Elio Zagato (27 February 1921 – 14 September 2009) was an Italian automobile designer and son of Ugo Zagato.

Like his brother Gianni Zagato (born 1929), Elio Zagato joined father Ugo Zagato's design firm Zagato in Milan and, upon the father's death in 1968, took over its management.

He also raced cars and was one of the founders of Scuderia Ambrosiana of Milan. Races he won include Targa Florio and five GT series, as well as Coppa Inter-Europa, the Dolomites Gold Cup Race and the Berlin Avus Cup in 1955.

His son Andrea Zagato is as of 2009 in charge of the family business, jointly with his wife Marella Rivolta-Zagato, daughter to Piero Rivolta of the carmaker Iso Automoveicoli S.p.A..

His autobiography Storie di corse e non solo was published in 2002.

Son of Ugo Zagato, founder of the famous Milanese Atelier, renowned in the whole world since 1919 for its custom made car bodies- Elio was a figure of great importance in the history of global automotive design and in the Gran Turismo race scene of the post-war era.

Entrepreneur, racer and gentleman driver, he competed for the first time in Piacenza in 1947, driving a Fiat which had just been re-bodied as a graduation gift from his father.

From that point onwards he never stopped developing his beloved Gran Turismos, working on them during the week and then testing them during the weekends.

He was amongst the founders of the Milanese Scuderia Sant Ambroeus. He embodied with perfection the style, elegance, and competitive spirit of the Italian gentleman driver of the "Dolce Vita" era.

In the early 1950s he started developing the world's most desired berlinette GTs. Amongst all of them we fondly remember the Fiat 8V Zagato, which he claimed to be his favourite, the Alfa Romeo 1900 SSZ which was often his rival in various races, the legendary Ferrari 250 GTZs, Maserati A6G, Aston Martin DB4 GTZ and many more.

He took part in the golden age of competitions raced with vests and helmets with famous characters such as Ascari, Fangio, Galluzzi, Nuvolari, Stagnoli, and others. Enzo Ferrari called him "Zagatino".

Together with his friend Ercole Spada he developed the legendary Alfa Romeo SZ, TZ and TZ2s followed by the elegant Lancia Sports based on Appia, Flavia, Flaminia, and Fulvia chassis.

A constant innovator, together with his father Ugo he invented the celebrated double bubble, signature mark of the Milanese brand, the "Coda Tronca", windows made out of plexiglas and countless other solutions still used on modern vehicles today.
Elio participated in 150 automotive races, winning 82 of them and becoming champion of the GT series a remarkable 5 times. He was victorious in the Targa Florio, eight Coppa Intereuropas, won three first places in the Golden Cup of the Dolomites, and came in first at the Avus circuit in Berlin in 1955.

Promoter of the Milanese concept of minimalism oriented towards functionalist design, Elio defined his Zagatos first and foremost as "original". Whoever asked him to synthesize the design spirit of his car bodies, he would reply to them "You see that car? Is it different from all the others? Then it's a Zagato".

Credit: Zagato Car club