Sergio Scaglietti, Ferrari’s maestro of metal and the founder of Carrozzeria Scaglietti, one of Italy’s most prominent and enduring coach-building houses, passed away late last year at the age of 91. Born in Modena during the formative years of Italian auto body design, Scaglietti quit school at the age of 13 to work in his brother’s repair facility, just across the street from Enzo Ferrari’s shop. This fortuitous proximity gave Scaglietti ready access to his future collaborator, and ultimately led to the production of some of the world’s most elegant sports and racing cars: impossibly low slung and achingly beautiful.

After World War II and a stint in the Italian Army, Scaglietti established his own shop. In 1952, he got his big break, when Enzo Ferrari gave him the job of building an entire body for one of his racecars. Amazingly, Scaglietti created the body without any reference drawings, relying instead on his keen eye for form and style. Along with his team, he hammered out each metal panel by hand until it looked right. The result: an organic, sculptural car that would have been impossible to achieve using mass production methods.

Scaglietti’s innate genius earned him Ferrari’s respect and he went on to design and build bodies for numerous other Ferrari racecars, including the legendary 250 Testa Rossa in 1958 and the 250 GTO in 1961. It would be difficult to imagine two more aggressive, yet sensuous vehicles. (In August, the 250 Testa Rossa prototype sold at auction for $16.4 million.) Scaglietti’s designs were individually tailored—rather like couture clothing—and attracted a glamorous clientele, including film director Roberto Rossellini, who commissioned a 375 MM coupe for his wife, actress Ingrid Bergman.

Ferrari was just one of the brands associated with Scaglietti. Chevrolet became the recipient of the Scaglietti touch when, at the behest of racing legend and performance car pioneer Carroll Shelby, he bodied three 1959 Corvettes with fastback coupe coachwork equal in beauty to that of the most exclusive road-going products from Modena. Unfortunately, Enzo Ferrari reportedly disapproved of Scaglietti moonlighting for such a plebian manufacturer and Scaglietti was obliged to sever his connection with the Corvette.

In stark contrast to many coachbuilders of the day, Scaglietti was respected for having both the means and desire to adapt to the changing needs of the automotive world, by creating original designs and by engaging his talented craftsmen to interpret in metal the designs of others, such as Pininfarina. Eventually he sold his factory to Ferrari, but remained its director until he retired in 1985. In fact, Ferrari considered Scaglietti so important to its success that the firm named its 2005 grand touring car the 612 Scaglietti, a fitting–and long overdue–tribute to the maestro of metal.

Leslie Kendall is curator of the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles.

1954 Ferrari 750 Monza by Scaglietti
Although 12-cylinder Ferraris were highly successful in early 1950s competition, a four-cylinder sports car with coachwork by Scaglietti was introduced in 1953.  One year later, Ferrari introduced a larger version called the 750 Monza, so named because of it won its first race at the famous Italian course.  One of just 31 built, this Monza is currently on display in the Petersen Automotive Museum Phil Hill tribute exhibition. / Courtesy Petersen Automotive Museum

1959 Chevrolet Corvette by Scaglietti
In 1959 Scaglietti handcrafted just three Corvettes in collaboration with Gary Laughlin, Jim Hall and Carroll Shelby.  The Italia was intended to be produced in limited numbers for sale to affluent buyers, but General Motors declined to support the project. / Courtesy Petersen Automotive Museum