Luigi Segre

Background

Segre began working at his father's construction business, only to have his career and education interrupted by the outbreak of World War II. Stationed in Naples on 8 September 1943, when the armistice was announced, Segre immediately voiced opposition to the German troops occupying the city – and participated in the Four days of Naples. When allied troops arrived, he made himself available to the US command, and after a brief training in Tunisia, parachuting into the Canavese, he became an official liaison between the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) – precursor to the modern CIA – and partisan groups working in the Piedmont. He also worked to repatriate former Italian soldiers from France. It was during this period, Segre had begun to master English and become familiar with the American way of thinking.

Following positive recommendations from the Allied Command in the immediate post-war period, Segre was hired as a manager at Ford, graduated in engineering and subsequently moving to Siata (Società Italiana Auto Trasformazioni Accessori) where he studied automotive design with Giorgio Ambrosini. In a brief racing career, Segre took 1949 and 1950 first place victories in the Mille Miglia Turismo 1100 class (in a Fiat 1100) – with teammate Gino Valenzano (1920–2011).

Segre married Luisa de Berto in 1955 and together they had sons Edmondo (1957-) and Silvio (1959-). Luigi Segre died suddenly and unexpectedly in a Turin clinic at age 43, during convalescence after successful removal of kidney stones. Doctors suspected Segre had contracted a viral infection during a recent business trip to Brazil, but at the time the hypothesis could not be confirmed. He left behind his wife, Luisa, and two sons, at the time 6- and 4-years old. In 1971, Luisa Segre opened a resort, La Meridiana, between Monaco and Portofino, as of 2018 operated by Edmondo Segre and his wife Alessandra.{{cite news

Career

Before turning thirty, Segre joined Carrozzeria Ghia in 1948, hired by Mario Boano as Commercial Director, then becoming a minority owner. Using his nickname "Gigi," he actively toured Italy, contacting and personally meeting all Ghia's dealers. Orders increased, his income tied to a percentage of orders. As the Carrozzeria's Director of Sales, Segre would leave to consummate a deal estimated at ten million, returning with a contract for thirty million.{{cite news

Eventually, English-speaking Segre would travel to the United States to meet Chrysler's chief stylist Virgil Exner and CEO K. T. Keller. Segre served as Ghia's interlocutor as Boano did not speak English – leaving Segre to forge strong personal alliances with Exner and Chrysler while leaving Mario Boano in a diminished role within his own company. For Segre, a working alliance with Chrysler provided the valuable opportunity to elevate Carrozzeria Ghia's international stature. Exner in turn was able to quickly see actual prototypes of his studio's work – at a dramatically lower cost (e.g., one tenth to one twentieth) than Chrysler was producing its prototypes.{{cite web

Segre developed contracts with Volkswagen, Renault, Fiat, Volvo and several others to continuously develop their show cars, as well as possible production models and facelifts. In 1953, Segre worked with Renault, when the company chairman, Pierre Lefaucheux, requested Ghia's assistance with the forthcoming Dauphine.{{cite web | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20121108091142/http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/motoring/features/renault-dauphine-394436.html | url-status = dead | archive-date = 8 November 2012

After modernizing Ghia, Segre realized further expansion could detrimentally affect Ghia's reputation as a prestigious artisanal workshop – subsequently founding a new company, controlled by Ghia, in partnership with Arrigo Olivetti (1889–1967). Inaugurated in 1960 in a new building adjacent to the main Ghia factory, Officine Stampaggi Industriali (OSI) relied heavily on the most modern equipment and techniques, with sheet metal stamping, painting, final assembly and various finish works – to satisfy client requirements without damaging Ghia's boutique image.

After Segre's death, his widow sold most of Ghia to Dominican dictator Ramfis Trujillo in 1965.

Karmann Ghia

Three companies and numerous individuals came together in the history of the Karmann Ghia. In the early 1950s, Volkswagen was producing its Volkswagen Beetle, and as post-war standards of living increased, executives at Volkswagen had toyed with adding a halo model to its range. Luigi Segre was committed to expanding the international reputation of Carrozzeria Ghia. And Wilhelm Karmann had overtaken his family coachbuilding firm Karmann and was eager to augment his contracts building Volkswagen's convertible models.

Segre and Karmann encountered each other at international automobile shows, and after an initial discussion prompted by Wilhelm Karmann, Segre secretly began working, obtaining a Volkswagen Beetle to use as a basis for a prototype{{cite magazine

Segre, again secretly, presented the model to Wilhelm Karmann one year after the initial discussion – late in 1953, in Paris, at the Societé France Motors factories (Volkswagen's dealership for France and the exclusive European dealer of Ghia-built Chrysler models).{{cite web

The styling of the Karmann Ghia integrated work by Segre as well as Mario Boano, Sergio Coggiola and Giovanni Savonuzzi – and at various times they each took credit for the design. Furthermore, the design bore striking styling similarities to Virgil Exner's Chrysler d'Elegance and K-310 concepts, which Ghia had been tasked with prototyping – and which in turn reflected numerous cues and themes developed previously by Mario Boano.{{citation

The precise styling responsibilities were not well-documented at the time, before the passing of the various designers, further complicated by the overlapping work of the key players. A definitive individual attribution on Karmann Ghia's styling was never made.

Segre and Virgil Exner had become close professionally and personally, eventually traveling Europe together, with their families.{{cite news

After Volkswagen approved the design in November 1953, the Karmann Ghia debuted (at the 1955 Paris and Frankfurt auto shows and at the Kasino Hotel in Westfalia, Germany, on 14 July 1955){{cite news

File:Volkswagen Karmann-Ghia Type 14 coupe (6106019298).jpg|Karmann Ghia File:Renault Dauphine 2012 03.JPG|Renault Dauphine File:Renault Autobleu, 1955.jpg|Autobleu 1955 File:1954 Plymouth Explorer Ghia Sport Coupe fvr.jpg|alt=|Plymouth Explorer concept car

References

References

1. "Styled for Success Karmann-Ghia, VW's Carrera for the Common Man and Woman, Cliff Leppke, VWtrends.com".
2. [http://www.1000miglia.eu/pdf/Classifiche%20MM%201927-1961.pdf Classifiche 1927-1961] {{Webarchive. link. (10 May 2017 , results from the Mille Miglia races.)
3. (2007-12-04). "Classic Cars: Volkswagen Karmann Ghia". independent.co.uk.