He was born in
Turin. He worked for
Stabilimenti Farina in
Turin before joining
Pinin Farina in 1930. In 1944 (with Giorgio Alberti), Boano bought the
Carrozzeria Ghia in Turin when their friend
Giacinto Ghia died. Boano and
Luigi Segre were central in several low-roofline designs; the
Alfa Romeo 2500 CC,
Lancia Aurelia (1950),
Karmann Ghia (1953),
Chrysler K200,
Alfa Romeo 1900SS, and some
Ferrari 166 of
berlinetta style. He is also credited with
Lancia Aurelia GT coupé design. In 1954 he founded
Carrozzeria Boano in
Grugliasco with his son Gian Paolo Boano (born 1930) who also had been with him while at Ghia. They took over some of the initial
Ferrari 250 GT Coupé production from
Pinin Farina. After only three years, Boano closed, and his son-in-law Ezio Ellena took over the remaining 50 units of 250 GT production in his Carrozzeria Ellena (1957–1966). Starting in 1957, Boano worked under
Dante Giacosa for
Fiat in their Turin styling department, creating the
Fiat 600 and the square style of
Simca 1000. His son Gian Paolo Boano (b. 1930) succeeded him in 1959, as leader of the
Centro Stile, Fiats styling department. Mario Boano retired from Fiat in 1966. Gian Paolo remained with Fiat until 1988. Mario Boano died in Turin on 8 May 1989. ==Gallery==