The first body on a
Fiat 500 Topolino base was made in 1948, followed by a special
Fiat 1100. Most customers were
Italian firms, such as
Cisitalia,
Alfa Romeo,
Ferrari,
Fiat,
Maserati,
Lancia. In 1952, Vignale collaborated with
Briggs Cunningham to jointly produce the
Continental C-3. A close cooperation was maintained with
Giovanni Michelotti, who in 1959 opened his own design studio and in 1962 definitely concluded the cooperation. Also Rodolfo Bonetto designed a couple of cars in the early 1950s before moving to
Boneschi. Later Vignale designs were created by
Virginio Vairo. Vignale also designed and built cars themselves, usually low volume variants of the main production cars of these automobile manufacturers. Amongst them were 850, Samantha, Eveline and the
Vignale Gamine, based on the
Fiat 500. In 1968, Vignale designed the body of their last prototype, the
Tatra 613. Vignale was taken over by
De Tomaso in 1969 but the production model was named the
Ford Focus Coupé-Cabriolet. In September 2013,
Ford of Europe announced plans to resurrect the
Vignale name as an upscale luxury sub-brand of Ford. The cars would be visually distincted from regular Ford products and have an improved dealership experience. Exclusive services, such as free lifetime car washes, will be offered as well. The first Ford model to receive the
Vignale name was the 2015
Ford Mondeo. where the company also announced the line-up of Vignale products,
S-Max,
Edge, and Mondeo
Vignale five-door models debut alongside
Kuga Vignale Concept, offering a vision of the future of upscale SUVs as well as revealing Vignale Ambassadors and the signature Vignale collection. == Designs ==