In Memoriam: Bruno Sacco, the Greatest Mercedes-Benz Designer Ever

The world lost a great automotive designer in September, as it surfaced earlier this week that Bruno Sacco passed away at the age of 90. An Italian by birth, Sacco’s career and indeed the majority of his life took place in Germany. There, his flair for serious and orderly designs were put to use on the exclusive luxury wares from Mercedes-Benz.

Bruno Sacco was born on November 12, 1933 in the town of Udine, in the north eastern corner of Italy. He lived in Udine for his entire childhood, and it was there where he decided his future would be in car design. In 1951 he saw a bright blue 1950 Studebaker Commander as he cycled through town. The special looking Commander with its aeronautical inspired front end stuck with Sacco afterward, and from that point on he chose to pursue car design.

Shortly thereafter he moved 320 miles or so to live in Turin, and study at the Polytechnic University of Turin. His major was mechanical engineering, and with a degree from the very respected school in hand Sacco approached two major Italian coachbuilders looking for work. He was immediately rejected by Pininfarina and Ghia, and expanded the radius of his job seeking efforts. 

In 1958 at the age of 25, Sacco’s life took a fortuitous turn when he was hired by Daimler-Benz as a stylist. His boss was Karl Wilfert (1907-1976) who was the chief of car body development at Daimler from 1959 and held the position until his death in 1976. Wilfert was responsible for the creation of the company’s first styling department. Prior to Wilfert, styling at Daimler was considered a part of the engineering process, and nothing more. 

Sacco’s early work as a Mercedes-Benz design assistant included projects like the super luxury 600 Grosser (W100, 1963-1981) and the elegant 230SL roadster (W113, 1963-1971). Along the way he earned a promotion in 1970, and became the manager of bodywork and ergonomics departments. He also contributed to project cars like the ESVs (Experimental Safety Vehicles, 1970-present), which kicked off in 1970 with a rapid-fire line of 30 test vehicle designs in four years. 

Sacco was influenced during his safety car work by collaboration with Béla Barényi (1907-1997). Barényi was an engineer who invented many automotive safety devices and designed the Volkswagen Beetle in 1925 (it was not designed by Ferdinand Porsche). Safety inventions like collapsible steering columns, passenger cells that were non-deformable, and crumple zones were all Barényi’s ideas, and he imparted them on Sacco in the early Seventies.

Around the same time, Sacco took the lead on the C111 project of 1969 and 1970. C111 was a line of 16 different experimental sports cars, where Mercedes tested out different engine technology like Wankel rotaries, turbochargers, and diesels. Unlike the company’s past products, the C111 vehicles were mid-engine. More fanciful features like gullwing doors were also included with modern multilink rear suspension designs. Ultimately the most well-known concept of the project was the C111/II, with its giant three-pointed star and glowing orange paint.

Sacco’s upward career trajectory continued, when he was promoted in 1974 to chief engineer at Daimler, and then to the head of the Daimler-Benz styling center in Sindelfingen in 1975. Finding himself the man in charge, Sacco held his design leadership role from 1975 through 1999. 

Responsible for all trucks, buses, and road cars designed during that span, Sacco is most well-known for his passenger cars. Applying his eye for simplistic, elegant design, Sacco modernized and unified the Mercedes-Benz lineup through the Eighties and Nineties. And one of the first design unification tasks was the upcoming S-Class.

The W126 S-Class (1979-1991) entered production in December of 1979 as a sedan, and was followed in September 1981 as the SEC coupe. A landmark car, W126 remains to many the epitome of S-Class to this day. Shortly thereafter the W201 (1982-1993) arrived, or as many Americans call it the 190E. The brand’s first-ever entry-level model, the 190 made the Mercedes brand available to people of more modest means. 

Two years later, the mid-range W124 (1984-1995) debuted, known largely in North America as the 300E. Available in sedan, coupe, wagon, cabriolet, and limousine variants, the W124 was hugely successful with over 2.5 million examples produced. Mercedes later sold the W124 platform to Korean automaker SsangYong once it exited production. SsangYong lightly reworked the W124 into the Chairman, where it remained in production through 2011.

The last major Eighties Sacco model ended up a legend in its own right, when the R129 SL roadster (1988-2001) replaced the R107 version that dated back to 1971. Fitted with a total of 12 different engines that ranged from six to 12 cylinders, the W124-based SL was another great success. It was to be the last SL with a removable hardtop roof.

Sacco was charged with recreating greatness once more with a new generation of S-Class in 1991, the W140. Followed by the C140 coupe in 1992, the W140 was a massive project at Mercedes, and an effort to bring further modernity and technical innovation to the S-Class name. Sacco was never satisfied with how the W140 looked, and complained afterward that its roofline was 10 centimeters too tall.

As cost-cutting and the golden era of Mercedes faded from view, designs remained a strong point. The W210 E-Class (1994-2003) arrived as a fresh-faced sedan and wagon. Subsequently the W210 was reworked into the CLK (C208/A208, 1996-2003) coupe and convertible, to separate those versions from the E-Class name as Mercedes expanded their range. The four headlamp look of the W210 was immediately copied by many other manufacturers. 

By the W210 and onward, Sacco had assistance from other designers on each model. His pen remained on a crucial new model, the W163 ML-Class SUV (1998-2005). The company’s first vehicle built in the United States, the body-on-frame ML was a great risk, and ended up a huge sales success.

The third and final S-Class with Sacco involvement was the W220 (1999-2006), its design being finalized in 1995. The former S-Class coupe (formerly SEC) transitioned into the separate CL-Class (C215) for this generation. One final Sacco-influenced design was completed in 1997, and is credited first to Steve Mattin: The R230 SL (2002-2011) which implemented a complicated folding metal roof (as was in fashion at the time). 

After his retirement in 1999, Sacco remained in the town of Sindelfingen where he’d lived since the Fifties. He stated his favorite design personally was the 190, because of how significant it was for Mercedes. And once he was no longer required to drive a current company car, Sacco ditched the SLK convertible he’d been driving for a navy blue 560SEC. Bruno Sacco passed away on September 19th, 2024 in Sindelfingen.

[Images: Mercedes-Benz, Studebaker, dealer, dealer, dealer]

Become a TTAC insider. Get the latest news, features, TTAC takes, and everything else that gets to the truth about cars first by subscribing to our newsletter.