Franco Scaglione

ATS at Wheels Of Italy designed by Franco Scaglione

Franco Scaglione was an automobile coachwork designer (Florence, 26 september 1916 – Suvereto,19 june 1993)

Biography

Franco Scaglione is born in Florence on 26th September to Vittorio Scaglione, a chief army doctor, and to Giovanna Fabbri, captain of the Italian Red Cross service. His is a well-to-do family of noble ancestry (count of Martirano San Nicola and of Mottafilocastro). At the age of 6, he and his younger brother become fatherless.
His studies are of humanistic leanings, but he enters the university of Aeronautical Engineering. His favourite hobbies were reading, tennis, riding and rowing. He goes into military service with the rank of sub-lieutenant in the sappers, the Genio Pontieri. He continues his studies, but at the outbreak of the Second World War he volunteers to be assigned to a more destructive unit, the Genio Guastatori and is sent to the Libyan front. On Christmas Eve 1941, he is taken prisoner by the English at El Duda, a village to the south of Tobruk. He will be interned at the Yol detention camp in India, where he remains until the end of 1946. He returns to Italy on Boxing Day that year with the last boat used for the carrying of prisoners. He rejoins his mother (his brother Eugenio was killed during the war) in Carolei, near Cosenza, and will stay with her for almost a year.
At the beginning of 1948 he goes to Bologna in search of a job; he already has in mind to work as a stylist in the automobile field, his real passion. Initially he devotes his time to sketching clothing for fashion houses, which is very profitable, but his vocation is automobile coachwork design. On 25th September 1948 he marries Maria Luisa Benvenuti and two years later, on 10th September, his daughter Giovanna is born.
In April 1951 he moves to Turin, where there are the major coachbuilding firms, and he contacts Battista Pinin Farina, who very much appreciates his renderings. However, this does not result in collaboration, as Pinin Farina does not allow his models to be linked to the designer’s name. He meets Nuccio Bertone and finally an association is born, which will lead him to create splendid automobiles such as the Alfa Romeo B.A.T.s, the Giulietta Sprint and Sprint Speciale and many others. In 1959 he breaks off the exclusive relationship with the Bertone coachworks and works on his own, conceiving the Lamborghini 350 GTV, the ATS 2500 GT, the 1900 Skyline Sprint for the Japanese Prince company, the Titania Veltro GTT, and various models for Intermeccanica such as Apollo, Torino, Italia GFX, Italia IMX, Indra and Murena. In 1967 he will design for Alfa Romeo Autodelta the legendary Alfa Romeo 33 Stradale, said by many to be one of the most beautiful cars ever made.

Alas, Intermeccanica becomes bankrupt and the entrepreneur owner, Frank Reisner, flees back to Canada. Franco Scaglione, having put his own savings in the production of the Indra, is disillusioned and retires from work.

In 1981 he moves to Suvereto, a little village in the province of Livorno. He believes to be now forgotten by all and lives a very secluded life. In July 1991 lung cancer is diagnosed; he endures two long years of suffering which end with his death, occurring on 19th June 1993.

His creations

1951-52

• Lancia Aurelia B50 coupé (Carrozzeria Balbo) (two different one-off examples)

1952

• Fiat 1100 “Utiletta Frasca” (Carrozzeria Ansaloni)
• Abarth 1500 berlinetta Bertone
• Fiat-Siata 208 CS sports racing Bertone
• Fiat-Siata 208 CS coupé 2+2 Bertone

1953

• Fiat-Stanguellini 1100 /103 TV berlinetta Bertone
• Fiat 1100/103 TV Savio Sport berlinetta
• Alfa Romeo Berlinetta Aerodinamica Tecnica B.A.T. 5 Bertone
• Alfa Romeo 1900L two-door saloon Bertone
• Arnolt-Aston Martin DB 2/4 sports racing Bertone (2 examples)
• Arnolt-Aston Martin DB 2/4 spider Bertone
• Ferrari-Abarth 166 MM/53 sports racing Bertone
• Arnolt-Bristol 404 X sports racing Bertone

1954

• Arnolt-Bristol 404 X spider gran turismo Bertone
• Arnolt-Bristol 404 X coupé gran turismo Bertone
• Alfa Romeo “2000 Sportiva” racing berlinetta (prototype) Bertone
• Alfa Romeo “2000 Sportiva” sports racing (prototype) Bertone
• Alfa Romeo Giulietta Sprint berlinetta Bertone
• Alfa Romeo Berlinetta Aerodinamica Tecnica B.A.T. 7 Bertone
• Fiat-Stanguellini 1100 /103 TV “Cheetah” spider Bertone

1955

• Alfa Romeo Giulietta Sprint Spider prototype 004 Bertone
• Alfa Romeo Giulietta Sprint Spider prototype 002 Bertone
• Alfa Romeo 1900 convertible “Perla” Bertone
• Alfa Romeo “750 Competizione” sports racing prototype
• Fiat Abarth coupé 215 A Bertone
• Fiat Abarth spider 216 A Bertone
• Alfa Romeo Berlinetta Aerodinamica Tecnica B.A.T. 9 Bertone

1956

• Fiat-Abarth 750 Record Bertone
• Fiat Abarth coupé 215 A Bertone
• Fiat Abarth spider 216 A Bertone
• Arnolt-Aston Martin DB2/4 convertible Bertone

1957

• Fiat-Stanguellini 1200 spider “America” Bertone
• Aston Martin DB2/4 coupé Bertone
• Jaguar XK 150 coupé Bertone
• Alfa Romeo Giulietta Sprint Speciale berlinetta Bertone

1958

• Alfa Romeo-Abarth 1000 berlinetta competizione Bertone
• NSU Prinz Sport coupé (the first 1700 or so, constructed by Bertone)

(Developed from Scaglione design but built in his absence):

• NSU Prinz Sport spider Wankel (prototype 1960, produced from 1963)

1959

• Maserati 3500 GT coupé Bertone
• Fiat-Osca 1500 berlinetta Bertone
• Fiat 1200 Granluce berlinetta Bertone
• Alfa Romeo 2000 “Sole” Bertone
• Simca “Lido” 1300 convertible Bertone
• NSU Prinz 4 two-door saloon prototype
• Conclusion of the association with Bertone

1960

• Porsche-Abarth Carrera GTL berlinetta, Carrozzeria Rocco Motto

1961

• Redesign for Intermeccanica “Apollo” berlinetta 2+2

1962

• Maserati Birdcage type 64 Scuderia SSS Repubblica di Venezia

1963

• Prince Motors “Skyline 1900 Sprint” berlinetta
• Apollo GT
• Apollo convertible
• Lamborghini 350 GTV coupé prototype
• Stanguellini-Guzzi Colibrì record runner
• ATS 2500 GT berlinetta Allemano

1964

• Intermeccanica Griffith coupé (and convertible?)

1966

• Titania Veltro GTT
• Intermeccanica Torino convertible and coupé

1967

• Alfa Romeo 33 Stradale
• Intermeccanica Italia GFX convertible and coupé

1970

• Intermeccanica Italia IMX berlinetta competizione

1971

• Intermeccanica Indra convertible

1972

• Intermeccanica Indra coupé

1973

• Intermeccanica Murena 429 GT Station Wagon