One hundred years ago Giovanni Michelotti, an Italian genius of international renown, was born. He gained his first experience in his home town of Turin, which was rightly called the 'city of the automobile' for the creative fervour that animated every motor workshop, factory or industry in the sector. He trained as a young man in Giovanni Farina's factories, where people started from the "gavetta" and learned everything about the car and technical drawing from the older masters. In fact, after the war, Michelotti had replaced Pietro Frua, one of the best-known car designers of the 20th century.
After leaving the Farina company, he became Italy's first ever professional car body designer, always based in Turin, in various locations during his not-so-long life. A tireless worker, as revealed by the endless list of cars he designed, according to the historical register of his production, Michelotti also made three-dimensional scale models, in order to best show the customer the aesthetic and functional characteristics of his project. In addition to the commissions he received from Turin coachbuilders, Fiat, Lancia and Ferrari, Michelotti also developed ideas for the big foreign companies, BMW, Triumph, Austin and Ford, by whom he was much appreciated.
Well-known in England, he was considered a 'magic pen', while in Italy he was less well known; one more reason to remember this extraordinary designer. Among the countless models he designed are the Alpine A 108 cabriolet, the Triumph Spitfire, the BMW 1500, the Lancia Appia Vignale convertible, the Ferrari 350 GT coupé, some concept cars and even racing models.

Michelotti designed one of the most beautiful models of the super-utilitarian Fiat 600 (1955), the "Rendez Vous" coupé in twenty examples, a rarity, but not only that, for Fiat he also designed the extremely rare Fiat 8V Vignale, one of the most sought-after supercars in the world, these are just some of the special models produced in the 1950s/60s. 
As a true all-round designer ahead of his time, Michelotti created a Ferrari 250 MM for the American women's fashion shop chain 'Lily Ann' for advertising purposes. He created not only a special car, but also the dress that a possible model (or driver) could wear, in the colour of the car, achieving enormous success overseas.