Tullio and later probably his draftsmen had a great sense of machine aesthetic. I am not sure how Italy educated draftsmen and engineers, but having so much architectural high art around did not hurt. Osmosis?
Ergonomics of the brake lever if you look at old images really lagged for all. Plenty of top tier race bikes with levers that would be more suited for a flat bar bike. Personally, I think whoever had the final say at Campagnolo had long fingers. Think about the first generation Record brake levers and the first stab at aero brake levers in the C Record era. No ergonomic range considered!

As to cars, two houses on the street have MG's, an MGA and an MG TC... both almost perfect.