Chivalrous comparison

Different styles, same goal: for decades pininfarina and Zagato have confronted each other by combining taste and function in car design. A path that led them, once again, to measure themselves on a topical issue: the simulators younger generations driven by eClassic. What are the secrets of their successes, decade after decade? What is today's spirit?

By Duccio Lopresto

Ferrari 166 Panoramica (1949)

The 1940s was the heroic period in which sports coupés raced against racing Barchettas at the Mille Miglia. In 1949, with the introduction of the use of materials used in World War II - such as plexiglass - into the automotive world and the application of the panoramic roof, Ugo Zagato created the first of Zagato's pilot projects for Ferrari: the 166 Coupé Panoramica. The Ferrari 166 Panoramica, commissioned by gentlemen driver Antonio Stagnoli, is considered to be the first Maranello car with a body by Zagato, and a true milestone in the evolution of the Gran Turismo Coupe concept. Zagato’s coupe was built on Ferrari’s 166 MM chassis which was an upgraded version of the 166 S that won the Mille Miglia in 1948. The search for a less cramped passenger compartment and greater interior comfort were the guiding principles of this experiment, which resulted in a vehicle characterized by great luminosity and visibility, obtained through large glass surfaces, a windscreen and curved side windows. A true innovation in automotive design. For these reasons it’s called the 'Panoramica'. In this car, with its remarkable aerodynamic style, the concept of ‘form follows function’ was fully embraced by the Milanese coach-builder. His approach to the design of the bodywork was highly innovative, scrupulously following the principles of lightness and aerodynamics derived from aeronautics, focusing his particular attention on interior comfort and making this highly functional car with its clean lines, lack of protrusions and edges an icon of history.

Cisitalia 202 (1947)

When it comes to stylistic innovations in the automotive field, one cannot fail to mention the Cisitalia 202, a true milestone in Pininfarina style. Post-war Italian design began with this vehicle. The first car in the world to be permanently exhibited in a Modern Art Museum, the MoMA in New York, this Berlinetta was built in small series for Cisitalia at the Stabilimenti Farina in Turin in 1947. This 2-seater Berlinetta is perhaps Pininfarina's most famous post-war car, due to its synthetic and plastic shape, defined in 1951 by Arthur Drexler as "a sculpture in motion". Its shape is the culmination of all previous research: a simple, essential front end, a full-volume roof and a clearly designed rear window. On a tubular chassis, Pinin created a berlinetta with an aluminium body welded to a steel frame. It is a car that heralded a new aesthetic canon in the history of motoring. Revolutionary for the time was the horizontal design of the radiator grille, with the bonnet lower than the mudguards, which incorporated the headlights. A car with pure, smooth, essential lines, with a style that preempted the lines and design that would distinguish the Sixties. Looking at the profile, one immediately notices the set-back cockpit, and above all the coupé shape. The front windscreen is split in two, and is separated from the line of side windows by a very small pillar. The chrome of many elements is picked up by the small round mirrors, the door handles, and the line separating the front and rear windows. The Cisitalia 202 is a masterpiece, a car with a soft, sinuous, very elegant design, typical of the style of Pininfarina with its austere, timeless beauty.

Ferrari 250 GTZ (1956)

Zagato's definitive establishment as a specialist coachbuilder of high performance cars came with the creation of the Gran Turismo sports car category in Milan in 1949. Zagato’s GT cars, built to be elegant but above all fast and agile in racing, were seen more and more often at Concours d’Elegance shows, contributing to the definition of the so-called principle of "necessary beauty", the result of codifying rigorously scientific principles in an aesthetic key. One of the best examples of this idea is the Ferrari 250 GTZ, Zagato’s second pilot project for Ferrari, winner at the most important GT races as well as in the major Concours d’Elegance of the time. This vehicle demonstrates the company’s ability to incorporate beauty in a design — the exquisite rear fender shoulder and the lovely Z-shaped rear roof pillar — without compromising the vehicle’s speed. Zagato designers penned this “double bubble” Berlinetta in 1956 with a roofline that featured raised sections over the seats, an idea Zagato used more than once in its race-car designs to give drivers a little more head room. Like most of the cars created by Zagato, this one was commissioned by a gentleman driver, and it represents a supreme union of prestige and performance, elegance and sportiness. A winning combination, able to combine the world’s most powerful, celebrated engineering, with the most refined, appealing sporty styling, both the product of Italian workmanship. The concept of sporty elegance, a functional design that does not follow the latest fashions but strives to achieve pure performance, and an extremely light aluminium body, are Zagato’s strengths. Today, it is considered one of the most beautiful Ferraris at Concours events like Pebble Beach or Cavallino Classic and is much sought after by collectors of elegant sports cars.

Lancia Florida 2 Door Coupe (1955)

The years of the “Boom Economico” saw Italy as a veritable hotbed of ideas and innovation. For Pininfarina this decade was one of the most fruitful ever. Among the many creations, one car stands out for its impact on the culture and design of all the cars created in the following decades: the Lancia Florida 2 Door Coupe. Undoubtedly Pininfarina's most famous and influential creation on a Lancia Aurelia chassis, this car from its debut caused a sensation with its innovative styling: a global revolution with an influence you can still see today and established Pininfarina as a leading design studio. It is now 50 years old, so its significance may not be fully appreciated today. Yet few design concepts offer such a clear-cut example of a truly new form. With the Florida, Farina abandoned "monolithic" shapes and ushered in a new design principle: body development by symmetrical juxtaposition of curved panels. While older cars were sculpted, as if carved from a block of clay, the Florida was exactly the opposite. It was built like a house of cards, each card pre-formed according to a certain aesthetic concept. The starting point was not a solid object but merely a surface. The Florida was remarkably clean for its time. The major theme was form, with a near-total absence of decoration. Horizontal emphasis was provided by the belt-line, which picked up from the front fenders and stretched into the high rear fenders, blending with the backwards sweep of the C-post. The grille was not new, being merely a variation of the flattened oval that Farina was using on so many Ferraris. The headlamps were housed inside the grille frame, with smaller auxiliary lamps recessed into the front fender tips. In proportions, the Lancia Florida was perfect for its time. The profile was long and sleek, and the rear deck length was sufficient for full visual balance with the hood, thereby giving extra emphasis to the car’s static 50/50 unladen weight distribution.

Alfa Romeo TZ2 (1965)

The Alfa Romeo TZ2 is one of Zagato's most historically relevant creations concerning racing Grand Touring cars. This typology of cars differed greatly from the road-going GTs, which were fully oriented towards a more luxurious purpose. Racing GTs were true racing cars, no longer equipped with little comfort features (like leather seats, fabric upholstery, car radios), but characterized by extremely sophisticated mechanics, the use of lightweight materials, sketchy upholstery, top performance and no concessions to comfort. The idea of creating a fast racing Alfa Romeo car with a tubular chassis was hatched in 1959. Taking an Alfa Romeo SZ Coda Tonda as a prototype base, Zagato introduced a new concept of sports aerodynamics in 1960, inspired by the theories developed in the 1930s by German theorist Wunibald Kamm. Thanks to the car's new design, which featured a more elongated body with a high, truncated tail and a shape greatly reduced the vehicle's air resistance, the new Alfa Romeo SZ Coda Tronca could reach a top speed of 215 km/h (15 km more than the previous 'round' tailed Alfa). The evolution of this SZ was the Giulia TZ (the name stands for Tubolare Zagato), introduced in 1963. The Alfa Romeo Giulia TZ2 arrived in 1965 and replaced the TZ as its most powerful and fastest example: compared to its ancestor it was lower, wider, more aggressive in style and even lighter. Thanks to the bodywork made from fibreglass instead of aluminium, weight dropped even further: from 660 to 620 kg. Zagato’s aim was to build a racing car that was light but rigid, with effective, streamlined aerodynamics and a powerful engine. The tubular chassis helped keep the weight down by guaranteeing the structural rigidity needed for racing. The Alfa SZs and TZs put the Alfa Romeo brand back at the top of the racing world by winning at Le Mans, Sebring, Monza, Targa Florio and even Australia.

Ferrari 250 SWB (1959-1962)

According to a theory of Ferrari evolutionism, the genealogy of the 250 'Berlinetta Competizione' type starts with Pininfarina's 340 Mille Miglia Speciale from 1952, with its peculiar shape that lead to the creation of a precise brand identity and a close and prolific collaboration with the Grugliasco coachbuilder. One of the most famous and representative cars of the close relationship between Pininfarina and Ferrari is undoubtedly the Ferrari 250 Short Wheel Base. Shown for the first time at the Paris Motor Show in October 1959, it perfectly epitomises the idea of a road-legal car capable of winning races. In 1959, the Ferrari SWB took on the challenge of a new design: Pininfarina conceived a shape with barely noticeable rear wheel arches, a rounded tail and a massive front end. The ‘SWB’ (short-wheelbase) designation came from a chassis that was 200mm shorter than the standard 250GT, which was one of the key factors in making the car one of the most successful Ferraris in the history of motorsport. It was an eclectic car, expressed both in the 'Corsa' version with aluminium bodywork and in the 'Lusso' trimmed with steel and leather. Designed with a bodywork that is widely considered Pininfarina’s finest masterpiece (constructed by Scaglietti), the 250GT SWB’s engine was Ferrari’s light and compact Colombo-designed 3.0-litre V12. The Ferrari 250 SWB is a clear example of Pininfarina's design philosophy. It is a car with perfect proportions, with clean and simple but extremely effective aerodynamics: compact, slender, agile and well-proportioned. It has an elegant and pure shape, yet its forms immediately communicate its sporty character.

Alfa Romeo GT Zagato (1972)

The rapid growth of the Western population at the end of the 1960s, the explosion in the size of large urban centres with rising levels of traffic, air and noise pollution, created an aura of discontent around the car. In this turbulent environment, Italian design centres decided to come up with less engaging, subdued forms, so as not to emphasise the emotional side of the car over that of pure function. In this context, the Alfa Romeo Giulia coupé, with its exuberant mechanics, lent itself to various interpretations. In 1969, Zagato introduced their proposal with a decidedly innovative design for the period. Large windows, taut and highly aerodynamic lines, a compact body, light-weight materials and, obviously, a high, truncated tail. This vehicle had all of Zagato’s distinctive elements in its styling. It was first shown to the public in 1969 with the Alfa Romeo Giulia GT Junior Z name, powered by a 1300 cc engine. The Giulia GT Zagato 1.6 (introduced in 1972) differed from the Junior Z in the tapering of the tail done by Arch. Giuseppe Mittino, who succeeded Ercole Spada as Zagato’s Head of Design in 1969. Thanks to this unusual but highly interesting model, Zagato became globally famous for introducing wedge-shaped cars to its range. This particular styling was a derivation of Kamm tail applications on the Giulietta SZ and TZ, which inspired a variety of cars of the time, such as the Alfa Romeo Alfasud Sprint, the Alfetta GTV, but also vehicles produced by Honda in the late ’70s.

Fiat 130 Coupe (1969-1977)

By the end of the 1960s, even Italy's most popular holiday resorts were beginning to be populated by German luxury coupes, which were slowly establishing themselves at the top end of the market. The Fiat group had not yet acquired Lancia (1969), which at the time was the top Italian luxury car brand. The Turin-based company therefore decided to embark on a difficult mission: to win over a refined and demanding public looking for a powerful, comfortable and elegant car. The Fiat 130 Coupé was developed from the 130 saloon and first shown in 1971. Compared to the previous 2300, it offered a tauter and more modern bodywork: its minimal lines marked the transition to a stylistic language marked by horizontality. To define the styling of the new coupé, Fiat sought the support of Pininfarina, which, through the work of Paolo Martin, outlined the modern and refined profile of the 130 Coupé. The Fiat 130 Coupé proposed a new concept of luxury saloon cars: the volumes and profiles, the door and window cuts became squarer and more modern, in a pleasant contrast with the creases that caressed the front and side panels. The headlights and front grille were new and linear: a simple interplay of rectangles that gave the car a darker ‘look’. It is an iconic Pininfarina car and representative of this decade because of its pure and simple forms. It represents Pininfarina's adherence to a stylistic fashion with taut, square forms to which it has never adhered viscerally. In this case, the Turin-based coach-builder managed to do so tastefully, pursuing the search for proportions, using a detached approach and timeless style.

Alfa Romeo SZ (1989)

The late 1980s was a renaissance phase for Zagato. The presentation of the ES30 prototype, developed for Alfa Romeo, led to the company's transformation within a few years. Its production model, the Alfa Romeo S.Z., introduced in 1989, was a truly revolutionary car, mainly for two reasons. It was the first car in the world designed with CAD and it was characterized by great innovation in terms of the materials used (aluminium for the roof, carbon fibre for the rear wing and MODAR for the bodywork and a thermosetting methacrylic resin). New technology also played a crucial part in this transformation phase, with an ever-increasing use of computers, including for design. So when Alfa Romeo - which had become part of the Fiat Group - wanted to extend its range with a sports coupé at the end of the 1980s, Zagato was proposed as one of the candidates to design it. The novelty lies mostly in the design methods and construction of the prototype: the computer was linked to a precision milling machine that pro-duced a 1:5 scale polystyrene model, from which a full-size resin successor was created. The design of the Alfa Romeo S.Z. (Sprint Zagato) is decidedly original and modern. It perfectly expresses the DNA of the Milanese coach-builder: a low, compact vehicle with taut, aerodynamic lines and an obvious sporty feel. More than a coupé, the car is a roadster a steel body with thermosetting methacrylic resin and fibreglass panels glued onto it. Its mechanical parts are the Alfa 75 with a 3000 cc V6 engine. Its performance was so exciting that Andrea Zagato created a one-marque trophy on the track with the season finale in Monte Carlo two hours before the start of the F1 GP.

Ferrari Testarossa (1989)

Created to replace the 512 BB, the Testarossa was Ferrari's first top-of-the-range model to use a name rather than an acronym. The name, however, was already well established in the history of the Prancing Horse: it was first used in 1957 for the 250 Testa Rossa - written like this, detached - to indicate the fact that the engine heads were painted red. Once again, the design of the Maranello car was entrusted to Pininfarina, which designed an innovative vehicle of great visual impact, with highly pronounced side air intakes and larger overall dimensions compared to the previous model. The evolved 12-cylinder boxer engine now had four valves per cylinder and was, at the time, the most powerful engine installed in a production sports car. This car is highly representative of the 1980s decade. Pininfarina had the intuition to enhance the car's technical characteristics rather than ‘camouflage' them. The side is a perfect example of this approach: the very conspicuous grilles that characterise it are almost a tribute to the radiators positioned on the sides of the passenger door, in front of the rear wheels. A peculiarity of the Testarossa is its shape: the rear track is much wider than the front because it has to leave room for the engine, which, because of its 180° V, has a massive lateral bulk. It is a symbol of the re-appropriation of excesses, of a positive drive towards the future, of the desire to emerge from a decade like the 1970s which, in Italy, which was a particularly grey and difficult one. It can be considered a true manifesto of the 1980s, an iconic car that is unique in its baroque and 'flamboyant' style. It is a car that was not very representa-tive of Pininfarina's style, which was usually simple, clean and elegant. Here, however, the Turin-based company adopted a very flashy, eccentric and striking design.

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2021

ELIO Z

Lightness, essentiality and aerodynamics: these are the cornerstones of Zagato’s design heritage, something that over many years the Milanese coachbuilder has been able to transfer from the world of aviation to the automotive one. Thanks to these qualities, the cars designed by Zagato immediately imposed themselves in the most important races of the time. Reducing volumes and weight and the constant elimination of unnecessary stylistic frills, as well as the study of airflows, were and still are the basis of Zagato's design philosophy. The simulator designed by Zagato for TCCT - called Elio Z after Elio Zagato, the son of the founder and multiple-winner in the GT category - reflects these essential directives. Zagato's SIM features an aluminium substructure inspired by the aeronautical and automotive cages on which the bodywork rested, a concept that made Zagato models lighter and faster than their rivals and therefore more successful, and an idea that also recalls the wireframes of modern CAD design techniques of which Zagato was a pioneer in the 1980s. Elio Z therefore has a deliberately reduced number of body panels that reveals its secret for lightness and the best torsion figures, and emphasises the concept of "Essential Beauty", the design by subtraction approach that has always been one of the original characteristics of the Atelier. Another distinctive sign that is typical of the Milanese company is the truncated tail, inspired by the legendary Alfa Romeo SZ and TZ, Zagato style icons of the 1960s.

1970s 1980s Today

2021

SPORTIVA

Pininfarina's design philosophy comes from its Founder, Battista Pinin Farina. His work has always nurtured a thoughtful approach towards projects, in which aesthetic choices are filtered through technical reasoning. The search for the right balance between emotion and reason, together with the constant pursuit of beauty and elegance, are the pillars of his working philosophy. Another secret of Pininfarina's creations is the pursuit of the perfect balance between character and harmony, something that attracts interest and provokes pleasure simultaneously in a refined and balanced manner. These few traits are enough to understand why Pininfarina is the embodiment of Italian design. Cars designed by the Turin-based company, from the magnificent pre-war Lancia Astura to the sporty Ferraris of the 1990s, have always been a manifesto of timeless Italian style, a powerful combination of elegance and sobriety. The style of the "Sportiva" driving simulator, designed by Pininfarina exclusively for TCCT, is yet another confirmation of this philosophy and is clearly inspired by the legendary Cisitalia 202, the first car in the world to be permanently exhibited in the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York. Starting from its elegant and timeless shape that earned it the nickname of a "sculpture in motion", Pininfarina has created a new sculpture, this time a "static" one that can drive and race thanks to digital technology. The design of the simulator is elegant but sporty at the same time, just like the Cisitalia 202.