Scaglione was born in Florence to Vittorio Scaglione, a chief army doctor, and to Giovanna Fabbri, captain of the Italian Red Cross service. His family was of noble ancestry — count of Martirano San Nicola and of Mottafilocastro. At the age of 6, he and his younger brother became fatherless.
His studies were of humanistic leanings, but he entered the university of Aeronautical Engineering. His hobbies included reading, tennis, riding, and rowing. He entered military service with the rank of sub-lieutenant in the sappers, the Genio Pontieri. At the outbreak of the Second World War he volunteered for the Genio Guastatori and was sent to the Libyan front. On Christmas Eve 1941 he was taken prisoner by the British at El Duda, a village south of Tobruk, and interned at the Yol detention camp in India, where he remained until the end of 1946. He returned to Italy on Boxing Day that year with the last boat carrying prisoners, rejoining his mother — his brother Eugenio had been killed during the war — in Carolei, near Cosenza, where he stayed for almost a year.
At the beginning of 1948 he went to Bologna in search of work, with the aim of becoming a stylist in the automobile field. Initially he sketched clothing for fashion houses, but his vocation was automobile coachwork design. On 25 September 1948 he married Maria Luisa Benvenuti; their daughter Giovanna was born on 10 September two years later.
In April 1951 Scaglione moved to Turin, where the major coachbuilding firms were based. He contacted Battista Farina, who appreciated his renderings but did not allow models to be linked to the designer's name, so collaboration did not result. He then met Nuccio Bertone, leading to an association that produced automobiles including the Alfa Romeo B.A.T.s, the Giulietta Sprint, the Sprint Speciale, and many others. In 1959 he concluded the exclusive relationship with Bertone.
His first collaboration as a freelancer was with Carlo Abarth and Porsche, resulting in the Porsche 356 B Abarth Carrera GTL, described in the corpus as the acclaimed design forerunner of the 911. He subsequently conceived the Lamborghini 350 GTV, the ATS 2500 GT, the 1900 Skyline Sprint for the Japanese Prince company (which later merged with Nissan in 1966), and the Titania Veltro GTT. He also designed various models for Intermeccanica including the Apollo, Torino, Italia GFX, Italia IMX, and Indra. In 1967 he designed for Alfa Romeo's Autodelta the Alfa Romeo 33 Stradale, said by many to be one of the most beautiful cars ever made.
Intermeccanica subsequently became bankrupt, and its owner Frank Reisner moved to Canada. Having put his own savings into the production of the Indra, Scaglione was disillusioned and retired from work.
In 1981 Scaglione moved to Suvereto, a village in the province of Livorno, where he lived a secluded life. In July 1991 he was diagnosed with lung cancer. He died on 19 June 1993.
Designs documented in the corpus include:
1952–1953: Fiat 1100 "Utiletta Frasca" (Carrozzeria Ansaloni); Abarth 1500 Biposto Coupé Bertone; Siata 208 CS sports racing; Alfa Romeo Berlinetta Aerodinamica Tecnica (B.A.T.) 5; Alfa Romeo 1900L two-door saloon Bertone; Arnolt-Aston Martin DB2/4 sports racing and spider (Bertone); Ferrari-Abarth 166 MM/53 sports racing Bertone; Arnolt-Bristol 404 X sports racing Bertone.
1954–1955: Alfa Romeo 2000 Sportiva racing and sports racing berlinetta (Bertone prototypes); Alfa Romeo Giulietta Sprint berlinetta Bertone; Alfa Romeo B.A.T. 7; Alfa Romeo B.A.T. 9 (1955).
1957–1959: Fiat-Stanguellini 1200 spider 'America' Bertone; Aston Martin DB2/4 coupé Bertone; Jaguar XK150 coupé Bertone; Alfa Romeo Giulietta Sprint Speciale berlinetta Bertone; NSU Prinz Sport coupé; Maserati 3500 GT coupé Bertone; Alfa Romeo 2000 "Sole" Bertone.
1960–1963: Porsche 356 B Carrera GTL Abarth berlinetta (Carrozzeria Rocco Motto); Lamborghini 350 GTV coupé prototype; ATS 2500 GT; Apollo GT and convertible; Prince Motors 'Skyline 1900 Sprint' berlinetta; Maserati Tipo 64 'Supercage'.
1966–1972: Titania "Veltro GTT"; Intermeccanica "Torino"; Alfa Romeo 33 Stradale (1967); LMX Sirex (1968); Intermeccanica "Italia IMX" (1970); Intermeccanica "Indra" convertible (1971) and coupé (1972).
This article is based solely on the supplied corpus. No external sources were consulted; claims that could not be substantiated against the corpus were omitted under the drop-the-claim rule.
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