Zagato

Zagato Milano
Company type	Società a responsabilità limitata
Industry	Automotive
Founded	Milan, Italy (1919)
Founder	Ugo Zagato
Headquarters	Rho, Italy
Area served	Worldwide
Key people	Andrea Zagato, CEO
Services	Automotive design
Website	www.zagato.it

Zagato is a coachbuilding company founded by Ugo Zagato in 1919. The design center of the company is located in Terrazzano, a village near Rho, Lombardy, Italy.

History

The 1910s: Aeronautics

Ugo Zagato was an Italian automotive designer and builder. He was born in Gavello, near Rovigo (June 25, 1890). He began his coach building career in 1919 when he left "Officine Aeronautiche Pomilio" to set up his own business in Milan. He intended to transfer various construction techniques from aeronautics to the automotive sector. Cars of the time were often bulky and heavy; Ugo Zagato envisioned them as lightweight structures with a frame in sheet aluminum similar to an aircraft fuselage.

The 1920s: Classic models

During the 1920s, Zagato focused on designing racing cars. At the beginning of the decade, he was asked by Alfa Romeo to dress some of its G1, RL and RM models. In 1925, Vittorio Jano, Alfa Romeo's Chief Engineer, asked him to create a body for the Alfa 6C 1500, the Alfa Romeo P2's heir. Zagato, using his Aeronautics culture, succeeded in designing and creating a sleek and light body for the car, which scored second place overall at the 1927 Mille Miglia and won the 1928 edition. The 6C 1500 technical qualities were also improved on with the Alfa Romeo 6C 1750, which was introduced in 1927. It was bodied in several versions (Turismo, Sport, Gran Turismo, Super Sport, or Gran Sport) and achieved overall victories in the 1929 Mille Miglia (Campari-Ramponi) and 1930 (Tazio Nuvolari, Achille Varzi, Giuseppe Campari, and Pietro Ghersi filled the first four places). In 1929, Enzo Ferrari, who had started his career at Alfa Romeo, founded Scuderia Ferrari as the official team for Alpha Romeo racing cars. Ugo Zagato was his exclusive partner in the thirties. In those years, Ansaldo, Bugatti, Diatto, Fiat, Isotta Fraschini, Lancia, Maserati, OM, and Rolls-Royce were clients of Zagato.^[1]

The 1930s: Aerodynamic models

Zagato continued to build a variety of aerodynamic cars during these decades, adopting inclined windscreens, more aerodynamic headlights, and convex bootlids. He also favored perforated disc wheels that improved brake cooling. All Alfa Romeo 8Cs received coachwork from Zagato. In January 1932, Zagato-bodied cars also began to be built by Carrozzeria Brianza. Bianchi, Fiat, Isotta Fraschini, Lancia, Maserati, and OM all experimented with lightweight and aerodynamic Zagato bodies, especially for race cars. The list of victories includes eight Mille Miglia, four Targa Florio, four Le Mans, and four Spa Francorchamps OA victories. In the 1930s, Zagato-bodied models started to compete and dominate in different classes and categories. Thirty-six Zagato-bodied cars were at the start of the 1938 Mille Miglia, which was one third of the participants.^[2]

The 1940s: Panoramic models

At the outbreak of the Second World War, Ugo Zagato left Milan and fled to Lake Maggiore. On 13 August 1943, an RAF bombing raid destroyed his coachworks on Corso Sempione road. He found new premises at Saronno alongside the Isotta Fraschini works, on behalf of which he constructed trucks, military vehicles, and a futuristic Monterosa. He returned to Milan at the end of the war and re-established his company at Via Giorgini 16, close to the Alfa Romeo historic home at Portello.

He looked for more spacious and more comfortable car greenhouses, which were eventually crystallized in a new type-form characterized by airiness and visibility thanks to large, glazed areas made of plexiglass, the new material that replaced the traditional heavy glass. This "Panoramic" body, as it was called, would mark the rebirth of his coachwork: Alfa Romeo, Fiat, Lancia, Maserati, and MG were "dressed" with this innovative body. In 1949, he built a Panoramic body for the Ferrari 166 Mille Miglia, belonging to Antonio Stagnoli; this was the first Ferrari coupé for a client ever. The Panoramic concept was an invention of Vieri Rapi, chief Zagato stylist at that time.^[3]^[4]

The 1950s: Gran Turismo models

In 1947, as a gift for his graduation from Bocconi University of Milan, Elio Zagato, Ugo's first-born son, received an open-top sports car based on a Fiat 500 B chassis. This car represented the beginning of his career as a driver, earning 83 podium spots from 160 races. The birth of the Gran Turismo category, conceived in 1949 by Count Giovanni Lurani, journalist Giovanni Canestrini, and Elio himself revolutionized the world of automotive competition: the category comprised cars with sports coachwork and a production chassis or bodyshell. AC, Alfa Romeo, Abarth, Aston Martin, Bristol, Ferrari, Fiat, Fraser Nash, Maserati, Jaguar, Osca, Porsche, and Renault wore Zagato GT bodies. In 1955, Elio Zagato scored a victory in the International Gran Turismo Championship at the Avus circuit, driving a Fiat 8V GT Zagato.

The 1960s: Fuoriserie models

The steady higher demand for special bodies required a passage from a handcraft to an industrially based organization. Elio Zagato found a larger location at 30 Via Arese in Terrazzano (northwest of Milan), very close to Arese where Alfa Romeo as well would soon choose to establish its new plants. In 1960 Ugo Zagato was awarded the Compasso d'Oro for the design of the Abarth Zagato 1000 [it].^[5]^[6]

In this period the mission of Zagato was to design special bodies to be assembled in series and fitted with mechanical parts and interiors supplied by major constructors. Under the partnership with Alfa Romeo, the Giulia SZ, the TZ, TZ2, 2600 SZ, the 1750 4R and the Junior Zagato were born. In partnership with Lancia, Zagato continued the “Sport” series with the Lancia Appia Sport, the Flaminia Sport and Super Sport, the Flavia Sport and Super Sport, and the Fulvia Sport and Sport Spider. In addition to these, some were realized for special customers who are the owners of Bristol, Fiat, Ford, Lamborghini, Honda, Osca, Rover and Volvo vehicles.^[7]

The 1970s: Geometric models

In response to the Oil Crisis^[8] and in contrast to the irrational and anti-functionalist^[9] trends of the era, Zagato also proposed the production of electric cars such as the Zagato Zele two-seater. In 1971, a new Ferrari Zagato, called 3Z, came to life thanks to an idea of Luigi Chinetti who financed the decidedly angular spider. In the same year, it was introduced at the Turin Motor Show and signaled the definitive departure from SZ, TZ, and Lancia Flaminia and Appia's curvy volumes to embrace the squared volumes of Lancia Fulvia Sport and Alfa Romeo Junior Z. Chinetti himself made a further special order. At that time, Zagato started a new project for a different four-seater, mid-engine concept which became the Cadillac N.A.R.T. This would be a luxurious, sophisticated, high-performance four-seater. The front-wheel-drive powertrain of a Cadillac Eldorado was relocated to create a mid-engine layout. Zagato was asked to build the prototype from the drawings and a clay model that was conceived in GM's studios. A Fiat, based on 132, and named Aster, was bodied as prototype as well as a Volvo GTZ. The Zagato facility in Terrazzano saw also the assembly of Lancia Beta Sport Spider that established Lancia's name in America and Australia and the Bristol 412 Targa, whose design was very similar to the Lancia's one.^[10]^[11]

The 1980s: Limited Edition models

During the early 1980s, Zagato introduced several Alfa Romeo concept cars, including the Fiat Chicane, the rear-engine Sprint 6, Zeta 6, Alfetta, Lancia Thema Station Wagon, and the Alfa Romeo 33 Tempo Libero, also available in a 4x4 hybrid version. At the same time, the growing demand for exclusive spiders and coupes led Zagato to produce limited, numbered editions. The Aston Martin Vantage (50 units) and Volante Zagato (33 units) were the highest expression of this economic and commercial climate. Furthermore, the Milanese coachbuilder bodied the Maserati Spyder and Maserati Karif. Additionally, the Alfa Romeo SZ (1989) and roadster named RZ (1991) were assembled here for Alfa Romeo. Both cars were born by the first application of the CAD process to automobiles. The SZ was an experimental coupé that revisited Alfa Romeo's sporting image; it was a rear-wheel drive coupé, a symbol of sporting pedigree. It harks back to the philosophy of the extreme coupés that distinguishes the historic Alfa - Zagato relationship: the 1900 SSZ 1954, the Giulietta SZ 1960, the Alfa Romeo Giulia TZ and Alfa Romeo Giulia TZ2 and the 2600 SZ 1965, the Junior Z, and the Alfa Romeo Zeta 6.^[12]

The 1990s: V-Max models

Zagato faced the need to keep up with the new demands of an evolving market: besides organizing, from 1993, a one-make race series for Alfa Romeo SZ and RZ, it turned (was no longer just a coachbuilder Atelier tied to the assembly of sports cars) into a Total Design Studio now working in the extended area of transportation design. The company styled and built not only prototypes and show cars on behalf of car manufacturers but also railways and industrial vehicles.

In 1991 and 1993, the Design Zagato division introduced two Ferrari V-Max models based on the 348 (348 Zagato Elaborazione) and the Testarossa (FZ93). In 1992, as a tribute to the Lancia Delta Integrale victories, the Hyena concept was created and a small series of 25 cars was built. Zagato built the Raptor and the Lamborghini Canto concept, both powered by a Lamborghini V12 at the request of Mike Kimberley, Lamborghini's CEO. Voted "Best Concept" at the 1996 Geneva Motor Show, the Raptor was produced in less than 4 months, thanks to the use of integrated technology applied to the CAD/CAM/CAE system that allowed the intermediate styling buck phase^{[clarification needed]} to be eliminated. In 1998, Zagato was commissioned by Fiat to design and produce three V-Max prototypes with low fuel consumption (3 liters/100 kilometers). The Fiat Ecobasic, developed in collaboration with Centro Stile Fiat, was judged to be the best research V-Max concept.^[13]

The 2000s: Custom-built models

Special projects created for Aston Martin, Bentley, Ferrari, Maserati, Spyker, Diatto, and Alfa Romeo consolidate the brand's business in making custom-built models, which are almost exclusively coupés with two doors and two seats.^[14]

The 2010s: Centennial models

The Alfa Romeo TZ3 Corsa, a race model with a carbon fiber mono-shell chassis, tubular frame, and lightweight aluminum body, and the TZ3 Stradale, a street-legal model based on the Viper ACR chassis with a carbon fiber body, were notable developments. Due to the joint venture between the Fiat and the Chrysler groups, the TZ3 Stradale became the first American Alfa Romeo. After the Fiat 500 Coupé Zagato and AC 378 GTZ, Zagato consolidated its special relationship with Aston Martin by designing the Centennial V-Max models (as a tribute to AML's 100 years), the Vanquish Family, and, for the "Cento" years from Zagato foundation, the Pair and the Twins collections. Also Porsche liaison has been revamped with the family of Zagato Carreras, as well as Lamborghini, Maserati, and BMW connection with the 575, the Mostro, and the BMW Twins collections. Since 2017, Zagato has been a partner in the resurrection of the Italian luxury sport brand Iso Rivolta.

In 2019, Zagato marked 100 years since its founding.^[15]

The 2020s: Own models

Since the 2020s, Zagato has deepened its commitment to its own car production, a movement started in 2015 with the Mostro; in 2022, it released a barchetta version of the Mostro, limited to 5 units,^[16] and in 2024, announced the AGTZ Twin Tail, based on the Alpine A110,^[17] limited to 19 units.^[18]