Unwavering Passion, 40 Years and Counting.(Revs)(Biography)

Byline: LARRY EDSALL

Remember how, as a kid, you drew all those exotic sports cars and exciting hot rods and wondered what it might be like to actually drive one of them? Leonardo Fioravanti can tell you.

Fioravanti not only designed the Ferrari P5 and P6, the Dino 206 GT and the 280 GTO, but he is still designing cars and just marked the 40th anniversary of a career that established him as one of the world's leading automotive designers.

Like Marcello Gandini and Giorgio Giugiaro, Fioravanti was born in Italy in 1938. He studied mechanical engineering at Milan Polytechnic, specializing in aerodynamics and car body design, then went to work at Pininfarina.

Fioravanti holds the record for personally designing eight Ferraris: the Dino 206 GT, P5, 365 GTB4 Daytona (see Escape Roads, page 23), P6, 365 GT4 Berlinetta Boxer, 365 GT4 2+2, 308 GTB/GTS and the 288 GTO. As Pininfarina design manager, Fioravanti oversaw styling of the Testarossa and F40, as well as the Cadillac Allante, assorted Peugeots, Lancias and Alfas, and even the Honda City convertible.

After 24 years at Pininfarina, Enzo Ferrari lured him away. When il Commendatore died, Alfa asked Fioravanti to run its advanced design studio, which he did for several years before turning his focus to his own firm, Fioravanti Srl, which he founded in 1987 to do architectural work on projects including boats, marinas and golf course clubhouses.

Working with his ...