Zagato Tour de France

1957 Ferrari 250 GT LWB Berlinetta Tour de France by Zagato

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Monterey, California | August 2023

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

Well here is a big-boy Ferrari. So big in fact that RM will not even run it across their block in Monterey this year. Instead they are going to the “Sotheby’s Sealed” format, which, I guess, just takes the fun out of watching people bid.

The long-wheelbase 250 GT started out with the 250 Europa, and the “Long Wheelbase Berlinetta” debuted in 1956 and acquired the nickname “Tour de France” after the cars competed in the 10-day Tour de France race. Just 77 were built through 1959, most of which were bodied by Scaglietti based on a Pinin Farina design.

But five of them escaped off to Zagato, and this car is the third of those. It has the signature double-bubble Zagato roof and is the only such example with covered headlights. It also has a 3.0-liter Colombo V12 that made somewhere around 250 horsepower. This car has period competition history, too, including:

  • 1957 Mille Miglia – 6th (with Camillo Luglio and Umberto Carli)

It was restored in the early 2000s and has been with its current owner since 1999. It’s been shown at Pebble Beach three times since, winning its class in 2009. You can read more about it here.

Update: Withdrawn.

Giulietta SVZ

1957 Alfa Romeo Giulietta Sprint Veloce Zagato

Offered by Mecum | Monterey, California | August 17-19, 2023

Photo – Mecum

The Tipo 750 and 101 Giulietta was produced by Alfa Romeo between 1954 and 1965. The Giulietta SZ was a Zagato-bodied competition car, and later Zagato rebodied a Sprint Veloce (while the SZ was just based on the Sprint). The Sprint Veloce Zagato (SVZ) appeared in late 1956.

Just 18 would end up being produced, all powered by a 1.3-liter inline-four that was rated at around 116 horsepower. This car was originally sold in Italy, and the first owner wanted a double-bubble Zagato body, which Zagato went ahead and built for him.

The aluminum coachwork on this car is said to be the only SVZ re-bodied in this fashion. It’s eligible for historic runs of the Mille Miglia and has an estimate of $150,000-$250,000. Click here for more info.

Update: Sold $115,500.

Alfa 1900C SSZ

1955 Alfa Romeo 1900C SSZ by Zagato

Offered by Gooding & Company | Amelia Island, Florida | March 2-3, 2023

Photo – Gooding & Company

Alfa Romeo’s 1900 model was built between 1950 and 1959. Berlina sedans, Sprint coupes, and coachbuilt cabriolets were all available. So were a slew of other sub-models, including this, the “SSZ.”

Power here is from a 2.0-liter DOHC inline-four fitted with twin Solex carburetors for a rated output of 115 horsepower. This 1900C (C for “Corto” – denoting a short wheelbase) was bodied by Zagato in SSZ form. Just 39 such examples were completed, with all but 10 of those known to exist.

This car competed in two Mille Miglias: 1955 and 1956. It was most recently restored in 2017 and has since been shown at Pebble Beach. It now has an estimate of $1,500,000-$2,000,000. Click here for more info.

Update: Sold $1,545,000.

Zagato Milanina

1972 Zagato Milanina

Offered by Finarte | Online | November 14, 2022

Photo – Finarte

This is an intriguing one. Zagato has dabbled in microcar design over the years, including with the Zele, which they made about 500 of in the mid-1970s. The weird part here is that the auction catalog lists this as a 1989.

But it sure doesn’t look very 1989. Zagato actually debuted the Milanina concept car at the Milan International Fair in 1972. It is unclear how many were built aside from the prototype. They certainly weren’t still making them in 1989.

It’s an electric car reminiscent of the later Ligier JS4. It’s a mystery, but an interesting one. The estimate is $15,000-$20,000. Click here for more info.

Update: Not sold.

Autech Gavia Zagato

1995 Autech Gavia Zagato Coupe

Offered by Bonhams | Beaulieu, U.K. | September 10, 2022

Photo – Bonhams

The Autech Zagato Stelvio, which was based on an Infiniti M30, was produced in very limited numbers with just 104 built. And yet, it is relatively well known compared to this, the Stelvio’s successor, the Zagato-styled Gavia.

Autech was a tuning subsidiary of Nissan from 1986 to 2022, when it was merged with Nismo. The Gavia project started in 1993 and again was based on the Nissan Leopard, aka the Infiniti M30. Under the hood was the turbocharged 3.0-liter V6 from the 300ZX. Output was rated at 280 horsepower.

The car features the signature Zagato double-bubble roof. It only has Zagato badging on it, and this one was sold new in Japan. It is one of just 16 built. The pre-sale estimate is $35,000-$58,000. Click here for more info.

Update: Sold $39,670.

356 Carrera Zagato Speedster

1960 Porsche 356 Carrera Zagato Speedster

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Amelia Island, Florida | March 5, 2022

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

Philosophical question: if a car is produced by a manufacturer and later sent to a coachbuilder, what is the maximum length of time between those two acts to where the car is still considered what it is claimed to be? Most would agree that an Aston Martin DB4 tweaked by Bertone a few months after it was built is just fine.

But what if you take a 1960 Porsche 356B and send it to Zagato in 2016 for a new body? Is it still a coachbuilt 1960 356? That’s what we have here. There was a Porsche-Zagato Speedster raced in 1958 and 1959. That car no longer exists. In the 2010s, an American collector persuaded Zagato to recreate that Speedster. There was also a coupe version produced. In all 18 were built, and only one of the Speedsters ended up with a 1.6-liter Carrera flat-four.

This car, which is a real, Zagato-bodied 356 (though it just so happened it was bodied in 2016), carries an estimate of $450,000-$550,000. Click here for more info.

Update: Sold $472,500.

Bandini Veloce Zagato

1955 Bandini 750 GT Veloce Zagato

Offered by Artcurial | Paris, France | March 18, 2022

Photo – Artcurial

Here’s another Bandini, one that seems somehow even smaller than the others. The 750 GT was not a model that ever entered “production” by Bandini and was instead a one-off. It features aluminum Zagato coachwork over a elliptical tube chassis that supposedly only weighs about 60 pounds.

Power is from a twin-cam 750cc inline-four rated at 67 horsepower when new. The car made its way to the U.S. by 1959, when it started upon a sports car racing career that included:

  • 1960 12 Hours of Sebring – DNF (with Victor Lukens)

There were a few class victories sprinkled in during the 1960 season as well. The car was purchased by Ilario Bandini’s nephew in 1998, returned to Italy, and restored. It’s now offered from his collection with an estimate of $450,000-$700,000. Click here for more info.

Update: Not sold.

Iso Rivolta GTZ

2021 Iso Rivolta GTZ

Offered by Mecum | Kissimmee, Florida | January 6-16, 2022

Photo – Mecum

Iso is a name that goes back to some pretty sleek sports cars (or proto-supercars) of the 1960s and 1970s. They also produced what I’ve always considered to be Italian muscle cars, in addition to the original Isetta. The brand was revived in 2017 in collaboration with Zagato to introduce a Vision Gran Turismo prototype.

That led to a project dubbed the GT Zagato, or GTZ. The Rivolta family is still behind the cars, which are designed and built by Zagato. It’s based on a C7 Corvette Z06, but has a completely unique carbon-fiber body and shares no exterior bits with the Corvette, glass included. The supercharged 6.2-liter Z06 V8 makes 660 horsepower, enough to propel this very A3/C-esque design to 185 mph.

These are technically still in production, I guess, and in the last year they’ve built 19 of them. This is apparently the only one imported and registered in the U.S. Click here for more info and here for more from Mecum.

Update: Not sold, high bid of $700,000.

Alfa 2600 SZ

1966 Alfa Romeo 2600 SZ

Offered by Aguttes | Neuilly, France | December 12, 2021

Photo – Aguttes

Alfa Romeo’s 2600 is one of their best-looking cars, especially the Touring-bodied Spider and Bertone-styled Sprint. The 2600 was sold between 1962 and 1968, with body styles including coupes, convertibles, and sedans.

What we have here is the very rare Sprint Zagato. It honestly looks like someone grafted the front end of an alternate-reality 1990s Alfa Romeo onto a 1960s coupe body. But it’s not, it’s an original period Zagato creation. The engine is the same as other 2600s: a 2.6-liter twin-cam inline-six that was rated at 165 horsepower in SZ form with triple Solex carburetors. Top speed was 134 mph, thanks in part to the increased aerodynamics of that redesigned front end.

Only 105 examples of the SZ were ever produced, and this one has known ownership history since new. It was restored in 1992, and it is expected to fetch between $115,000-$170,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $125,846.

Flavia Sport Zagato

1965 Lancia Flavia 1800 Sport Zagato

Offered by Bonhams | Online | November 19-29, 2021

Offered by Bonhams

Lancia, once one of the world’s foremost manufacturers of interesting cars, is now reduced to a single hatchback. The Flavia was introduced in 1961 and was offered in sedan, coupe, and cabriolet form at different times throughout its production run, which wrapped in 1971, at which time the model transitioned to the 2000.

For 1963, Lancia upped the Flavia’s engine from 1.5 to 1.8 liters. The flat-four was mounted way out ahead of the front axle and produced 104 horsepower in the dual-carburetor Sport model. Alloy bodywork here is by Zagato, and this car is one of just 670 bodied by the firm.

A restoration was carried out on this car in the Netherlands in the 2000s, and it’s been in France since 2006. The pre-sale estimate is $57,000-$69,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Entire auction disappeared from Bonhams’ website.