Collectors & Aficionados
Tom Tjaarda. American passport, Italian heart
Tom Tjaarda was an influential car designer born in Detroit in 1934. He worked with Ghia, Pininfarina, Fiat, and Rayton Fissore, and designed more than 80 car models.
Every car has a face. We’re not talking about its headlights or its front grille, but the face of the man who conceived it and pencilled its lines and style. We would like to start by introducing one of these faces, belonging to Tom Tjaarda, who created a significant number of masterpieces. Tom Tjaarda's love for Italy and Europe can be clearly seen from the lines of his automobiles and from his passion for compact, agile and aerodynamic cars which were quite distant from the huge four-wheeled behemoths that were so dear to Americans. Notwithstanding his Dutch surname, Tjaarda was born in Detroit in 1934 and graduated in Architecture from the University of Michigan. During his studies, an industrial design professor who recognized his talent gave Tom the task of designing a sporty station wagon. His work was shown to Luigi Segre, then head of design at Carrozzeria Ghia. It was the beginning of a bright career that lasted almost half a century with collaborations with Ghia, Pininfarina, Fiat and Rayton Fissore until the creation of his very own independent studio. Tjaarda has designed, for most of the leading international manufacturers, more than eighty models including concept cars, show cars and production cars. Deceased in June 2017, he is widely considered one of the “masters” and is certainly one of the most characteristic designers of the second half of the last century.
We have selected some of his cars from among his many masterpieces accompanied by their history.
1963 Pininfarina Corvette RondineDespite the success of the Corvette C2 presented in 1963, Bill Mitchell sent several chassis to Pininfarina asking him to try to give his creature a new image. The result was the Corvette Rondine, built on a Sting Ray base with the big difference being the bodywork made from steel, unlike the original fibreglass. The style was based on the idea of maximum simplicity and functionality and the limited use of chrome underlined the sober elegance of the design and the harmony of the whole.
