival processed and hand mounted
• Price is $6,000.00 SOLD!

Cars featured in "Giorgetto Giugiaro: Alfa, Ferrari, Maserati" are:

• 1961 one-off Ferrari 250 SWB "Split Nostril"
• 1969 Maserati Ghibli coupe
• 1972 Maserati Bora
• 1972 Maserati Ghibli Spyder
• 1997 one-off Alfa Romeo Scighera showcar
• 2000 one-off Maserati Buran Limousine
• 2002 one-off Alfa Romeo Brera
• Current production Maserati Coupe
• Current production Maserati Spyder