Giorgetto Giugiaro was named Car Designer of the [last] Century, but he wants to make an impact on this century as well.

The legendary Italian, who turned 77 last month, won't put down his pen even though he recently sold to Audi the last piece of his styling and engineering company that he still owned.

"I don't feel old enough to retire," said Giugiaro. "I will continue to do the only thing I'm good at -- designing cars."

Giugiaro severed connections with Volkswagen Group following the ouster of his old pal Ferdinand Piech as supervisory board chairman in April. The two men became friends when Piech worked at Italdesign in 1972.

In June, Giugiaro and his son Fabrizio sold the 9.9 percent stake they had retained in Italdesign to Audi -- five years after selling Audi a 90.1 percent share. Giugiaro wouldn't say whether he was prompted by Piech's expulsion. But in July, the Giugiaros thanked Piech in a full-page advertisement in an Italian newspaper.

Fabrizio, 50, said the Giugiaros are considering work offers from Chinese and South Korean automakers.

"We are just at the beginning of our talks," he said. "So it is really premature to say something more, but we will definitely come back to the car design business."