Bruno Sacco, one of the most popular Italian car designers of all time, whose name is indissolubly linked to Mercedes, died on Saturday September 28 at the age of 90. Born in Udine in 1933, he joined the style center of the star brand in 1958, after experience at Ghia and Pininfarina.
He remained in Stuttgart until his retirement in 1999, where he led Mercedes design from 1975, creating some of the company’s most iconic models.
The most important models
Perhaps the most important of Sacco’s early works was the Mercedes SL “Pagoda” 113 from the early 1960s, later followed by the Mercedes 600, the brand’s flagship at the time. Models for which the Italian designer was part of the working group led by Friedrich Geiger.
The big turning point occurred in 1975 with his appointment as head of Mercedes Styling, a position that Bruno left in 1999 to retire, as we have already mentioned.
It would be impossible to cite all the models designed during his 24-year career, but among the most important works we cannot fail to mention first the Mercedes G-Class, the iconic off-roader born in 1979, capable of crossing the ages while maintaining a style practically intact.
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But it was the 1982 Mercedes 190, produced in nearly 1.9 million units, that made Sacco most proud of himself. The “baby Mercedes” became the C-Class over the years.
We cannot fail to mention the Mercedes A Class of 1997, the company’s first front-wheel drive model, with particular mechanics and difficult beginnings due to the failure of the momentum test. It was a real success, with 1.1 million units sold.
