Bruno Sacco – father of modern Mercedes-Benz design, has passed away.
Legendary Mercedes-Benz designer and engineer, Bruno Sacco has passed away, Mercedes-Benz has confirmed. Responsible for some of Mercedes-Benz’s most iconic models, Sacco famously stated: “A Mercedes-Benz must look like a Mercedes-Benz.”
That statement would be the overriding philosophy during his long tenure at Mercedes-Benz, which lasted a quarter of a century. While it might seem obvious today, the homogeny of design that he introduced in what is often described as the ‘Sacco era’ of Mercedes-Benz remains his enduring legacy with not just Mercedes-Benz, but the entire automobile industry.
Born in 1933 in Italy, Sacco studied mechanical engineering at Polytechnic University of Turin, before working for Carrozzeria Ghia SpA, in Turin, where he gained experience in model production. After his brief time at Ghia Sacco would join Mercedes-Benz in 1958 in the position as ‘second stylist’ working in the newly formed Stylistics department, under Friedrich Geiger. During those formative years Sacco worked on pre-body development, later taking the role of head of Body Design, as well as being the project manager for safety and experimental vehicles, being involved in Wankel rotary engines as part of the C111 project.
In his early career at Mercedes-Benz Sacco would help with the development of cars like the W113 Pagoda SL as well as its R107 SL replacement, but it wouldn’t be until 1975 when Sacco assumed the role of Oberingenieur (Chief Engineer), which also saw him assume the head of Stylistics department, where the full legacy in driving the direction of Mercedes-Benz’s design would really be cemented.
In that position Sacco was responsible for designing some of the company’s most recognisable and successful models. Sacco was responsible for three generations of S-Class, the W126, W140 and W220, as well as their coupe spin-offs and the R129 SL. The designer also looked after the E-Class and compact C-Class as well as commercial vehicles. Overseeing an era of rapid model proliferation of the brand, each model series bore his signature style, retaining a clear Mercedes-Benz look.
Sacco’s influence on Mercedes-Benz really cannot be understated. Describing himself as an aesthete, he wanted the company’s models not only to be immediately recognisable as such, but styled in a way that when new models were introduced that they wouldn’t denigrate those models before them. That family identity and lineage, created by elements like the flush bumpers, side protective strips and subtle, clean aerodynamically efficient form were what Sacco introduced to the brand. Sacco’s most celebrated design is perhaps that of the W201, the 190, a car that would not only generate a significant leap in sales volumes for the company, but helped define the Mercedes-Benz look to this day.
The growth of models that followed and Sacco’s influence would continue through his involvement with the A, M, E, S, SL, CLK, SLK, V, CL -Classes, Sacco overseeing all in his design chief role, though he was always most proud of the saloons, citing the W126 S-Class as his greatest achievement, keeping a dark blue 560 SEC in his own garage following his 1999 retirement.
Globally recognised in the design world as a ‘designer’s designer’, unsurprisingly Sacco won countless awards, notably being admitted in the Automobile Hall of Fame in both the US and Europe. Legendary is a word banded about too often today, but in the case of Bruno Sacco it’s entirely deserved, his influence on not just Mercedes-Benz, but the entire automobile industry being genuinely immeasurable. As the current Mercedes-Benz design boss, Gorden Wagener, says: “In Bruno Sacco, we have lost an outstanding personality and an impressive aesthete.” That is something that we all echo here at SLSHOP as we extend our deepest sympathies to all of his family and friends.
Bruno Sacco – father of modern Mercedes-Benz design, has passed away.
Legendary Mercedes-Benz designer and engineer, Bruno Sacco has passed away, Mercedes-Benz has confirmed. Responsible for some of Mercedes-Benz’s most iconic models, Sacco famously stated: “A Mercedes-Benz must look like a Mercedes-Benz.”
That statement would be the overriding philosophy during his long tenure at Mercedes-Benz, which lasted a quarter of a century. While it might seem obvious today, the homogeny of design that he introduced in what is often described as the ‘Sacco era’ of Mercedes-Benz remains his enduring legacy with not just Mercedes-Benz, but the entire automobile industry.
Born in 1933 in Italy, Sacco studied mechanical engineering at Polytechnic University of Turin, before working for Carrozzeria Ghia SpA, in Turin, where he gained experience in model production. After his brief time at Ghia Sacco would join Mercedes-Benz in 1958 in the position as ‘second stylist’ working in the newly formed Stylistics department, under Friedrich Geiger. During those formative years Sacco worked on pre-body development, later taking the role of head of Body Design, as well as being the project manager for safety and experimental vehicles, being involved in Wankel rotary engines as part of the C111 project.
In his early career at Mercedes-Benz Sacco would help with the development of cars like the W113 Pagoda SL as well as its R107 SL replacement, but it wouldn’t be until 1975 when Sacco assumed the role of Oberingenieur (Chief Engineer), which also saw him assume the head of Stylistics department, where the full legacy in driving the direction of Mercedes-Benz’s design would really be cemented.
In that position Sacco was responsible for designing some of the company’s most recognisable and successful models. Sacco was responsible for three generations of S-Class, the W126, W140 and W220, as well as their coupe spin-offs and the R129 SL. The designer also looked after the E-Class and compact C-Class as well as commercial vehicles. Overseeing an era of rapid model proliferation of the brand, each model series bore his signature style, retaining a clear Mercedes-Benz look.
Sacco’s influence on Mercedes-Benz really cannot be understated. Describing himself as an aesthete, he wanted the company’s models not only to be immediately recognisable as such, but styled in a way that when new models were introduced that they wouldn’t denigrate those models before them. That family identity and lineage, created by elements like the flush bumpers, side protective strips and subtle, clean aerodynamically efficient form were what Sacco introduced to the brand. Sacco’s most celebrated design is perhaps that of the W201, the 190, a car that would not only generate a significant leap in sales volumes for the company, but helped define the Mercedes-Benz look to this day.
The growth of models that followed and Sacco’s influence would continue through his involvement with the A, M, E, S, SL, CLK, SLK, V, CL -Classes, Sacco overseeing all in his design chief role, though he was always most proud of the saloons, citing the W126 S-Class as his greatest achievement, keeping a dark blue 560 SEC in his own garage following his 1999 retirement.
Globally recognised in the design world as a ‘designer’s designer’, unsurprisingly Sacco won countless awards, notably being admitted in the Automobile Hall of Fame in both the US and Europe. Legendary is a word banded about too often today, but in the case of Bruno Sacco it’s entirely deserved, his influence on not just Mercedes-Benz, but the entire automobile industry being genuinely immeasurable. As the current Mercedes-Benz design boss, Gorden Wagener, says: “In Bruno Sacco, we have lost an outstanding personality and an impressive aesthete.” That is something that we all echo here at SLSHOP as we extend our deepest sympathies to all of his family and friends.
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