In memory of Ercole Spada | Axon’s Automotive Anorak

Aged just 23, Spada quietly joined the famous Milan coachbuilder Carrozzeria Zagato in 1960 as a young vehicle designer. He very quickly made his mark at Zagato as the (uncredited at the time) designer of the now-iconic 1961 Aston Martin DB4 GT Zagato, which introduced Spada’s now-familiar and signature curvaceous aerodynamic form to an appreciative world.

Assisted with design input by Zagato family member Gianni Zagato, Spada went on to style some of his finest work whilst at Zagato, such as the Alfa Romeo Giulietta SZ, TZ and TZ2 and stunning 2600 ZS, plus the striking Lancia Flaminia Sport Zagato and curious Zagato-bodied Flavia models.

Having owned a pair of Spada’s more affordable sporting creations — an Alfa Romeo Junior Z (a Zagato-bodied 105) and a Lancia Fulvia Sport Zagato — I have long been a fan of Spada and his distinctive signature flowing forms. Of the two, the curvy Lancia had the nicer engine, but the truncated Alfa (mine was the1300) was overall the more rewarding car to own, drive and behold, too, with its unusual clear plastic front grille, ultra-modern coupé form and pleasingly abrupt sawn-off tail.

The larger Rover 2000 P6-based Zagato-bodied TCZ show car of 1967 resembled an enlarged version of both the Alfa and Lancia, and was one of Spada’s finest creations. While an impoverished student in the early 1980s, with a collection of no less than 13 ‘classic’ cars already parked up on my long-suffering mother’s driveway, this unique Zagato Rover prototype came up for sale for a surprisingly reasonable price, albeit more than I could afford.

Unable to stretch to even a negotiated lower price, but desperate to own this beautiful and important unique Rover, I asked my Mum if she would kindly loan me the £300. “Of course,” she said, “I’ll happily loan you the money for anything, as long as it’s not for another damn car!”

Trying to explain what the TCZ was and it’s scarcity had no effect so I immediately put my scruffy old Citroen DSs up for sale, but by the time I’d managed to sell it the patient owner of the Rover had accepted an better offer and sold the TCZ to some other very lucky Zagato enthusiast, who still owns the car today to the best of my knowledge.   

The Rover TCZ was just one of numerous one-off prototypes that Spada designed whilst he was at Zagato as unique show cars to attract attention and new business to the Milan Carrozzeria. Other notable creations include sporting coupés for Abarth, Fiat, Ferrari, Volvo and even Oldsmobile.        

After almost a decade-long stint at Zagato, Spada went on to do some design work for Ghia, Ford, BMW — as Chief Stylist in 1976, responsible for the E32 7-Series and E34 5-Series — and briefly Audi, ahead of finally returning to Italy in 1983 to head-up the Institute of Development in Automotive Engineering. 

There he led the design of the Fiat Tipo and Tempra, the Lancia Dedra and Delta II, plus the Alfa Romeo 155, Nissan Terrano II/Ford Maverick SUV twins, Mazda MX-3 coupé and the boxy Daihatsu Move kei-car people mover.

In 1992, Spada briefly returned to Zagato to design the limited-production Ferrari FZ93, and towards the end of his career he collaborated with his son, Paulo, to found Spadaconcept, an automotive and industrial design studio primarily focusing on the design and conception of objects through the approach of functional design.

Fittingly, the outlandish Spadaconcept Codatronca supercar was to be the final automotive creation of Spada. He was a gifted artist and profound lover of cars, with a unique ability to shape them with unmistakable yet efficient aerodynamic forms.