Felice Mario Boano

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Felice Mario Boano

Felice Mario Boano (born May 23, 1903 in Turin , † May 8, 1989 ibid) was an Italian automobile designer and coachbuilder . As long-time chief designer at Carrozzeria Ghia and as the first head of Centro Stile Fiat, which was founded in 1957, he had a major influence on European automotive design after the Second World War.

Life

After the First World War, Felice Mario Boano studied handicrafts at the Technical University of San Carlo in Turin and specialized in bronze casting . Based on these skills, he began working as a coachbuilder for Stabilimenti Farina in the 1920s . In 1930 Boano moved to Carrozzeria Pinin Farina . In the same year his only son Gian Paolo was born, with whom Boano later cooperated professionally. Boano went into business for himself in 1936, but returned to Pininfarina in 1940. In 1944 he took over the Ghia body shop . In 1954 he left Ghia and opened his own body shop, Carrozzeria Boano , which he gave up after three years to take over the management of the newly founded Centro Stile Fiat. Felice Mario Boano remained active as a designer for Fiat until 1966 .

job

Alfa Romeo 6C 2500 Ghia, 1947
Lancia Aurelia B20, 1951
VW Karmann-Ghia, prototype, 1953
Abarth 207A, 1955
Lincoln Indianapolis, study, 1955
Fiat 1300, 1961
Fiat 124 Coupé, 1967

Felice Mario Boano has experienced and helped shape the development of automotive design as an independent discipline from the beginnings in body construction based on existing chassis in the interwar period to the establishment of brand-internal design departments in the 1950s and 1960s. As an employee of the renowned bodywork companies Stabilimenti Farina and Carrozzeria Pinin Farina , he gained extensive experience in the 1920s and 1930s, which he used from 1944 as the new owner of Ghia to establish the company as a globally respected design office and prototype manufacturer. After a short period of self-employment as a coachbuilder, he took on the task of building the Centro Stile Fiat on the American model as the new design department of the car brand in 1957, with Fiat taking on a pioneering role in Europe. In the long term, this development also contributed to the decline of the independent Italian design offices.

1930 to 1936 - Carrozzeria Pinin Farina

After years at the body shop Stabilimenti Farina of Giovanni Farina, Felice Mario Boano switched to Carrozzeria Pinin Farina , which was founded by Giovanni's brother Battista in 1930. There Boano was involved as chief designer in the design of vehicles with which Pininfarina was able to develop a good reputation in the automotive design for coupes and sports cars.

In 1936 Boano started his own business and designed car bodies for companies such as Viotti, Bertone , Castagna and Giacinto Ghia. In 1940 he returned to Pininfarina as an employee.

1944 to 1954 - Carrozzeria Ghia

Due to his good professional relationships with Giacinto Ghia , Boano was appointed the new artistic director of Carrozzeria Ghia by his widow Santina after Ghia's death in 1944 and ran the company together with Giorgio Alberti. In 1951 Boano hired the engineer Luigi Segre as the new managing director. After growing differences with Segre about the future direction of the company, Boano sold his shares to Segre in March 1954.

1954 to 1957 - Carrozzeria Boano

With the proceeds from the sale of his shares in Ghia , Boano opened his own body construction company, Carrozzeria Boano , which he ran with his son Gian Paolo. In addition to its own designs for clients such as Lincoln , Abarth and Alfa Romeo , the company also built car bodies in small series. With the production of the Ferrari 250 GT Boano model , the body design of which came from Pininfarina , Boano made a significant contribution to the transformation of the sports car manufacturer from a racing car specialist to a series manufacturer.

1957 to 1966 - Centro Stile Fiat

In 1957 Boano gave up his body shop, which was continued by Boano's son-in-law Ezio Ellena, to take over the management of the newly founded Centro Stile Fiat. Together with his son, he set up an in-house design center for Italy's leading automobile brand Fiat in order to relieve the design department headed by Dante Giacosa with regard to body design in view of the brand's growing model range . Gian Paolo Boano took over the management of the design center from his father in 1959, but he remained active as a designer for Fiat until 1966.

Automotive designs

For the Carrozzeria Pinin Farina:

  • 1931: Lancia Astura Roadster
  • 1931: Lancia Dilambda Torpedo Sport type "India"
  • 1932: Hispano-Suiza Sport Coupé
  • 1932: Fiat Ardita Cabriolet
  • 1934: Fiat Ardita Berlina

For the Carrozzeria Ghia:

With the Carrozzeria Boano:

  • 1954: Alfa Romeo 6C 3000CM Coupé
  • 1955: Lincoln Indianapolis
  • 1955: Alfa Romeo 1900 "Primavera"
  • 1955: Abarth 207A Spider
  • 1955: Abarth 209A Coupé
  • 1956: Fiat 1100 Coupé

For the Centro Stile Fiat:

literature

  • Markus Caspers: designing motion. Car designer from 1890 to 1990 . Birkhäuser Verlag GmbH, Basel 2016, ISBN 978-3-0356-0981-3
  • Journal of the Autostadt. The car and the traffic of tomorrow , No. 03/2018, pp. 28-29. Autostadt GmbH, Wolfsburg 2018

Web links

Individual evidence


personal data
SURNAME Boano, Felice Mario
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Italian automobile designer
DATE OF BIRTH May 23, 1903
PLACE OF BIRTH Turin , Italy
DATE OF DEATH May 8, 1989
Place of death Turin , Italy