By the late 40s, Italy was slowly recovering from the war and more and more automotive coachbuilders were springing up all over the place.

Some had already been around for decades, but there were several new companies trying to make a go of it. One of the new kids on the block was Vignale, founded by Alfredo Vignale, who had cut his teeth as a panel beater like many other aspiring coachbuilders of the time. His work was recognized by leading brands like Ferrari and Maserati, which gave the fledgling company the start it needed.

10 Started With A Simple Project

Via: Mecum Autos

Origin stories are usually embellished a little, and unlike today, where social media will quickly call you out, many old half-truths are commonly accepted as fact.

It could be the case here where there is no real hard evidence to support the fact, but as the story goes, Alfredo simply set out to convert his little Topolino into a convertible. The work was so good, word got out to the big players in Italy, and he won contracts to start building cars, specifically convertibles, for them.

9 Working With The Leading Brands

Cisitalia 202 CMM Vignale - Front Quarter
Via Coachbuild

Their early work included cars like the Lancia Appia, Cisitalia 202 (above) and the beautiful Ferrari 212 Coupe.

youtube.com

They would also take up contracts with Maserati in those early years, but soon started working almost exclusively for Ferrari.

Related: One Of Four: 1953 Ferrari 340 MM Vignale Spiders Heads To Auction

8 Ferrari Years

Ferrari 330 Shooting Brake Vignale
Via Hemmings

By the 50s they were an established company, not just small-time, but a big supplier for one of the fastest growing sports car manufacturers in the world.

FavCars

Ferrari were on the up and up, winning on Sunday and selling on Monday. A lot of the Monday sales were being built by Vignale and at the time they were only getting better.

7 Beautiful Craftsmanship

The 1953 Fiat 8V Coupe on sale.
Via: Pinterest

Although they were working closely with Ferrari, arguably their greatest work came in the form of a Fiat.

1952 fiat 8v engine
via blogspot

Their version of the 8V showcases unbelievable craftsmanship and lives on as a high watermark for coachbuilding in general, not just for Vignale.

Related: 8 Things Everyone Forgot About The Fiat 8V Supersonic By Ghia

6 Growth And Eventual Demise

Maserati 3500 GT Vignale Spider front angular view in blue

In the 50s, the desire to have sports cars coachbuilt was at an all-time high, and for Vignale business was booming all the way into the 60s. Their final noteworthy project was the muscular Jensen Interceptor, a car of great historical significance for the British car industry.

Black 1973 Jensen Interceptor
Via Mecum Auctions

After that it was slim pickings, and they were more or less forced to sell the company and all naming rights by 1969. Unfortunately for the founder, he would never get to enjoy the fruits of that sale, as he tragically lost his life in a car accident that same year.

5 De Tomaso Purchase

1971 De Tomaso Pantera Classic Car
Via: Mecum

In the late 60s De Tomaso was on something of a spending spree, flush with Ford money they were determined to get their new Pantera off the ground.

1971 De Tomaso Pantera Classic Car
Via Bring A Trailer

In their quest they bought up both Ghia and Vignale, they needed the facilities but had no real desire to use the naming rights, so when they ran out of Ford money, they got more by selling the naming rights of those companies, to Ford.

Related: 10 Things Everyone Forgot About The De Tomaso Pantera

4 Ford Sale

Via: Wikimedia Commons

By the 70s, the sports car market in North America had completely dried up, but the Ghia name still meant something to people and Ford made good use of it, pretty much turning it into a trim level.

1977 Ford Mustang Ghia
via Pinterest

Vignale on the other hand, which was also now on their books didn’t hold much sway, at least according to their marketing research, and pretty much just faded into obscurity.

3 Years Of Dormancy

Maserati 3500 GT Vignale Spider side view
Via: Supercars.net

To be honest, we actually think Ford forgot they even owned the Vignale name, why would you spend so much money on something then not use it?

1952 Ferrari 166MM Vignale
via YouTube

It seems pretty bizarre to us but between 1973 and 1993, that is two decades, the name was just locked away in a cupboard somewhere in Dearborn.

Related: The Maserati 3500 GT Vignale Spyder Is A Forgotten Legend

2 Concept Cars

am_lagonda_vignale_concept_front_34
Top Gear

Finally, in 1993 Ford found a use for the name, almost randomly attaching it to an Aston Martin concept car while under the Ford banner.

ford-focus-coco-1
Read Cars

It might well have served simply as a way to test the waters and see what sort of reception it would receive, ultimately electing not to use it in any shape or form until a Ford Focus concept in 2004, which did eventually make it into production, sans Vignale badge.

1 Trim Level

2016 Ford Mondeo Vignale
Via: Flickr

With the Ghia name kicked to the curb, after every ounce of respectability was ultimately squeezed out of it, Ford have relaunched the Vignale name as a replacement for that in Europe.

Via radical-mag.com

Somehow the Vignale name now lives on as a luxury trim level, it is a case of history repeating itself, and we can only speculate how long it will take before this is also kicked to the curb for the final time.