Myth Buster Zagato
Debunking the most common old wives’ tales
IT DIDN’T BUILD ITS 1 OWN CARS
Zagato is known for modifying and building other manufacturers’ cars, but has indulged in vehicle construction under its own name, starting with the Zagato Zele in 1974. This glassfibre electric microcar was something of a departure from Zagato’s usual sleek efforts, especially given the top speed of about 30mph. Around 500 were made.
2 UGO ZAGATO MADE THE PANORAMICAS
Company boss Ugo Zagato is credited with coming up with the ‘Panoramica’ cars for Alfa Romeo, Ferrari, Maserati, Lancia, Fiat and even MG, with their distinctive tall, curved, plexiglass windows. In reality, it seems that engineer, Luigi Fabio Rapi, came up with the concept in 1947, using a Fiat 1100 B chassis. It was such a good look,however, that Zagato enthusiastically ran with the idea.
3 THE BRISTOL 412 IS A STRANGE ONE
The breezeblock styling of the Bristol 412 does seem a weird entry in Zagato’s previously very curvy catalogue. But look on it as a larger canvas version of the Lancia Beta Spider (done in collaboration with Pininfarina), and it makes a little more sense.
THE DB4 GT ZAGATO 4 IS MUCH LIGHTER THAN THE DB4 GT
A total of 19 Aston Martin DB4 GT Zagatos were originally produced from 1960 to 1963, as lightened DB4 GT racers. But they weren’t actually that much lighter – at 1250kg, they only tip the scales at 19kg less than the standard 1269kg GT models. That’s less than a quarter of the weight of an average UK adult male. The 1988 Sanction II cars put on even more weight..