Zagato: The Milan Coachbuilder from Racing Alfas to Limited-Run Sports Cars

Zagato is an Italian coachbuilder that shaped sports car bodies for almost a century, from racing Alfa Romeos in the 1920s to limited-run Aston Martins and Maseratis in the 2000s. The firm was founded in Milan in 1919 and built light, aerodynamic bodies before moving into Gran Turismo cars, concept vehicles and numbered special editions. It still designs and builds its own cars today.

Who founded Zagato and what was his original idea?

Ugo Zagato founded the company in 1919 after leaving Officine Aeronautica Pomilio. He wanted to carry aircraft construction methods into car bodies, and his bodies used a lightweight frame in sheet aluminium, much like an aircraft fuselage. Cars of that era were heavy and bulky, and he set out to make them lighter.

Ugo was born in Gavello, near Rovigo, on 25 June 1890. Before he opened his own workshop he had worked at Officine Aeronautica Pomilio, and that background shaped his thinking about structure. He set up in Milan to put those ideas into practice.

The company later settled in Terrazzano, a village near Rho in Lombardy, which is now its design centre. The Zagato name stayed with the business through its moves, from Milan to Saronno, back to Milan, and then to Terrazzano in the 1960s.

From aircraft-style aluminium bodies in 1919 to limited-run cars today, Zagato kept its focus on the body.

What did Zagato build for Alfa Romeo in the 1920s?

In the 1920s Alfa Romeo asked Zagato to body several models, including the G1, RL and RM. In 1925 Vittorio Jano, the company's chief engineer, commissioned a body for the 6C 1500, heir to the P2. That car placed second overall at the 1927 Mille Miglia and won the 1928 race.

Zagato's lightweight shapes gave the 6C 1500 a sleek, light body built on aeronautical principles. The 6C 1750 followed in 1927 with several body styles, including Turismo, Sport, Gran Turismo, Super Sport and Gran Sport.

The 1750 went on to take overall wins at the 1929 and 1930 Mille Miglia, and in 1930 its cars filled the first four places. In 1929 Enzo Ferrari, then an Alfa Romeo racing driver, founded Scuderia Ferrari as the official team for the marque's racing cars.

How did Zagato bodies change in the 1930s?

Zagato's 1930s bodies used inclined windscreens, more aerodynamic headlights and convex boot lids. Perforated disc wheels improved brake cooling. All Alfa Romeo 8C cars received Zagato coachwork, and makers including Lancia, Maserati and Fiat also tried the lightweight designs. They were especially common on race cars.

Zagato kept developing aerodynamic designs through the decade, and the company adopted more streamlined lines across its range. In January 1932 Carrozzeria Brianza began to build Zagato-bodied cars as well, which widened the reach of the designs.

The racing results followed. The victory list includes eight Mille Miglia wins, four Targa Florio wins, four Le Mans wins and four Spa-Francorchamps OA wins. By 1938, thirty-six Zagato-bodied cars entered the Mille Miglia, roughly one-third of the field, and they competed for and dominated several classes.

What happened to the company during the Second World War?

When the war began Zagato left Milan for Lake Maggiore. On 13 August 1943 an RAF bombing raid destroyed the coachworks on Corso Sempione. Zagato then moved to Saronno, beside the Isotta Fraschini works, and built trucks, military vehicles and a futuristic 8C Monterosa.

Zagato returned to Milan at the end of the war and set up again at Via Giorgini 16, close to the Alfa Romeo home at Portello. The rebuilt business then turned to postwar body styles that would define its later reputation.

What was the Panoramic body style?

The Panoramic was a greenhouse-style body with large glazed areas made from plexiglass, a material lighter than traditional glass. Vieri Rapi, Zagato's chief stylist at the time, is credited with the design. Alfa Romeo, Fiat, Lancia, Maserati and MG all used it.

Zagato wanted cars with more space, comfort and visibility, and large glazed panels delivered that. In 1949 the company built a Panoramic body for a Ferrari 166 Mille Miglia owned by Antonio Stagnoli, which became the first Ferrari coupe built for a client.

Several other makers took up the style, so the design reached well beyond Zagato's own workshop. The Panoramic also marks the point at which the company's coachwork revived after the war.

How did Elio Zagato shape the Gran Turismo class?

Elio Zagato, Ugo's first-born son, received a Fiat 500 B based open sports car in 1947 as a graduation present. He went on to score 83 podium finishes in 160 races. In 1955 he won the International Gran Turismo Championship at Avus in a Fiat 8V GT Zagato.

The Gran Turismo category was conceived in 1949 by Count Giovanni Lurani, the journalist Giovanni Canestrini and Elio himself. It covered cars with sports coachwork on a production chassis or bodyshell, and Zagato GT bodies appeared on machines from AC, Alfa Romeo, Abarth, Aston Martin, Bristol, Ferrari, Fiat, Fraser Nash, Jaguar, Maserati, Osca, Porsche and Renault.

Elio's racing and his design work fed each other. The Zagato name became linked with sporting cars that could also race, and that reputation carried into the company's next phase of production.

How did Zagato move to industrial production in the 1960s?

Growing demand for special bodies pushed Zagato from handcraft toward industrial methods. Elio moved the business to a larger site at 30 Via Arese in Terrazzano. Partnerships with Alfa Romeo and Lancia then produced the Giulia SZ, TZ and TZ2, the Junior Zagato and a run of Lancia Sport models.

The new aim was special bodies assembled in series, fitted with mechanical parts and interiors from major manufacturers. Terrazzano sits northwest of Milan, close to Arese, where Alfa Romeo was about to build new plants.

Special orders came from several carmakers, including Bristol, Fiat, Ford, Lamborghini, Honda, Osca, Rover and Volvo. In 1960 Ugo Zagato received the Compasso d'Oro for the design of the Abarth 1000 Bialbero.

What did Zagato design in the 1970s and 1980s?

Responding to the oil crisis, Zagato proposed electric cars such as the Zele two-seater. The 1971 Ferrari 3Z, financed by Luigi Chinetti, marked a sharp break with the company's curvy earlier work. In the 1980s, numbered limited editions of spiders and coupes became a core part of the business.

The 3Z was an angular spider that abandoned the curves of the SZ and TZ for squared shapes, and it was shown at the Turin Motor Show in 1971. Chinetti also placed a further special order of his own. Around the same time Zagato built the prototype of a mid-engined four-seater for Cadillac, the NART. Its design came from drawings and a clay model made in GM's studios, and the front-wheel-drive Eldorado powertrain was moved to a mid-engine layout.

The Lancia Beta Sport Spider was also assembled at the Terrazzano works, which helped establish Lancia's name in America and Australia. The Bristol 412 Targa was built there too.

In the early 1980s Zagato showed concepts such as the Fiat Chicane and the Alfa Romeo Sprint 6. The limited editions reached a high point with the Aston Martin Vantage, built in 50 units, and the Volante Zagato, built in 33.

Maserati also used Zagato bodies on the Spyder and the Karif. The Alfa Romeo SZ of 1989 and the RZ roadster of 1991 were assembled at the Zagato works, and both were designed with CAD, the first time that process had been applied to automobiles.

How did the V-Max concepts shape the 1990s?

In 1993 Zagato started a one-make race series for Alfa Romeo SZ and RZ cars. The company was turning into a transportation design studio that also worked on railway and industrial vehicles. Ferrari V-Max models based on the 348 and Testarossa appeared in 1991 and 1993.

In 1992 the Hyena paid tribute to the victories of the Lancia Delta Integrale, and 24 examples were built. The Raptor and the Lamborghini Canto both used a Lamborghini V12, built at the request of Mike Kimberley, then Lamborghini's chief executive.

The Raptor was voted Best Concept at the 1996 Geneva Motor Show, and it was produced in under 4 months. Integrated CAD, CAM and CAE technology removed the intermediate styling buck phase, which made that speed possible.

In 1998 Fiat commissioned three V-Max prototypes with a target fuel use of 3 litres per 100 kilometres. The Fiat Ecobasic, developed with Centro Stile Fiat, was judged the best research V-Max concept.

What did Zagato build in the 2000s and 2010s?

In the 2000s Zagato's work was mostly custom-built coupes, many for Aston Martin, Bentley, Ferrari, Maserati, Spyker, Diatto and Alfa Romeo. In the 2010s it produced the Alfa Romeo TZ3 Corsa and TZ3 Stradale, and in 2017 it became a partner in the revival of Iso Rivolta.

Most of those cars were two-seat coupes, and custom-built models became the company's main business for the decade. The TZ3 Corsa was a race model with a carbon fibre monocoque, a tubular frame and a lightweight aluminium body. The TZ3 Stradale was its street-legal sibling, built on a Viper ACR chassis with a carbon fibre body.

Because of the joint venture between the Fiat and Chrysler groups, the Stradale became the first American Alfa Romeo. Zagato also created the Centennial V-Max models as a tribute to Aston Martin's 100 years, along with the Vanquish family and the Pair and Twins collections. 2019 marked 100 years since the company was founded.

Is Zagato still building its own cars?

Yes. Since the 2020s Zagato has focused on its own cars, a shift that began with the Mostro in 2015. A Mostro barchetta followed in 2022, limited to 5 units, and the AGTZ Twin Tail, based on the Alpine A110, was announced in 2024, limited to 19 units.

The Mostro, first shown in 2015 as a Zagato Maserati, started this shift. In 2020 the IsoRivolta GTZ showed the company's continuing work with Iso Rivolta. Each of these models was produced in a small run, the kind of limited output that runs through the company's history.

Zagato models by decade

The table gives one representative model or project for each decade. It shows the change in focus from race bodies and Panoramic cabins to concepts, limited editions and, latterly, the company's own cars.

Frequently asked questions

Where is Zagato's design centre?

The design centre is at Terrazzano, northwest of Milan and close to Rho. Elio Zagato moved the business to a larger site there in the 1960s.

How many Mille Miglia wins did Zagato bodies take?

The list of Zagato-bodied victories includes eight Mille Miglia wins. The 1928 race was won by a Zagato-bodied 6C 1500, which was one of the earliest results for the design.

Who was Vieri Rapi?

Vieri Rapi was Zagato's chief stylist in the years after the war. He is credited with the Panoramic body style, and the company's list of notable designers gives his period as 1947 to 1950.

What is the TZ3 Stradale?

The TZ3 Stradale is a road-legal Alfa Romeo from 2011. Its chassis came from the Viper ACR and its body is carbon fibre.

How many units did the Mostro barchetta have?

The 2022 Mostro barchetta was limited to 5 units. The original Mostro dates from 2015 and started the company's move toward building its own cars.