The legendary Ferrari F40, signed on the roof by the very man that designed the actual F40, one of the leading Italian car designers of the last three decades – Leonardo Fioravanti.

(Shanghai April 18, 2012) – World-renown automobile designer and Chairman of the Italian Association of the Automotive Industry Car Coachbuilders Group Leonardo Fioravanti has officially joined the Beijing Automotive Group, fawan.com reported today. Mr. Fioravanti will assume the role of chief model designer, and will unveil a new design concept for BAIC at the upcoming Beijing International Automotive Exhibition.

Mr. Fioravanti (pictured above), a graduate of the Politecnico di Milano’s mechanical engineering department, joined famed Italian design house and coach builder Pininfarina at 26 years of age, where he eventually headed up its research division, Pininfarina Studi & Ricerche. He personally designed eight Ferrari models, including the Dino, Daytona (pictured below), 308 GTB and 288 GTO. He also oversaw the construction of Italy’s first 1:1 scale wind tunnel.

Mr. Fioravanti also worked at Ferrari, Fiat and Alfa Romeo as deputy general manager, design center chief and director, respectively. In 2009, he was elected Chairman of the Italian Association of the Automotive Industry (ANFIA) Car Coachbuilders Group. In total, Mr. Fioravanti has over 40 years of experience in the field of car design.

“The addition of Mr. Fioravanti to BAIC will bring new life to the development of [our] own brand,” BAIC Executive Vice President Gu Lei remarked.