Zagato Class at Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance

The 59th Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance highlighted the coachwork of Zagato in honor of the design house’s 90th anniversary and their beautiful and muscular creations. As expected from Pebble, the event assembled a wonderful variety of Zagato-bodied cars.

Zagato was established at the end of the World War I by Ugo Zagato, putting aircraft industry construction techniques to use in the expanding market for passenger vehicles. Zagato’s cars were advanced in design and became synonymous with light weight and excellent aerodynamics.

Alfa Romeo, Fiat and Lancia immediately realized the advantages of his rakish, streamlined designs. A collaboration followed which saw the creation of a series of legendary racing cars, such as the Alfa Romeo 1500, then the 1750 Gran Sport, and the 2300 8C.

After World War II, Zagato was very much active in the new GT new racing category. Avant-garde styling, together with light weight and wind-cheating lines were main features of Zagato’s models for the leading sports car manufacturers of that era – Maserati, Alfa Romeo, Fiat, Lancia, Abarth, Ferrari and Aston Martin. In addition to cars that have been produced officially in small series, the company has also built exclusive one-offs and prototypes for other marques, such as Ford, Jaguar, MG, Rover, Volvo, Bristol, and Rolls-Royce.

2009 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance – Class P: Zagato – 90 Years of Design

1st in class - 1957 Ferrari 250 GT LWB Zagato Berlinetta, Lee and Joan Herrington, Bow, NH

2nd in class - 1949 Fiat Topolino 750MM Zagato Coupe, Scott and Courtney Gauthier, Scottsdale, AZ

3rd in class - 1956 Maserati A6G/54 Zagato Coupe, J. Roberto Quiroz , Monterrey, Mexico

1928 Alfa Romeo 6C 1500 Zagato Spyder, Martin and Esta Swig, Sausalito, CA

1957 AC Ace Bristol Zagato Coupe, James and Nancy Feldman, Portland, OR

1961 Aston Martin DB4 GT Zagato Berlinetta, Jerry and Dana Rosenstock, Encino, CA

1958 Alfa Romeo SZ Zagato Berlinetta, Franco Meiners, Italy

1932 Alfa Romeo 8C 2300 Zagato Spyder, David and Ginny Sydorick, Beverly Hills, CA

1953 Fiat Ottu Vu Zagato GT, Jan De Reu, Belgium

1965 Alfa Romeo TZ2 Zagato Competition Berlinetta, The William Lyon Family, Newport Beach, CA

Entrepreneur, racer and gentleman driver Dr. Elio Zagato passed away on September 14th, 2009 at the age of 88. View the story here: Elio Zagato (1919 – 2009).

[Source: Wikipedia]