Andrea Zagato on the US$3 million Capricorn 01, Italian coachbuilder Zagato’s first hypercar

Andrea Zagato says that, when you’re 106 years old, you think very carefully before risking your reputation. “It’s a lot of history to protect,” says the CEO of the legendary Italian coachbuilding company that bears his family name. Zagato was founded by his grandfather Ugo in 1919, and would go on to lend its styling skills to the likes of Bugatti, Rolls-Royce, Porsche, Bentley, Aston Martin and Lamborghini; and to make classic versions of the Ferrari 575 GTZ, Alfa Romeo TZ3 Corsa and BMW Z4. Indeed, just about every top marque you can name has sought Zagato’s hand. It can be hard to keep track. When Andrea Zagato announced the Z4 project, he proudly stated that this was the start of a relationship with BMW – and later had to backtrack when it was revealed that Zagato had first worked with the German company in 1948. Certainly Zagato stands alongside the likes of Pininfarina, Karmann and Bertone for its visionary ability to give already incredible cars just that little bit of extra distinction – grand tourers in particular. But now comes its first hypercar: for Capricorn, the German engineering company that has contributed to the McLaren P1, Porsche 918 Spyder and Bugatti Veyron. Only 19 examples of the 01 Zagato will be made, each priced at €2.95 million (US$3.42 million). Zagato is already working on the 02 – “something completely unusual”, Andrea Zagato promises. “We’ve been approached to style a hypercar before but invariably it was by companies with the name but none of the engineering competencies, or vice versa; Capricorn has both,” he explains. “The idea has been to combine that German engineering with Italian styling verve. “In a very mature automotive market there’s increased interest in ultra-exclusive cars that represent the pinnacle of style, but also power, price and technology. And while I’m very proud of the cars we’ve worked on before, this is the kind of car the younger generation seems to be drawn to now. It’s maybe a sign that Zagato should do something different. And there’s always the appeal of working on a design that has no historic point of reference. Hypercars didn’t exist when I was young,” he points out. Back then Andrea Zagato was still dreaming of becoming a veterinarian – until curiosity about his father’s work and the story of the family firm saw him take his place within it. He was soon to discover the challenges of running that firm. “The automotive industry has changed,” he laments, adding that it’s become far more corporate. “In my father’s day you developed long personal relationships with the visionaries who built their automobile companies – Enzo Ferrari or David Brown [of Aston Martin] and so on – which lasted for decades. Now you have to deal with a different manager of the OEMs [original equipment manufacturers – the car brand giants] every six months.” One reason why the Capricorn deal came together is that he has, he admits, been close friends with its owner, Robertino Wild, for many years. The work is there at least – and small wonder. A Zagato badge is said to increase the value of a car it’s on – even a less glamorous Peugeot, Toyota or Fiat – by multiples. It gives “added value to a standard model”, as Andrea puts it. It also adds some invigorating buzz to the brand in question. Rarity is a factor in that, he concedes, with Zagato standing apart from other coachbuilders in almost never working on series production cars. Its prestigious badge is more typically found on special editions of special editions – the kind of cars you’re more likely to see at a Concours d’Elegance than on the road. It is, he says, akin to being an artist: you may not make many paintings, but your work can still be known the world over. This less-is-more and not-very-often approach has also meant Zagato has avoided following trends, as production cars inevitably must do. Wisely, the company always retains the intellectual property rights to its designs, preventing the market from being flooded with Zagato-ness. But it’s not just through rarity that Zagato gains prestige. More important surely is the company’s distinctive design language, which goes beyond its famed double-bubble roofline, which appears on the Capricorn 01 too. “My grandfather emerged some time between the horse carriage – something that might be described as ornamental, in the way that a bridge is often plain and then has a lot of ‘beauty’ added to it – and the aeroplane, the design of which required the removal of absolutely anything that was not necessary,” explains Andrea Zagato of this Bauhausian approach. He notes that being based just outside Milan is also a factor – northern Italy, historically, having been more under the influence of Austria; the south, more under France. “That rationalism, taken from aeronautics and applied to cars, has given Zagato a particular signature,” he adds. “There are very few cuts in the surface [of a Zagato design] and that gives a continuity to the surface. The subliminal message of that is an object that’s more sculptural, more like a piece of art.” Andrea Zagato’s grandfather not only started his career in aircraft design, he would also apply his knowledge of aviation’s metal construction to automobiles, bringing extreme lightness and aerodynamics. The company had its own production facilities until the early 1990s, when in response both to advances in assembly line technology, and to a revival in the use of the mechanical (rather than monocoque) chassis, like most coachbuilders it switched focus to being purely a design atelier. But Zagato would continue to innovate by bringing tech over from aviation into automotives: it introduced the first car completely developed using CAD/CAM (computer-aided design and manufacturing) systems; it pioneered the use of glues to affix the subframe to the skin; it designed the first road car with an entirely carbon fibre shell. Zagato was experimenting with making all-electric cars, with its Zagato Zele, over 50 years ago. Andrea Zagato says he’d like to reskin a Tesla. “We don’t want to interfere with an OEM’s own design philosophy. Often that is aimed towards a more mainstream product, and is influenced by the trends of the time – which leaves us able to propose something different for them. And being able to do that has allowed us to survive as a business,” Andrea explains. “Sometimes we’ve pushed that design to the limit, and over it, and come up with a car appreciated by artists but less so by the manufacturer [we’re working for],” he laughs. “Some think we still push things too far. But it’s not planned. It just happens. You’re aiming for a merger of two DNAs to create a final, stronger one that resonates with a new customer.” It’s not just in the car world that the Zagato badge is in demand either. Zagato has also applied it to trains, tractors and Leica cameras. February sees the launch of a Chopard tourbillon watch – styled by Zagato. Andrea Zagato says he would like to do more of this work – without, again, diluting that automotive heritage. “It’s the challenge of working [on non-automotive products] that I like the most now,” he says. “We’re even thinking about entering the marine sector. Sometimes just working on cars closes your mind and eyes, and they need to be opened again.” That said, he may have just caught the bug for hypercars, as much as hypercar manufacturers might – now the door has been opened – prove to have caught the bug for Zagato. “I have good relations with all the hypercar manufacturers,” he says. “Gordon Murray [of the eponymous specialist carmaker, and chief designer of the McLaren F1] has eight Zagatos. So the options are there. And why not?”

Andrea Zagato on the US$3 million Capricorn 01, Italian coachbuilder Zagato’s first hypercar

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}The project blends Italian design flair and German precision thanks to engineering firm Capricorn, known for McLaren, Porsche and Bugatti collabs

The project blends Italian design flair and German precision thanks to engineering firm Capricorn, known for McLaren, Porsche and Bugatti collabs