From the archives

I designed the Lotus Esprit roars drunken Giugiaro

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Giugiaro, yesterday
Giugiaro, yesterday

Car design maestro Giorgetto Giugiaro has reacted angrily to accusations by some bloke that his recent work has been a load of rubbish.

“I designed the Lotus Esprit” snarled the Turin-based designer, “and you didn’t”.

Critics maintain that much of Giugiaro’s recent work has been bland and derivative, with none of the flair or intelligent detail that earned his early work such acclaim. The man himself is unrepentant: “Which cars have you designed?” he shouted when asked for further comment; “The Lotus Esprit. Oh no, wait a minute, that was me wasn’t it. That’s right, ME. I designed the Lotus Esprit and no one else did so NURRR.”

Colleagues and fellow designers are clearly alarmed by Giugiaro’s anger. “This is very sad,” notes British designer Peter Stevens, “and anyway, I did the facelift.”

This story was originally published in the very first edition of Sniff Petrol, August 2001