From the Lambda Sport Zagato and the Artena Spider to the Beta Sport Zagato and Hyena, the new Ypsilon Sport follows the latest in a long line of collaborations between Lancia and Zagato.

Lambda Zagato

The Lambda Zagato achieves a perfect balance between the elegance typical of the carmaker from Turin and the sportiness of the coachbuilder from Milan.

The front and rear wings are clearly inspired by aeronautics, and underline Zagato’s interest in aerodynamics and performance, achieved by innovative shapes and the use of light materials. The low, flowing doors give the bodywork extremely sporty styling, and they also played a part in lowering the overall weight, while guaranteeing excellent lateral visibility for the driver. The car was capable of excellent performance set off by its elegant, refined look, and it laid the foundations for a long-standing collaboration between Lancia and Zagato, which produced the “Sport” versions of several Lancia models.

Artena Spider

In 1928, the Artena received the Zagato treatment and became a convertible. The Milan coachbuilder shortened the car’s wheelbase and invented a two-door body with a folding hood. The chassis was stiffened to compensate for the absence of the hard-top roof, and the car maintained the elegance of the original Lancia design, in spite of the fact that it was more aggressive than the original saloon. The Zagato-Lancia Spider partnership was repeated with the open-roofed version of the Fulvia Sport in 1966 and the Beta of 1980.

Aprilia Sport Aerodinamica

Lancia’s revolutionary saloon even turned heads at car races thanks to the very sporty versions created by Zagato.  Starting in 1937, Zagato outfitted a number of Aprilia Sports, each one of which was different. They included the two-seater convertible in which Luigi Villoresi won the under 1500 cc Sport Class at the 1938 Mille Miglia.

Immediately afterwards, Zagato built the last version of the Aprilia Sport, known as the “Aerodinamica”, because of its long, streamlined shape. Performance was even better than on the previous versions, thanks to the light body, the long, low tail and clean aerodynamics that extended all the way to the fairing of the rear wheels. The “upside-down wing” shape was yet another example of the aeronautical approach of its creator, Ugo Zagato.

Like many cars with bodies by Zagato, the shape was not borrowed from another car but designed to make the car competitive and agile on the racetrack, without any compromise or overstatement.

Ardea Panoramica

Zagato amazed people once again in 1949 with the “Panoramica” version of the Ardea. As usual, the engine and all the mechanical components of the original version were retained. The bodywork was part of the “Panoramica” series, which reflected a revolution by Zagato in terms of roominess, visibility and comfort even on sports cars. The form was as innovative as the materials used: all the glazed surfaces were in plexiglas, which was lighter, safer and more easily shaped than glass. The driver had better control over the road, and could monitor traffic lights better even from the head of the queue.

Zagato often adopted plexiglas on his cars, and on Lancia Sport cars in particular he used it for the fairing of the headlamps and the side windows.

Aurelia B 20 Sport GTZ

Zagato was commissioned to produce three new interpretations of the Lancia B 20 from 1955.

They were used primarily for racing and it was not difficult for Zagato to render the already fast Lancia coupé even more competitive, by “dressing” it entirely in aluminium. The shape was also new, even more aerodynamic and aggressive. Efforts to reduce weight and drag were concentrated on all components, even the door handles which were incorporated into the bodywork.

Another of Zagato’s inventions was applied on this car, the plexiglas flap-deflector, which allowed the driver to open the window and let some air in without being bothered by rain or internal turbulence.

Appia Sport

In 1960, the Lancia Appia family, which already included the “Cammello” prototype and the “GTE”, was enlarged by the addition of the new “Sport”. From 1957 to 1960, these models won the Italian Championship four times in a row.

In spite of its small engine and the modest performance of the standard saloon that it was derived from, the small Appia Sport Zagato enjoyed remarkable success in the races that it competed in.

The two bumps on the roof, which had made it possible to recover a few centimetres in height inside the car while keeping the mid-vehicle section of the roof low, now disappeared thanks to the new line of the bodywork. The car’s compact dimensions meant that it was stable and handled well, both on the road and on the racetrack. The headlights were faired on some models, with Plexiglas lids which made the front of the car even more streamlined.

Flaminia Sport

Lancia launched the Flaminia Sport Zagato in 1959. This imposing car was offered with a 2500 or a 2800 engine. The first series featured headlamps with lids, which were replaced by completely external headlights on the 3C version which appeared in 1961. With the 2800 engine, the air inlet on the bonnet was also modified to accommodate three Weber twin choke carburettors. The bodywork colours developed specially for the car, particularly the grey, silver and Lancia blue, gave it a particularly elegant look. A total of 376 Sport, Sport 3C and Sport 3C 2800 versions would be built.

Flaminia Super Sport

The last version of the Flaminia Zagato was known as the Super Sport, and went into production in 1964. As a whole, the car had a sleeker, more flowing line than the previous model.
 

The structure of the front headlights and their surrounds changed radically and came to be a symbol of the refined beauty of this Lancia Zagato.

The front windscreen was sweeping and luminous, the result of experimentation carried out on the Panoramica series, that was appropriately adapted to the Flaminia.

One of the 150 cars produced was chosen by actor Marcello Mastroianni for his personal use. It was blue, and had foglights mounted on the front bumpers.

Flavia Sport

In 1962 Zagato provoked and amazed the market with the Flavia Sport, a car that was different from any other, Zagatos included.

It had revolutionary rear windows which bent and opened onto the roof to make more room for rear seat passengers. The car also offered sunshades for the rear seats. The headlights were new, with double optical units, and the “V” shape of the front grille was also new, like the curving windscreen pillars.

726 were built, enough to guarantee the success of the model for the clientele it targeted. It was described as an “impressionist” car, because of the numerous new solutions and originality it embodied.

Flavia Super Sport

This car was developed in 1967 but never got beyond the prototype stage, representing one of Zagato’s unrealised masterpieces. The highly innovative, futuristic form was decades ahead of solutions adopted on the cars that followed it.

It was a compact, well-proportioned car that would have been a great success. As he did for many other models, Elio Zagato took personal responsibility for the car’s development, driving it and trying it out on the test track next to young Ercole Spada.

The refinement of the styling, for both exterior and interior, and for the wheels too, was total.

Fulvia Sport

The Lancia Fulvia Sport appeared in 1965. The three-box body of the Coupé version became two-box on the Sport. It had an unusual, aggressive, stylish line at the front and in the shape of the whole body.

The Fulvia Sport was the first car in the world with a rear tailgate, which could even be opened a few centimetres by an electric control on the dashboard. The 1200 version was followed by the 1300, the 1300 S second series and finally the 1600 HF, which had bumper guards on the front and rear bumpers, head restraints, electric windows and a black anti-glare strip on the front bonnet.

The Fulvia Sport represented the start of semi-industrial production by Zagato, but also provided an inexhaustible number of important racing victories, such as the Daytona 24-Hours.

The Fulvia Sport Spider

In 1968 the Fulvia Sport gave birth to the Spider. There were changes to the wheelbase, which became shorter, the design of the seats, the steering wheel and the interior (in which red predominated). The design of the tail end was also new, being lower and more streamlined.

The front headlights were covered by Plexiglas fairing, as they were on the VIP versions of the Sport. Only two prototypes were built, and they were both painted Salmon Pink.

Beta Sport Spider

In 1975, Lancia commissioned Zagato to produce the Beta Spider.

This extremely attractive car had two mobile parts: the “targa” roof positioned between the front and rear pillars, and a small soft-top that folded away behind the driver. The Beta Spider was a great success on the American market, equipped with all the features required by that market, and it was also available with black paintwork with a delicate gold profile.

The 1980 “Face Lifting” version, prepared for the South African market, was available with a special white-yellow colour scheme, including the wheels.

Beta Sport Zagato

This was another car that never went beyond the prototype stage, but would have appealed to many.

Zagato set out to make the small Lancia coupé more aggressive, modifying the wheelarches, the sideskirts, the front and rear bumpers and the wheels.

In other words, an aerodynamic kit designed to optimise and boost the performance of the Lancia Beta coupé, which remained a stylistic, functional proposal for the Milan coachbuilder.

Delta Sport (Hyena) 

This extremely sporty Zagato model was created in 1993 on the chassis of the Lancia Delta Integrale. It recalled the exploits of the sports cars of the past with modern technology that dominated the rally scene with the highly successful HF Evoluzione. The car was developed using innovative CAD design, numerical control milling and new light materials, including carbon for the facia. The two bumps and round tail borrowed from the Fulvia Sport immediately identified the styling as Zagato’s work.

Inspired by a crouching hyena ready to leap, this car aroused emotion and passion and evoked the glory of Lancia Zagato coupés of the past.