Jorge Ferreyra-Basso

Jorge Ferreyra-Basso (1943–2021) was an Argentine automotive designer and artist whose professional and artistic career was shaped by a lifelong passion for automobiles and motorsport. Born in Buenos Aires, he studied engineering before leaving his studies to pursue a professional career in automotive design.

He began his career in the 1960s designing racing cars and, at the age of 24, became head of the design department at General Motors Argentina. Among his notable automotive projects was the 1972 Chevrolet Chevy Serie 2, which became an iconic model in Argentine automotive history.

Alongside his design career, Ferreyra-Basso developed an increasing passion for painting. Following the closure of General Motors Argentina in 1978, he exhibited a series of pastel works depicting motor racing at the Automóvil Club Argentino. Art provided a creative counterbalance to the technical demands of automotive design and allowed him to express his lifelong fascination with cars more freely. Pastel became a particularly important medium, enabling him to capture the vivid colours, movement, speed, and energy of motorsport.

After leaving Argentina, he continued his automotive design career at the Opel Design Center in Germany while further developing his distinctive artistic style, which evolved from Impressionist influences towards figurative Expressionism. Automobiles and motor racing remained central to his work, with paintings depicting legendary drivers, iconic cars, and memorable moments from motorsport history.

Throughout his career, Ferreyra-Basso created more than 60 posters for international automotive events and races, including the Mille Miglia and Targa Florio in Italy, the Oldtimer Grand Prix at the Nürburgring, and motoring events in the United States and Argentina. Following his first exhibition in the historic Nürburgring pits in 1983, his automotive art was presented at numerous international exhibitions and motoring events.

From 1994 to 1997, he worked at the General Motors Design Center in Detroit, where he led projects involving colour, materials, and seat design for Chevrolet, Pontiac, Oldsmobile, Cadillac, and GMC. After retiring from his professional design career, he returned to Buenos Aires and devoted more of his time to painting.

Jorge Ferreyra-Basso died on 2 March 2021 in Buenos Aires. His body of work brings together the two defining passions of his life – automotive design and fine art – preserving the history and emotion of motoring through vivid colour, movement, and dynamic racing scenes.