Beschreibung:

Carrozzeria Zagato was founded in 1920 by Ugo Zagato, in Milan. Born in 1890, Zagato apprenticed to a German coachbuilder at the age of 15. Returning to his native Italy in 1909, he joined Carrozzeria Varesina. During World War I he was a manager for an aeronautical company in Turin, gaining a good grasp of aerodynamics and lightweight construction. After the ear, he moved to Milan and went into partnership with Aldo Finzi. The first Zagato bodies were built in aluminum in 1920 on Fiat 501 chassis. Very soon Zagato added Alfa Romeo as a customer, while also building bodies on Bianchi, Diatto and Itala chassis, as well as producing aircraft parts for Pomilio, for whom he had worked during the war. Forced to diversify during the 1930s, Zagato took on the building of truck cabs for Isotta-Fraschini, a job that kept him busy until Allied bombs laid waste to his workshops in 1943. A new plant in 1946, however, put the firm back in business and Ugo's son Elio joined the company. Zagato had much experience with Fiat, having built a 750 GT coupe on the Fiat 500 chassis from 1952. A sports spider in 1953 had a tubular frame and power trains from either the Fiat 1100 or 1400. Commissions from Alfa Romeo and Ferrari followed in short order. From 1955, Zagato took on the production of coupe bodies for Carlo Abarth's new Fiat-based 750. The Abarth 750 was based on the Fiat 600, its 633 cc engine enlarged to 747 cc, which nearly doubled the horsepower. With Allemano building bodies for the spider version of his car, as evidenced by the previous lot, Abarth turned to Zagato for a coupe. The coachbuilder's sketches for the body had a roof so low that there was scant headroom for a person of normal stature, so twin bulges were put into the contour. The result was immediately nicknamed "Double Bubble," after a well-known brand of American chewing gum. For many years, the collection's Abarth Zagato was owned by enthusiast of all things Italian, noted journalist and founder of the popular website Veloce Today, Peter Vack. Its history was recorded by him in recent times in an article on that website by going to the following link www.velocetoday.com/archives/3543 . In this he charts his acquisition of the car in 1984, from Abarth collector Mike Blumberg who in turn had purchased it from Warren Clarke of Atlanta, GA, both believe the car to have been raced prior to this and never road registered. By the time Vack bought the 750, it had had its bodywork, chassis and engine restored and was in need of completion. He continued the rebuild, and tells an amusing tale of being pulled over by the cops while out one day testing its motor without its mufflers yet fitted! But with a number of other projects on the go Vack also abandoned the project at which point it was purchased by the current owners. At this time its engine was a standard 600d unit, but with the car was a properly machined 600 block with Abarth crank, camshaft, carburetor, Nardi intake manifold, mondial pistons and numerous other spare parts. Fixated on performance, speed and accuracy of detail, the little 750 had finally found its perfect home, and it wasn't long before the car was back together, now with a fresh repaint in silver, with a correct interior fitted and a correct 'hot' Abarth specification motor installed. In successive ownerships it had been felt that the car was such a good basis, that it had the potential to be restored to the best of its model. This was a dream that was realized in this ownership, and is endorsed by the fact that restorers frequently contact the owners for advice when restoring other cars as a reference. Every detail has been sourced to be correct, including the Borrani 12 inch wheels (an available option for US cars) which retain correct original spinner hubcaps. Returning to the road in 1995, the Zagato has since been the most publicly campaigned car in this whole group. It completed the Liege-Rome-Liege that same year coming home an impressive 3rd in c