ZAGATO’S GREATEST HITS

Andrea Zagato is at the helm of one of Italy’s longest-lived and most distinctive coachbuilders. Here he chooses the most significant designs from a century of his company’s history

Andrea Zagato’s picks from a century of style

IN JUST OVER a century, Carrozzeria Zagato has worked with carmakers from Abarth to Rolls-Royce, Ferrari to Lamborghini, via Aston Martin, Porsche and more. Today, not only is Zagato among very few survivors of its ilk, it is the only coachbuilder still in original family ownership: now the third generation.

‘I don’t know how this happened; maybe we were lucky to predict a transformation in the business,’ says Andrea Zagato, son of Elio and grandson of founder Ugo. ‘We had to change at the end of the 1980s, when car manufacturers were more and more establishing their own internal styling departments and lean production technology made the manufacture of different models possible on the same line. That was the turning point for the art of coachbuilding and for our company.’

Carrozzeria Ugo Zagato was founded in Milan in April 1919 by the 29-year-old Ugo Zagato. Originally from Gavello, in the northeast of Italy, he was orphaned at 15 and moved to Germany to work for a steel company. He returned in 1909 for military service, then joined Carrozzeria Varesina. The First World War saw Ugo dispatched to Turin to work at Fabbrica Aeroplani Ing O Pomilio, an aircraft manufacturer, where he learned the secrets of aerodynamics and lightness.

‘After the war, Ugo moved to Milano, then the most important city for motor cars in Italy, and established his company close to the most revered manufacturer of the time, Alfa Romeo,’ says Andrea. ‘Enzo Ferrari was a good friend of Ugo and the cars were in demand. We were soon building two cars per day.’

That partnership wasn’t the only significant one. ‘In Zagato history, you can spot two important partners. Before World War Two it was Alfa Romeo; after the war, Aston Martin. The latter is still a partnership made of shared vision and information, and the pleasure of working together.’

After his premises were bombed in WW2, Ugo Zagato rebuilt his facility in the Arese-Rho area – close to Alfa Romeo’s new factory – where it is still located today. In the meantime, Ugo passed the company to his sons, Elio and Gianni. Elio was a racer, often winning in Zagato-bodied cars, mostly Alfa Romeos, and convincing his racing friends to buy them. Gianni was responsible for the production of one-offs and small series. These were the company’s classic years, including the SZ and TZ Alfa Romeos, plus Maseratis, Ferraris and Aston Martins.

Andrea Zagato joined the family firm in the 1980s. ‘I wasn’t supposed to,’ he remembers. ‘I’d just graduated from Bocconi University and was planning to work in finance. My father asked me to join him for six months and, when I checked the numbers, the only thing I knew how to do, I was horrified. We were making the Maserati Biturbo Spyder and 228, and we were losing money on every car we delivered. The decision to close down production was difficult and painful, but it was the only way to save the company.’

Andrea began a technological revolution, making Zagato the technical reference for car manufacturers, being the first coachbuilder to use a complete CAD/CAM design process. ‘It was fun and incredible,’ he says. ‘We were in this huge, almost empty building, and we got visited by everybody in the business.’

Here Andrea identifies the Zagato models that, to his eyes, are the most representative of this century of craftsmanship.