Probably, as soon as you see DMC DeLorean, you immediately associate it with the ’80s classic movie Back to the Future? This car, like the movie itself, became an icon in modern popular culture.

If you’re familiar with our ready-made self-service car washes design, you’ve probably noticed some hints. Elegant yet bold industrial design, bright colours, long-lasting materials… As if these structures were from the Future. In fact, both DMC DeLorean and our car washes were designed by the team of legendary Italian automotive designer Giorgetto Giugiaro.

The Artist of the Automotive Design — Giorgetto Giugiaro 

Giorgetto Giugiaro is one of the most influential industrial designers of modern times. He was born in Garessio, Italy, in 1938. He began sketching cars and presented some of his work at a student exhibition in 1955, where Fiat’s Technical Director Dante Giacosa noticed it. Impressed by the young man’s creativity, Giacosa recruited Giugiaro, and three months later, he joined Fiat’s Special Vehicle Design Study Department. It was the beginning of the designer’s career. 

This industrial design legend has worked on supercars, popular everyday vehicles, and other industrial items during his career. Giugiaro has designed over 100 cars for more than 40 car companies, Nikon cameras, firearms, motorcycles, and other objects.

Some of Giugiaro’s notable work includes: Ferrari 250 GT Berlinetta SWB Speciale designed at Bertone at age 21, Maserati Ghibli, Maserati Merak, Lotus Esprit S1, DMC DeLorean, Aston Martin DB4 GT Jet Concept, Bugatti EB112 and many more.

Giugiaro was named Car Designer of the Century in 1999 and inducted into the Automotive Hall of Fame in 2002.

DMC DeLorean – The Iconic Time Machine From the ’80s 

Giugiaro is widely known for the DMC DeLorean. The car was prominently featured in the Hollywood blockbuster movie series Back to the Future. Though its production was short-lived, the car became widely known as the time machine in the Back to the Future media franchise.

According to imdb.com trivia, Robert Zemeckis, writer and director of Back to the Future, chose DeLorean as the time machine because it could play in with the joke that Marty was an alien and the car was a spaceship in the “Spaceman from Pluto” scene. DeLorean was selected for its general appearance and gull-wing doors to make it plausible that people in 1955 would presume it to be an alien spacecraft.

The production ultimately used three real DeLoreans. Back to the Future’s writers Bob Gale and Robert Zemeckis actually received a fan letter from John DeLorean after the film’s release, thanking them for immortalizing his car.

MANTA CWS Car Washes — An Industrial Design That Lasts

While looking for a design solution for our manufactured wash systems, we didn’t want to go the easy way and create yet another dull boxes that blended into the scenery. Instead, we wanted to create products that add value to our customers’ businesses, combine the best of automotive history and industrial design.

Giugiaro’s design methodology is relatable to us. Despite the aesthetics, he emphasizes functional factors combined with comfort, reduced weight, and lower production costs by using the most advanced technologies, including efficient energy use.

Seeing that we share similar values, we worked with Giugiaro’s design team to create SALA and PORTO – self-service car washes that combine the best of Northern engineering and Italian design.