Ugo Zagato

Ugo Zagato
Born(1890-06-25)June 25, 1890
Gavello, Kingdom of Italy
DiedOctober 31, 1968(1968-10-31) (aged 78)
Gavello, Italy
NationalityItalian
OccupationAutomobile designer
Known forFounder of Zagato
Ugo and Elio Zagato pictured with Fiat and Isotta Fraschini automobiles (1947/8)
Ugo and his son Gianni in the 1960s
Palazzo Grimani, Ugo Zagato plaque (Gavello)

Ugo Zagato (25 June 1890, in Gavello – 31 October 1968) was an Italian automobile designer, known for establishing and running the Zagato coachbuilder, famous for its lightweight designs.

He had five brothers and lost his father (1905), forcing him to emigrate to Germany and metalworks employment in Köln (1905). He returned to serve in the military (1909) and joined car coachbuilder Carrozzeria Varesina in Varese, while studying at the Santa Maria design school.[1] During World War I he moved to Torino and joined the Pomilio aircraft manufacturer, learning lightweight body construction (1915–1919). He established Carrozzeria Ugo Zagato & Co., a workshop in Milan (1919), where he built close ties with Alfa Romeo.[2] His workshop was destroyed and rebuilt as La Zagato outside Milan after World War II, joined in 1946 by his sons Elio Zagato (1921–2009), and Gianni Zagato (1929–2020). Ugo's sons continued operations after his death in 1968.[3]

  1. ^ from his biography Archived 2007-09-29 at the Wayback Machine in the Zagato Owners club yearbook (1985)
  2. ^ "Alfa Romeo designers". Hem.passagen.se. Archived from the original on 2000-10-18. Retrieved 2011-04-24.
  3. ^ "history of zagato". Zagatocarclub.it. Archived from the original on 2011-07-22. Retrieved 2011-04-24.