Bruno Sacco
For 39 years, Mercedes-Benz's first styling czar has overseen design evolution at the world's oldest automaker.

Bruno Sacco, director of design for Mercedes-Benz, is this year's Honored Designer at Eyes on Classic Design. His is an extraordinary talent, and that talent has been applied for nearly 40 years to the products of an extraordinary automaker. When the history of Mercedes-Benz is written, a long chapter will be devoted to the contributions of Bruno Sacco.The evolution of Mercedes-Benz automobiles mirrors the progress of Sacco himself: the 1979 S class, the SEC coupe of 1981, all of the collective W126, C126, V126, the 190 series in 1982, the E class in 1984 (including the E class wagon in 1986 and the coupe in 1987), a new S class in 1991 (with its new coupe in 1992), the C class of 1993, and the recent flood of new models that include the M class sport-utility vehicle (called an all-activity vehicle at Mercedes-Benz), the SLK, CLK, and the SL 600.