| Member of the Daimler-Benz board of
management from 1977, Breitschwerdt
evolved Mercedes-Benz from an exclusive
status-oriented brand to the sophisticated
premium brand it is today. He was involved
with many successful models, including the
Mercedes 190 in the 1980s. He was CEO of
the group from 1983 til 1987. |
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Van Doorne was the driving force in the Dutch
truck and car industry’s heyday, but he is best
known for patenting continuously variable
transmissions (CVTs). DAF was founded in
1932 when a machine construction company
led by Hub and Wim van Doorne changed its
name. In 1949, DAF started producing trucks,
and in 1958, DAF produced its first passenger
car, fitted with a CVT. DAF sold its car division
to Volvo in 1975. |
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Creator of innovative supercars. Born in
Italy in 1916, Lamborghini began assembling
tractors in a small garage. By 1949, he
opened Lamborghini Trattice and built
tractors of his own design. Their success
helped him open the business he is best
remembered for, high-performance touring
cars. At a new factory in Sant´Agata, he built
probably the best grand touring cars of the
1970s. Lamborghini died in 1993. |
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Michelotti was, arguably the first freelance
car designer. During his 44-year career, he
designed some 1,200 cars for brands that
included Ferrari, DAF, Triumph, BMW and
Renault Alpine. He started with coachbuilder
Stabilimenti Farina in 1936 and founded his
own design studio in Turin in 1949. With his
fresh and elegant Italian style, Michelotti was a major influence on the shape of cars of
the 1950s and 60s, and to some extent on the
models of this day and age. |
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