Ercole Spada (born 26 July 1937 in Busto Arsizio) is an Italian automobile designer. His most notable designs were produced in the 1960s, for the Zagato design studio house, where Spada was chief stylist. During this period some of the most notable sports cars by Aston Martin, Ferrari, Maserati, as well as Alfa Romeo, Abarth, Fiat and Lancia were clothed by Spada's designs.
Spada earned a degree in industrial engineering from Istituto Tecnico Feltrinelli in 1956. Following a military service, he joined Zagato in February 1960.
The first design created by Spada for Zagato was the Aston Martin DB4 GT Zagato. Many avant-garde yet instantly-classic designs followed, soon becoming cornerstones of automotive design. Spada's designs were acknowledged as seminal by his fellow designers as well as by generations of new designers. One example of the attraction of Spada's work was the Mazda MX-3, which aimed to capture the magic of the Alfa Romeo Giulia TZ design, according to its creators. Shortly before leaving Zagato, Spada designed one of the most modern looking cars of the era, the Alfa Romeo Junior Z, as well as the popular and dramatic Lancia Fulvia Sport.
Spada joined Ford in 1970 to become chief designer at the Italian Ghia design house. This led to the creation of the ill-fated Ford GT70, which did not enter production at the last moment.
After leaving Ford and following a short stay at Audi, Spada joined BMW's design center as chief stylist in 1976. During his stay with BMW, Spada created two major all-new designs with Claus Luthe, the 7-series (1986–1994), and the BMW E34 5-series (1988–1996). Both embraced similar classic yet progressive lines, contributing to the success of the German company.
In 1983 Spada returned to lead an Italian design house, this time I.DE.A Institute, where he designed a string of compact and luxury cars, for Fiat – the groundbreaking Tipo and Tempra siblings, the Lancia Dedra and Delta II, and the Kappa. Other projects included the Alfa Romeo 155 and the Daihatsu Move. During his stay in I.DE.A Institute, Spada competed and won over major design contracts from Fiat, putting him in direct competition with his fellow Italian designer, Giorgetto Giugiaro.
Returning to Zagato in 1992, Spada brought with him new creative energy, which led to the introduction of the Ferrari FZ93, based on a regular 512 TR mechanics, as well as other notable designs.
Spada continues to work as a designer. He has joined his son, Paulo Spada, to create Spadaconcept, a new design house aimed at automotive and industrial design.
Giovanni Michelotti was one of the most prolific designers of sports cars in the 20th century. His notable contributions were for Ferrari, Lancia, Maserati and Triumph marques. He was also associated with truck designs for Leyland Motors, and with designs for British Leyland after the merger of Leyland and BMC.
Gruppo Bertone, commonly known as Bertone, was an Italian industrial design company which specialized in car styling, coachbuilding and manufacturing. It formerly was also a car manufacturing company. Bertone styled cars for Abarth, Alfa Romeo, Aston Martin, BMW, Citroën, Ferrari, FIAT, Iso, Lancia, Lamborghini, Mercedes-Benz, Opel, and Volvo, among others. In addition, the Bertone studio was responsible for two of the later designs of the Lambretta motorscooter.
A grand tourer (GT) is a type of car that is designed for high speed and long-distance driving due to a combination of performance and luxury attributes. The most common format is a front-engine, rear-wheel-drive two-door coupé with either a two-seat or a 2+2 arrangement. Grand tourers are most often the coupé derivative of luxury saloons or sedans. Many iconic car models, such as the Ferrari 250 GT, Jaguar E-Type, and Aston Martin DB5, are considered classic examples of gran turismo cars.
Zagato is a coachbuilding company. The design center of the company is located in Terrazzano, a village near Rho, Lombardy, Italy.
Vignale is the luxury car sub-brand of Ford Motor Company used in automobiles sold in Europe. The former company Carrozzeria Alfredo Vignale was an Italian automobile coachbuilder established in 1948 at Via Cigliano, Turin, by Alfredo Vignale (1913–69). After its founder's death in 1969, Carrozzeria Vignale was acquired by De Tomaso. The studio ceased operation in 1973, but ownership of the name was taken over by Ford Motor Company.
The Aston Martin DB4 GT Zagato is a grand tourer sports car designed by Zagato and produced between 1960 and 1963. Introduced in October 1960 at the London Motor Show, it was effectively a DB4 GT, lightened and improved by the Zagato factory in Italy, by Ercole Spada. Initially, the factory planned to produce 25 cars, but demand was not as strong as expected and production was reduced to 20.
Carrozzeria Touring Superleggera is an Italian automobile coachbuilder. Originally established in Milan in 1925, Carrozzeria Touring became well known for both the beauty of its designs and patented superleggera construction methods. The business folded in 1966. In 2006 its brands and trademarks were purchased and a new firm was established nearby to provide automotive design, engineering, coachbuilding, homologation services, non-automotive industrial design, and restoration of historic vehicles.
The Lancia Fulvia is a car produced by Lancia between 1963 and 1976. Named after Via Fulvia, the Roman road leading from Tortona to Turin, it was introduced at the Geneva Motor Show in 1963 and manufactured in three variants: Berlina 4-door saloon, 2-door Coupé, and Sport, an alternative fastback coupé designed and built by Zagato on the Coupé floorpan.
The Geneva International Motor Show is an annual auto show held in March in the Swiss city of Geneva.
The Lancia Flavia is an executive car produced by Lancia in Italy from 1961 to 1971. Production continued as the Lancia 2000 from 1971 to 1975.
Pininfarina S.p.A. is an Italian car design firm and coachbuilder, with headquarters in Cambiano, Turin, Italy. The company was founded by Battista "Pinin" Farina in 1930. On 14 December 2015, the Indian multinational giant Mahindra Group acquired 76.06% of Pininfarina S.p.A. for about €168 million.
The Alfa Romeo 105 and 115 series coupés are a range of cars made by the Italian manufacturer Alfa Romeo from 1963 until 1977, based on a shortened floorpan from the Giulia saloon. They were the successors to the Giulietta Sprint coupé.
The Alfa Romeo Giulietta is a family of automobiles made by Italian car manufacturer Alfa Romeo from 1954 until 1965 which included a 2+2 coupé, four-door saloon, estate, spider, Sprint, and Sprint Speciale. The 2+2 was Alfa Romeo's first successful foray into the 1.3-litre class. From 1954 to 1965 a total of 177,690 Giuliettas were made, the great majority in saloon (Berlina), Sprint coupé, or Spider body styles, but also as Sprint Speciale and Sprint Zagato coupés, and the rare Promiscua estate.
I.DE.A Institute was an automobile design and engineering company in Turin, Italy, founded in 1978 by Franco Mantegazza and architect Renzo Piano, with engineer Peter Rice as Vice President.
The Alfa Romeo Giulia TZ was a sports car and racing car manufactured by Alfa Romeo from 1963 to 1967. It replaced the Giulietta SZ. In 2011, the name was reduced from Giulia TZ to TZ in the new TZ3 model.
Meccanica Bessana Toys, was an Italian toy manufacturer that produced die-cast scale model cars during the 1960s and 1970s.
The Turin Motor Show was an auto show held annually in Turin, Italy. The first official show took place between 21 and 24 April 1900, at the Castle of Valentino, becoming a permanent fixture in Turin from 1938 having shared it with Milan and Rome until that time. From 1972, the show was held biannually and in 1984, it moved into Fiat's shuttered Lingotto factory.
Polistil S.p.A. is an Italian toy brand and former manufacturing company headquartered in Milan, with production center in Chiari, near Brescia. Polistil specialized in die-cast and plastic scale model vehicles of all sizes.
Marco Tencone is an Italian automotive and industrial designer, known for his design of Lancia concept cars.
The Milano Monza Open-Air Motor Show (MIMO) is an annual auto show first held in June 2021 in Milan and Monza, Italy.
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
