ZAGATO MASERATI MOSTRO

ICONIC NOT NOSTALGIC

Text: Beat Imwinkelried

Stirling Moss, Harry Schell, Le Mans 24 Hours, 1957

The Zagato design studio has been designing cars for well over 100 years. That the company has remained family-owned is anything but self-evident. Competitors such as Bertone, Ital Design and Pinninfarina were either acquired by corporations or pushed out by the in-house design departments of major manufacturers. In my LinkedIn article, I outlined the company’s history in greater detail.

This article takes a closer look at the Zagato Maserati Mostro, a particularly beautiful model.

The Mostro was unveiled in 2015 at the Villa d'Este Concours d'Elegance as part of Maserati’s 100th anniversary celebrations. In its technical aspects, the Mostro is based on Maserati’s Gran Turismo. Over its core, Zagato has placed a carbon fibre body, which is based on the Maserati 450S.

The coachwork was likewise designed by Zagato in 1957 in collaboration with renowned British aerodynamics expert, Frank Costin, and was at the time commissioned by Sir Stirling Moss, who planned to enter it for 24 Hours of Le Mans. Until the 1990s, the Mostro was considered one of the most powerful front-engine racing cars. The car evokes the glorious era of Maserati, when the Modena-based manufacturer shook up the racing world with drivers of the likes of Moss and Fangio. A total of five Mostro models were produced, designed primarily for the race track. Naturally, all of them sold immediately. The press reported prices in the region of one million euros. One of these five cars surfaced in an auction at Bonhams Paris, in 2020.

That the Mostro has its origins in racing becomes immediately apparent when viewing the inside of the car. The interior is austere, and looks truly exotic in a world in which cars are fast becoming driving multi-media experiences with built-in tablets and huge displays. With the Mostro, the experience of driving takes centre stage.

With the Mostro, Zagato demonstrates how old and new combine in the automotive world, and never feels like a copy of the legendary 450S. Instead, it represents a reinterpretation of classic forms. Zagato itself aptly refers to the Mostro as “iconic” as opposed to “nostalgic.”

For my part, I only hope that Zagato continues to manufacture such small-series anachronisms for quite some time to come. They make for an altogether refreshing change at a time when, especially hypercars, vehicles are converging more and more. Thus, I eagerly await the next design from the house of Zagato.