Kiwi Zagato Owners Celebrate 100 Years
One of the great Italian car design houses, Zagato, celebrated its centenary in 2019, creating a not-to-be-missed opportunity to bring the greatest collection of these rare and special cars together in New Zealand
The great Italian design houses and coachbuilders, or carrozzeria, are acknowledged as the masters of automotive style, whether designing entire models or, more commonly, limited-run specials. More than 60 such studios have plied their trade and many names call to mind their own distinctive vehicles.
Zagato has a quirkier line-up than most. Ugo Zagato made his name using lightweight aircraft construction techniques to create race cars, notably the Alfa Romeo 6Cs that scored second and then first in the 1927 and '28 Mille Miglias. On the way, he helped create the concept of functional design.
His son Elio went on to help found the concept of competition GT cars, a canny move that helped create one of the most famous, beautiful and revered low volume sports cars — the Aston Martin DB4 Zagato. Bristol, Ferrari, Fiat, Maserati, and Jaguar have all worn Zagato bodies but apart from the Astons, the most famous association has been with Alfa Romeo and Lancia.
The dramatic and brutal compositebodied Alfa Romeo SZ, produced from 1989 to 1991, helped refresh Alfa’s image. Around one thousand SZS were produced but less than 300 RZ roadsters were built, yet three of them (and no SZS!) made it to the Zagato centenary, one of them by the slimmest of margins. The owner, Steve Cowie, was flying about the country the day before and finally got compliance for this nonhomologated car at 4.36 on the night before the drive to the event on the first weekend of December.
Other notable cars among this very special selection included a pair of Alfa 6Cs, one from Southwards museum and one driven up from Kaikoura by owners Amanda and Phips Rinaldo. Organizer Paul Halford contributed his Alfa Romeo 2600 Sprint Zagato, one of the carrozzeria’s most satisfying efforts, and his Lancia Flaminia Zagato. Dedicated Lancia collector and event co-organizer Doug Cleverly brought his Flaminia too, as well as a very rare and striking 1100cc Lancia Appia Zagato. He contributed several other Zagato Lancias to the show, too. Equally striking at the other end of the scale was a 1990 Nissan Autech Stelvio. Paul said a couple of expected cars didn’t make it but the final tally was around 16 of the 30-odd Zagatos in the country — cars that ranged from the ’30s to the ’90s.
The Martinborough venue was usefully-central but Paul says the Southern Wairarapa is also absolutely magnificent motoring country. One of the highlights of the tour was a visit to a virtual barn find; an Alfa Junior 1300 Zagato still in situ on a nearby farm. Not precisely a ‘find’ as it has stayed in the family of the man who imported it, but it had been out of action for more than 20 years and Paul says its existence was unknown to most of the assembled aficionados. Paul says other highlights of the event were the dinners, the adventures in getting to the show, the discussions, and even the arguments among the collected experts.
Paul sent notes and pictures of the Kiwi version of this worldwide celebration to Zagato, who replied that they were delighted to see their centenary and some quite special cars celebrated as far afield as Martinborough.