Ricardo Burzi ( – ?) was an Argentine

automotive design Automotive design is the process of developing the appearance (and to some extent the ergonomics) of motor vehicles, including automobiles, motorcycles, trucks, buses, coaches, and vans. The functional design and development of a modern mot ...

er, best known for his work with the

Austin Motor Company The Austin Motor Company Limited was a British manufacturer of motor vehicles, founded in 1905 by Herbert Austin, 1st Baron Austin, Herbert Austin in Longbridge. In 1952 it was merged with Morris Motors, Morris Motors Limited in the new holdi ...

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

, England. Burzi was born around 1900, in

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...

, the capital of Argentina, to a French mother. By 1929 he was working in Italy for

Lancia Lancia Automobiles S.p.A. () is an Italian car manufacturer and a subsidiary of Stellantis Europe, which is the European subsidiary of Stellantis. The present legal entity of Lancia was formed in January 2007 when its corporate parent reorganise ...

, but was forced to leave after drawing cartoons belittling

Benito Mussolini Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (29 July 188328 April 1945) was an Italian politician and journalist who, upon assuming office as Prime Minister of Italy, Prime Minister, became the dictator of Fascist Italy from the March on Rome in 1922 un ...

that were published in several newspapers. Lancia initially moved Burzi to their coachbuilding firm in Paris, but he was recruited by Lord Austin in 1929 to work at

Longbridge Longbridge is an area in the south-west of Birmingham, England, located near the border with Worcestershire, historically being within this place. Public transport Longbridge is described as a hub for public transport with a number of bus ...

in Birmingham after Austin received a recommendation from

Vincenzo Lancia Vincenzo Lancia (24 August 1881 – 15 February 1937) was an Italian racing driver, engineer and founder of Lancia. Vincenzo Lancia was born in the small village of Fobello on 24 August 1881, close to Turin; his family tree starts in Fabel ...

, whom he met while travelling on the '' Queen Mary'' to the United States. Burzi arrived at Longbridge speaking no English but was soon known universally as "Dick". His first designs for the

Austin 16 The Austin Sixteen Light Six is a British car that was made by Austin Motor Company, Austin from 1927. Announced in October 1927, the first deliveries were planned for March 1928.Austin, ''The Times'', Tuesday, Oct 18, 1927; pg. 10; Issue 447 ...

were considered too advanced for conservative British tastes by Lord Austin, but in 1938 Burzi was appointed head of styling by the incoming works manager at Longbridge,

Leonard Lord Leonard Percy Lord, 1st Baron Lambury KBE (15 November 1896 – 13 September 1967) was a captain of the British motor industry. Background and education Leonard Percy Lord was born on 16 November 1896 in Coventry and was the youngest child ...

. Burzi's Italian background saw him interned on the

Isle of Man The Isle of Man ( , also ), or Mann ( ), is a self-governing British Crown Dependency in the Irish Sea, between Great Britain and Ireland. As head of state, Charles III holds the title Lord of Mann and is represented by a Lieutenant Govern ...

when Italy entered the Second World War, but he was released in 1943 and started work on designing the

Austin A40 A number of different motor vehicles were marketed under the Austin A40 name by Austin between 1947 and 1967. Austin's naming scheme at that time derived from the approximate engine output, in horsepower. To distinguish between the different mo ...

. Notable cars designed by Burzi in the post-war era included the

Austin A30 The Austin A30 is a small family car produced by Austin Motor Company, Austin from May 1952 to September 1956. It was launched at the 1951 Earls Court Exhibition Centre, Earls Court Motor Show as the "''New'' Austin 7, Austin Seven" and was Aust ...

, the

Austin A70 The Austin A70 Hampshire and later Austin A70 Hereford are cars that were produced by Austin of Britain from 1948 until 1954. They were conventional body-on-frame cars with similar styling to the smaller A40 Devon and A40 Somerset models resp ...

, the Austin A90 and the Austin A125

References

Year of birth missing Year of death missing Argentine automobile designers British automobile designers People interned in the Isle of Man during World War II {{Argentina-bio-stub