Iconic Mercedes-Benz designer Bruno Sacco dies
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The man responsible for transforming the German car maker – and defining its corporate design aesthetic for decades – has died aged 90.
Legendary Mercedes-Benz designer Bruno Sacco has died aged 90, sparking an outpouring of praise for his significant contribution to the German car maker – and to the field of automotive design in general – over a remarkable 40-year career.
Regarded as one of the world's best car designers – and the brand's greatest ever by an adoring legion of fans – Sacco was famously quoted saying "A Mercedes-Benz should look like a Mercedes-Benz".
While his W201 Mercedes-Benz 190 series – produced between 1982 and 1993 – is often first cited as proof of his brilliance, it is remarkably merely one Sacco design in a roll-call of the most revered cars ever to wear the three-pointed star.
Despite retiring more than a quarter of a century ago, more than half of Drive's recent Top 10 list of the most iconic Mercedes-Benz models are from Sacco, who was inducted into the Automotive Hall of Fame in 2006 having overseen every design from the car maker between 1975 and 1999.
"Bruno Sacco left a lasting mark on the company with his iconic designs and his passion for aesthetics," said current Mercedes-Benz Chief Design Officer Gorden Wagener in a statement.
"In Bruno Sacco, we have lost an outstanding personality and an impressive aesthete. Our deepest sympathy goes out to his family and friends."
Born in the northern Italy town of Udine on 12 November 1933, a trip to the Turin Motor Show as a seventeen-year-old convinced him to study mechanical engineering at Polytechnic University in Turin.
He started his working career in 1955 at famous Italian coachbuilder (carrozzerie) Ghia and then Pininfarina – outfits responsible for designing some of the world's most iconic cars for brands including Alfa Romeo and Ferrari.
Yet Sacco would become one of the world's most lauded and admired designers once he moved to Mercedes-Benz in 1958 as a second stylist under Friedrich Geiger.
Sacco's arrival at the Stuttgart-based brand saw his development of philosophies helping establish Mercedes-Benz as a producer of over-engineered, high-quality cars boasting timeless, elegant styling.
Under Geiger as head of design, this included the 1963 Mercedes-Benz 600 (W100) – the forerunner to today's flagship Mercedes-Maybach S-Class – and 1963 230 SL 'Pagoda' (W113).
Sacco also worked on the C111 concept cars, a series of design and engineering prototypes that kicked off in 1969 with 'Gullwing' doors and a series of Wankel (rotary) petrol, diesel and petrol V8 engines.
Over his four decades at the car maker, which included succeeding Geiger as chief of design in 1975, Sacco melded his idea of what a Mercedes should look like with a second concept: "The successor was never allowed to make the predecessor look really old".
A prime example of these ideas is the 1979 to 1992 W126 S-Class, of which Sacco was most proud.
"The 126 model series in all design forms is the best thing I have done for Mercedes-Benz," Sacco was quoted as saying in a statement from the car maker, with Sacco driving a dark blue 560 SEC (C126) coupe decades after his retirement.
The W126 came via the creation of a specialist 'Stylistics' department headed by Sacco in 1978 and introduced side protective strips with integrated bumpers – an element incorporated into other models such as the W201 compact sedan (1982 to 1993), W124 executive car (1984 to 1997) and R129 SL (1989 to 2001) sports car.
This is how Sacco ensured instant recognisability as a Mercedes-Benz, while maintaining visual differentiation between models – such as the R129 SL and the smaller, more affordable R170 SLK (1996-2004) – all while not dating previous models.
The 1982 W201 190 is often held as Sacco's zenith as it was not only regarded as a standout design from an enthusiast view, but it was also an important product for the company's fortunes – bringing newer, young buyers to Mercedes-Benz as the forerunner to today's C-Class.
It was the smallest Mercedes-Benz at the time as the car maker expanded its line-up, a rival to the successful BMW 3-Series compact car introduced in 1975, designed by Paul Bracq who'd defected from Mercedes to its emerging Munich rival in 1970.
The car maker continued to work toward attracting younger buyers, which BMW and an emerging Audi had been more successful in doing during the 1990s, as the paradigm shift from luxury cars being exclusively large rear-wheel drive sedans continued.
This included the first Mercedes-Benz hatchback, the 1997 A-Class (W168) introduced in 1997 featuring innovative sandwich platform design and – gasp – front-wheel drive.
Sacco had also overseen the first Mercedes-Benz SUV since the military-based 1979 G-Class' introduction as a passenger vehicle, when the car maker added the first W163 ML-Class – now sold as the GLE large SUV – in 1997.
The final Mercedes-Benz designs touched by Sacco were the W220 S-Class (1998 to 2005) and the C215 CL coupe (1999 to 2006).
He was succeeded by Peter Pfeiffer, who retired in 2008 and was replaced by current head of design, Gorden Wagener.
In his 2006 Automotive Hall of Fame acceptance speech, Sacco said the inspiration to pursue a career at Mercedes-Benz was inspired by the iconic 1954 Mercedes-Benz 300SL 'Gullwing' sports car designed under Geiger, the man he replaced decades later.
After retiring Sacco said: "Mercedes has been my life, and I stand for that time one hundred percent".
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