Ricardo ‘Dick’ Burzi
Ricardo Burzi was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina around 1900, to a French mother and Argentine father. Nothing is really known of his childhood or education, but by the 1920s he had moved to Italy to work as a designer for Lancia in Turin. He was reportedly a talented cartoonist, which landed him in hot water when he drew caricatures of Mussolini during the rise of Il Duce. Lancia moved him to the Paris office so he would not be in any danger from the fascists.
Apparently, Vincenzo Lancia then met Herbert Austin by chance (some say on the liner Queen Mary) and suggested Austin take Burzi on at Longbridge. However, John Baker on his Austin Memories website says: ‘ A much more realistic scenario is that Austin saw examples of Burzi’s work at either the Paris Salon or London Motor Show and head hunted him.’
Either way, Burzi arrived at Longbridge in 1929 speaking not a word of English, and was immediately christened Dick by his fellow workers.
Burzi was probably responsible for styling the Austin 10/4 of 1934, but felt that Herbert Austin was cramping his creative style. However, he had a freer hand with the New Ascot Twelve of 1936 and followed this with updated versions of Ten, Fourteen and Eighteen models. When Leonard Lord took over Austin, he put Burzi to work designing a new range of cars, to become known as the Lord Look models, for the 1939 year. When Italy entered the war on the side of Germany in 1940, Burzi was among 8000 Italian nationals interred on the Isle of Man, but Lord pulled some strings to have him released.
Burzi was responsible for the styling of the new post-war Austins, the A40 and A70 and, of course, the A90 Atlantic, as well as the stylized A that adorned their bonnets or wings. He went on to tidy up and ‘Austinise’ the designs of the A30, A40 Somerset and A70 Hereford. Burzi stayed on at The Austin through the BMC and Farina years, playing less and less of a major role, though he did assist Farina in redesigning the 1800’s front and rear for the Austin 3-litre. Following Leyland’s take- over, Burzi retired to Italy in 1969 after 40 years at Longbridge.