Legendary car designer Marcello Gandini, who shaped some of the best known and most revered Italian cars of all time, has died at the age of 85.

The Turin native, widely recognised as one of the most prolific and influential car designers of his era, made a name for himself in the mid-1960s while working for the storied Bertone design house, where he was responsible for such icons as the Lamborghini Miura, Lancia Stratos and Ferrari 308/GT4 - Maranello's only Bertone-designed car.

Gandini's rise to prominence began when he replaced Giorgetto Giugiaro at the Italian firm in 1965. One of his earliest works there was a two-seat, drop-top reworking of the Porsche 911 that never made production, and an imposing luxury coupé based on the Jaguar S-Type followed soon after.

Arguably his best-known creation was the Lamborghini Countach, which is defined by its aero-optimised, wedge-shaped silhouette - a Gandini hallmark that has come to be emblematic of experimental car design in the 1970s and 1980s and which still has a huge influence today.

But Gandini didn't limit himself to penning radical, low-volume supercars: some of the most popular cars of the past half-century came from his studio, including the original BMW 5 Series, first Volkswagen Polo, Fiat 132, Renault 5 Turbo and Citroën BX.

The jaw-dropping Alfa Romeo 33 Carabo and Navajo concepts were Gandini efforts, too, and so were the original concepts for the Bugatti EB110 and Lamborghini Diablo.

He broke from convention with a series of more rounded and outlandish designs in the 1990s after leaving Bertone and designed models for brands including Nissan and Perodua.

Among his final cars was the Stola S86 Diamante – a concept created in just five weeks for the 2005 Geneva motor show.