Small jewels, big accolades. Compasso d’Oro, of course.

  • 10 June 2023
  • 2 min read
  • 7 images
Small jewels, big accolades. Compasso d’Oro, of course.  image

Photo credit: Fiat, Pininfarina, Zagato, Wheelsage

When it comes to automotive design, the more technical constraints there are, the greater the designer’s contribution to creating a car that is worthy of passing into history. In the history of the Italian Compasso d’Oro, the award established in 1954 by the Association for Industrial Design, there is no shortage of examples of small, intelligent jewels.

1 Compasso d’Oro 1959: Fiat 500

In the beginning, there was the “Nuova 500” from 1959, with the award going to engineer Dante Giacosa who paved the way for small cars at Fiat with the 5A, B, later called Topolino, and C after the war. His intention was to make a real car, with a four-stroke engine, even if it had only two cylinders, and not with a motorcycle engine, as was common at the time. This was a resounding success with almost four million units produced, which was celebrated with a new Compasso d’Oro award in 2011 for the 500, expertly redesigned by Roberto Giolito.

2 Compasso d’Oro 2011: Fiat 500

Remaining with the Fiat brand, two Compasso d’Oro awards went to Giorgetto Giugiaro: the first with the brilliant Panda of 1981, a perfect little box where every centimetre was valuable, followed by a model that kept Fiat going for years: the Punto.

3 Compasso d’Oro 1981: Fiat Panda

Fiat Design also won a Compasso d’Oro for the Nuova Panda in 2004, a model that’s still popular in Italy to this day.

4 Compasso d’Oro 2004: Fiat Nuova Panda

And the coachbuilders? A Zagato milestone was the unforgettable award-winning Fiat Abarth 1000 in 1960. A model that dominated track and hillclimb racing.

5 Compasso d’Oro 1960: Fiat Abarth 1000 Zagato

The famous hand of Pininfarina, of course, was not to be missed, awarded in 2008 for the Nido. This was a prototype of a sustainable city car, full of ideas. In addition to the traditional engine, the Nido was also proposed with an electric motor. Unfortunately, the compass did not complete the circle, and the project went unfinished. What a shame.

6 Compasso d’Oro 2008: Pininfarina Nido

CLASSIC CAR MATCHER