Vignale is the luxury car sub-

brand A brand is a name, term, design, symbol or any other feature that distinguishes one seller's good or service from those of other sellers. Brands are used in business, marketing, and advertising for recognition and, importantly, to create an ...

Ford Motor Company Ford Motor Company (commonly known as Ford) is an American multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan, United States. It was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. The company sells automobi ...

used in automobiles sold in Europe.Ford Vignale: The history behind Vignale, Ford's new luxury division
on Auto Express, 28 Mar 2016 The former company Carrozzeria Alfredo Vignale was an Italian

automobile A car or automobile is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of ''cars'' say that they run primarily on roads, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport people instead of goods. The year 1886 is regarded ...

coachbuilder A coachbuilder or body-maker is someone who manufactures bodies for passenger-carrying vehicles.Construction has always been a skilled trade requiring a relatively lightweight product with sufficient strength. The manufacture of necessarily ...

established in 1948 at Via Cigliano,

Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese language, Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital ...

, by Alfredo Vignale (1913–69). After its founder's death in 1969, Carrozzeria Vignale was acquired by De Tomaso (founded by Argentine businessman and race driver

Alejandro de Tomaso Alejandro de Tomaso (10 July 1928 in Buenos Aires – 21 May 2003 in Modena, Italy) was a racing driver and businessman from Argentina. His name is sometimes seen in an Italianised form as ''Alessandro de Tomaso''. He participated in two Formula O ...

). The studio ceased operation in 1973, but ownership of the name was taken over by

(which had majority ownership of De Tomaso). Since then, Ford has continued to use the name sporadically to the present day. Up to present days,

Ford of Europe Ford of Europe GmbH is a subsidiary company of Ford Motor Company founded in 1967 in Cork, Ireland, with headquarters in Cologne, Germany. History Ford of Europe was founded in 1967 by the merger of Ford of Britain, Ford Germany, and Irish H ...

released ''Vignale'' versions of models Mondeo,Vignale: Ford recupera una marca con historia argentina
on Motor1, 4 Sep 2013

Edge Edge or EDGE may refer to: Technology Computing * Edge computing, a network load-balancing system * Edge device, an entry point to a computer network * Adobe Edge, a graphical development application * Microsoft Edge, a web browser developed ...

, Fiesta, Focus, and Kuga, among others.Fiat, Ford y De Tomaso: la marca Vignale vuelve a la Argentina
on Motor1, 4 Jun 2019

History

The first body on a Fiat 500 Topolino base was made in 1948, followed by a special Fiat 1100. Most customers were Italian firms such as Cisitalia,

Alfa Romeo Alfa Romeo Automobiles S.p.A. () is an Italian luxury car manufacturer and a subsidiary of Stellantis. The company was founded on 24 June 1910, in Milan, Italy. "Alfa" is an acronym of its founding name, "Anonima Lombarda Fabbrica Automobili." "A ...

Ferrari Ferrari S.p.A. (; ) is an Italian luxury sports car manufacturer based in Maranello, Italy. Founded by Enzo Ferrari (1898–1988) in 1939 from the Alfa Romeo racing division as ''Auto Avio Costruzioni'', the company built its first car in ...

Fiat Fiat Automobiles S.p.A. (, , ; originally FIAT, it, Fabbrica Italiana Automobili di Torino, lit=Italian Automobiles Factory of Turin) is an Italian automobile manufacturer, formerly part of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, and since 2021 a subsidiar ...

Maserati Maserati S.p.A. () is an Italian luxury vehicle manufacturer. Established on 1 December 1914, in Bologna, Italy, the company's headquarters are now in Modena, and its emblem is a trident. The company has been owned by Stellantis since 2021. ...

Lancia Lancia () is an Italian car manufacturer and a subsidiary of FCA Italy S.p.A., which is currently a Stellantis division. The present legal entity of Lancia was formed in January 2007 when its corporate parent reorganised its businesses, but it ...

. In 1952, Vignale collaborated with

Briggs Cunningham Briggs Swift Cunningham II (January 19, 1907 – July 2, 2003) was an American entrepreneur and sportsman. He is best known for skippering the yacht ''Columbia'' to victory in the 1958 America's Cup race, and for his efforts as a driver, team o ...

to jointly produce the Continental C-3. A close cooperation was maintained with Giovanni Michelotti, who in 1959 opened his own design studio and in 1962 definitely concluded the cooperation. 1952 Ferrari 340 Mexico Vignale ad

Also Rodolfo Bonetto designed a couple of cars in the early 1950s before moving to Boneschi. Later Vignale designs were created by Virginio Vairo. Vignale designed and built cars, usually low volume variants of the main production cars of these automobile manufacturers. Amongst them were 850, Samantha, Eveline and the Vignale Gamine, based on the Fiat 500. In 1968, Vignale designed the body of their last prototype, Tatra 613. Vignale was taken over by De Tomaso in 1969 who already owned

Carrozzeria Ghia Carrozzeria Ghia SpA (established 1916 in Turin) is an Italian automobile design and coachbuilding firm, established by Giacinto Ghia and Gariglio as "Carrozzeria Ghia & Gariglio". The headquarters are located at Corso Guglielmo Marconi, 4, Turi ...

. Shortly after selling, Alfredo Vignale died in a car crash on November 16, 1969. Both coachbuilder firms were sold to Ford in 1973 but the Vignale brand was discontinued. At the 1993 Geneva Motor Show,

Aston Martin Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings PLC is an English manufacturer of luxury sports cars and grand tourers. Its predecessor was founded in 1913 by Lionel Martin and Robert Bamford. Steered from 1947 by David Brown, it became associated wi ...

, at the time owned by Ford, produced a concept car called Lagonda Vignale. Ford then used the Vignale name in the Ford Focus Vignale concept car introduced at the 2004 Paris Motor Show, however the production model was named as Ford Focus Coupé-Cabriolet. In September 2013,

announced plans to resurrect the ''Vignale'' name as an upscale luxury sub-brand of Ford. The cars would be visually distincted from regular Ford products and have an improved dealership experience. Exclusive services, such as free lifetime car washes, will be offered as well. The first Ford model to receive the ''Vignale'' name was the 2015 Ford Mondeo. The first model to carry the ''Vignale'' brand name was the 2015 Mondeo. On 1 March 2016 Ford of Europe announced a Kuga ''Vignale'' concept vehicle at the Geneva Motor Show where the company also announced the line-up of Vignale products, S-Max,

, and Mondeo ''Vignale'' five-door models debut alongside Kuga Vignale Concept, offering a vision of the future of upscale SUVs as well as revealing Vignale Ambassadors and the signature Vignale collection.

Designs

List of cars designed and bodied at Carrozzeria Vignale or coachbuilt to a third-party design. Vignale Ferrari

* Abarth 204A Berlinetta * Abarth 205A Berlinetta *

412 Barchetta, 1951 *

Alfa Romeo 1900 The Alfa Romeo 1900 is an automobile produced by Italian car manufacturer Alfa Romeo from 1950 until 1959. Designed by Orazio Satta, it was an important development for Alfa Romeo as the marque's first car built entirely on a production line and ...

''La Fleche'' Spider and Coupé. * Alfa Romeo 2000 Coupé * American Motors AMX 1966 Coupé * Aston Martin DB2/4 Coupé * Cisitalia 202, 202 CMM * Cunningham C-3 Coupé and Cabriolet *

Ferrari 166 MM :''See also the 166 Inter GT car'' :''See also the 166 MM Berlinetta Le Mans'' :''See also the Ferrari-Abarth 166 MM/53'' The Ferrari 166 S was a sports racing car built by Ferrari between 1948 and 1953, an evolution of its ''Colombo'' V12 ...

Coupé and Spider * Ferrari 166 Inter Coupé * Ferrari 212 Export Barchetta, Spider, Cabriolet and Coupé * Ferrari 212 Inter Coupé, Spider and Cabriolet * Ferrari 225 S Coupé and Spider * Ferrari 250 S Coupé * Ferrari 250 MM Coupé and Spider * Ferrari 250 Europa Coupé and Spider * Ferrari 250 Europa GT Coupé *

Ferrari 340 America Ferrari America is a series of top-end Ferrari models built in the 1950s and 1960s. They were large grand touring cars with the largest V12 engines and often had custom bodywork. All America models used a live axle in the rear, were front-engi ...

Coupé and Spider * Ferrari 340 Mexico Coupé and Spider * Ferrari 340 MM Spider * Ferrari 342 America Cabriolet *

Ferrari 625 TF The Ferrari Monza is one of a series of cars built by Ferrari. In the early 1950s, Ferrari shifted from using the compact Gioacchino Colombo-designed V12 engine in its smallest class of sports racers to a line of four-cylinder engines designe ...

Coupé and Spider *

Ferrari 375 America Ferrari America is a series of top-end Ferrari models built in the 1950s and 1960s. They were large grand touring cars with the largest V12 engines and often had custom bodywork. All America models used a live axle in the rear, were front-engin ...

Coupé * Ferrari 330 GT Shooting brake, rebodied in 1967 *

Fiat 600 The Fiat 600 ( it, Seicento, ) is a rear-engine, water-cooled city car, manufactured and marketed by Fiat from 1955 to 1969 — offered in two-door fastback sedan and four-door Multipla mini MPV body styles. Measuring only long, its all-ne ...

Coupé, Spider * Fiat 850 Coupé, Spider, Berlina * Fiat 1400 Cabriolet * Fiat 1300 and 1500 Sportiva fastback. * Fiat 1500 Coupé * Fiat 124 Coupé ''Eveline'' * Fiat 125 Coupé ''Samantha'' * Fiat 8V Coupé, Cabriolet and ''Demon Rouge'' * Ford-Cisitalia 808 coupé and roadster * Jensen Interceptor, early production * Jensen FF, early production * Jensen Nova concept car * Lancia Appia Cabriolet, 1957; Lusso Coupé, prototype and series production cars * Lancia Aprilia Coupé for Vignale, 1949 *

Lancia Aurelia The Lancia Aurelia is a car produced by Italian manufacturer Lancia from 1950 to the summer of 1958. It is noted for using one of the first series-production V6 engines. Several body styles were offered: 4-door saloon, 2-door GT coupé (B20) ...

B50 Coupé and Berlina; B52 Coupé *

Nardi Blue Ray 1 and 2, commissioned by Enrico Nardi *

Lancia Flavia The Lancia Flavia (Tipo 815/819/820) is an executive car produced by Lancia in Italy from 1961 to 1971. Production continued as the Lancia 2000 from 1971 to 1975. The Flavia was launched with a 1,500 cc engine at the 1960 Turin Motor Show ...

Cabriolet, would become the last Michelotti design for Vignale * Lincoln by Vignale, a 1987 show car *

Maserati A6G Maserati A6 were a series of grand tourers, racing sports cars and single seaters made by Maserati of Italy between 1947 and 1956. They were named for Alfieri Maserati (one of the Maserati brothers, founders of Maserati) and for their straight-s ...

2000 Coupé, Paris Show car * Maserati A6GCS/53 Spider Corsa, commissioned by Tony Parravano and rebodied by Scaglietti in 1955. * Maserati 3500 GT Spyder, prototypes and series production cars *

Maserati Sebring The Maserati Sebring was a two-door 2+2 coupé manufactured by Maserati from 1962 until 1968. Based on the Maserati 3500, the Sebring was aimed at the American Gran Turismo market and named after Maserati's 1957 racing victory at the 12 Hours ...

1962, prototype and series production cars * Maserati Mexico prototype, based on a

Maserati 5000 GT The Maserati 5000 GT is a 2-door coupé car, made by Italian automobile manufacturer Maserati from 1959–1966. A total of thirty-four were produced with bodies made by eight different Italian coach builders. The first car in the ''Tipo 103'' ser ...

chassis rebodied in 1965. * Maserati Mexico series production car * Maserati Indy * Matra M530 Sport prototype *

O.S.C.A. O.S.C.A. (Officine Specializzate Costruzione Automobili—Fratelli Maserati S.p.A.) was an Italian manufacturer of racing and sports cars established 1947 in San Lazzaro di Savena, Bologna, by the Maserati brothers, and closed down in 1967. Th ...

MT4-2AD Coupé * Packard Eight 'Victoria' Vignale Cabriolet (built in 1948 on a 1939 chassis) * Standard Vanguard Vignale * Tatra 613 prototypes and production cars * De Tomaso Pantera, early production * Triumph Italia * Vignale Gamine by Alfredo Vignale

Notable designers

* Alfredo Vignale * Giovanni Michelotti * Virginio Vairo

References

Bibliography

External links

Coachbuild.com Encyclopedia: Vignale

Lancia Aurelia B52 Vignale
{{FordEurope Coachbuilders of Italy Defunct motor vehicle manufacturers of Italy Ford of Europe Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 1948 Italian companies established in 1948