Honoring Mercedes design icon Bruno Sacco and his 8

The Italian-born designer worked for Mercedes between 1958 and 1999, overseeing key models such as the 190E, SL and the innovative A-Class

Bruno Sacco, the visionary behind some of Mercedes’ most popular and influential cars, has died aged 90. Although he was born in Italy and began his career working at Carrozzeria Ghia in Turin, Sacco joined Mercedes in 1958 when he was still in his 20s, and 41 years later, as the head of the automotive industry When the time comes, he will still be there.

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From second stylist, to head of body design and dimensioning concepts, to chief engineer and eventually overall design director, Sacco personally created or oversaw the design of countless key Mercedes cars, buses and trucks, some of which The company broke new ground. Decades later, many of them still look very modern.

Let’s pay tribute to the Mercedes legend by taking a look at some of his greatest Mercedes cars.

Rotation Concept (C111) 1970

Mercedes built a series of C111 concept cars starting in 1969 to test various technologies, including Wankel rotary power. The most beautiful of them all, and one that looks like it could be a production supercar, is the Sacco-designed C111-11, whose design mixes pop-up lights, gull-wing doors, and straight-through aerodynamics like the modern 911 GT3 and Maserati Bora style flying buttresses.

E-Class Station Wagon (S123) 1977

It’s hard to imagine a world without Mercedes station wagons, but before the company introduced a squareback version of its W123 sedan in 1977, the only way to get one was to pay the coachbuilder to chop it down.

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (C126) 1981

Sacco was involved in the design of the 1979 W126 S-Class, but it was the C126 coupe variant of the car that he was truly proud of. Apparently, he kept a dark blue 560 SEC in his garage after retirement.

190 (W201) 1982

Everyone loves the BMW E30, but Mercedes’ rival 190 is miles ahead in terms of design. The Saco incorporates aerodynamic features while still retaining a traditional Mercedes front end, with a taper at the rear that makes it look smaller than it actually is. The 190 changed the game for the brand, attracting a new younger audience and setting the design template for the larger W124 two years later.

SL (R129) 1989

Mercedes’ designs tend to evolve slowly and carefully from one model to the next. But Sacco’s 1989 SL looked nothing like the chrome classic R107 SL it replaced. Granted, the R107 debuted in 1971, which means it was long overdue for replacement, but it was still a bold move – and one that paid off.

Class M(W163) 1997

We seem to have forgotten how important the original M-Class was to Mercedes and luxury cars. The company’s first American-made car arrived long after the Range Rover but stole the show before the BMW X5 and Porsche Cayenne. The W163 designed by Sacco (and Peter Pfeiffer) was not as durable as some of his other creations, but it was still significant.

Class A(W168) 1997

The design of the radical, original A-Class is the work of Steve Mattin, but we should give Sacco some credit as head of design for helping push this wild styling into production.

CL level (C215) 1999

Mercedes says the 1998 W220 S-Class sedan and 1999 C215 CL coupe sister were the last two cars Sacco was responsible for before retiring (although we find it hard to believe he had no say in the 2002 R230 SL). The W220 still looks modern, but it’s a coupe that really stands out, with its C-pillar shape subtly paying homage to the brand’s classic coupes from the 1960s while also making such a huge car look almost streamlined. .