- Former Mercedes designer Bruno Sacco has died aged 90
- Sacco was responsible for the W126 S-Class and R129 SL-Class
- Sacco was inducted into the Automotive Hall of Fame and the European Automotive Hall of Fame
Mercedes-Benz confirmed that Bruno Sacco died at age 90 in Sindelfingen, Germany, on September 19. Sacco was one of the best-known automotive designers in Mercedes’ history and led a team that wrote some of Mercedes-Benz’s most memorable vehicles.
Sacco was the chief designer of Mercedes-Benz from 1975 until its retirement in 1999.
“Bruno Sacco defined the shape of several Mercedes-Benz icons. Many of them are still seen today in daily traffic or fascinate as classics of the brand,” said Marcus Breitschwerdt, CEO of Mercedes-Benz Heritage GmbH.
Bruno Sacco via Mercedes-Benz
Models ranging from W126 S-Class from the 1980s, including sedans and coupes, and the W124 E-Class models through to Mercedes’ W201 series, affectionately known as the 190s, were the work of Sacco. Sacco was also the man responsible for bringing Mercedes into the modern era of the 1990s with the SL-Class known to enthusiasts as the R129.
Sacco said his guiding theme was, “a Mercedes-Benz should always look like a Mercedes-Benz.”
Before joining Mercedes-Benz in 1958, Sacco worked in Carrozzeria Ghia SpAAffectionately known to many simply as Ghia, in Turin.
Sacco was hired by Mercedes-Benz’s head of body testing, Karl Wilfert, who was building a new styling department. Sacco was the second dedicated designer hired for the new department. Sacco reported to department head Friedrich Geiger, whom he replaced in 1975.
The first vehicle Sacco was responsible for was the W123 series station wagon introduced in 1977. The model marked the first station wagon from Mercedes-Benz.
Sacco stated that the identity of a model series must be maintained from one model generation to the next in order to prevent one generation from appearing old after the introduction of the next generation. This principle began the automaker’s evolutionary design phase.
In 2006 Sacco was introduced into the Automotive Hall of Fame in Dearborn Michigan, and in 2007 the European Automotive Hall of Fame in Geneva.
