Page 146 - Bespoke Issue

Zagato is an independent coachbuilding company and a total design centre located northwest of Milan. Ugo Zagato, was born in 1890. He began his career in 1919 when he set up his own business for the ‘construction and repair of bodies for automobiles and airplanes’. Zagato did so with the intent of transferring sophisticated construction techniques, that combined lightness with strength from the aeronautics to the automotive sector. Cars of the time were still bulky but Zagato conceived them as light weight structures, within a frame in sheet aluminium similar to an aircraft fuselage.
This change in direction came to represent a fundamental chapter in the history of taste, and saw, in Europe, the adoption of the concept of functionalism applied to automotive design. In the twenties Zagato concentrated on racing cars, creating the body for the Alfa Romeo 6C1500, which scored 2nd place at the1927 Mille Miglia and won in 1928. Enzo Ferrari started his career at Alfa Romeo in 1929, forming Scuderia Ferrari as the of cial team for race Alfas. Bugatti, Maserati, Diatto, OM and even Rolls Royce were clients of Zagato since the beginning of his career.
In the 1930s Zagato built a variety of aerodynamic cars, he adopted inclined windscreens. More aerodynamic headlights, rstly enclosing them in aluminium hemispheres and then incorporating them within the bodywork, convex bootlids and perforated disc wheels that favoured brake cooling. Thirty-Six Zagato bodied cars were presented at the 1938 Mille Miglia showing the scope of clients who sought out his craftsmanship.
In the 1980s the demand for exclusive spiders and coupes led to the creation of limited numbered editions from Zagato. The Aston Martin Vantage of which only 50 were made and the Volante Zagato which was limited to only 30, making sure both were very highly sought after.
Andrea Zagato, the CEO of Zagato said of the enduring creative partnership, “Zagato’s relationship with Aston Martin began with my grandfather and the DB4GT Zagato, almost sixty years ago. To have a ‘creative marriage’ thrive for three generations is something as unique as the cars themselves. My family name is associated with all kinds of wonderful and original designs, but for many enthusiasts and collectors around the world those that combine the ‘Z’ of Zagato with the wings of Aston Martin are the most special. Collaborating closely on the design of four complementary, yet completely different Vanquish Zagato’s has been an incredibly exciting challenge. I’m proud to continue the story my grandfather started and thrilled that our partnership with Aston Martin continues to realise such exciting cars.”
The rarest of the rare.
WORDS JOHN J. BREEN / IMAGES ZAGATO
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