Ercole Spada, born July 26, 1939, and passed away August 3, 2025 at the age of 88; has been one of the great designers of the automobile world, and I certainly have loved his designs over the years I've been exposed to the world of premium cars and gorgeous classic designs. Lets go over some of the most notable cars he has designed over the years.
Early in his life, Spada graduated from Istituto Tecnico Feltrinelli in 1956; and after joining the military for a few years, he joined Zagato in 1960. His first ever design is also his most influential: the Aston Martin DB4 GT Zagato. Though it wasn't too hot when it first debuted, the planned production of 25 cars decreased to 19; and now in the future, its rarity has made it extremely valued by prestige classic car collectors and the last one that sold in a 2021 RM Sotheby's for $2.755m USD.
While working at Zagato, Spada also designed the Mazda MX-3 (an interesting spiritual successor to the Alfa Rome Giulia TZ) with a similar rear silhouette design.
He also designed the Alfa Romeo Junior Z and the Lancia Fulvia Sport, both considered cult classic among Italian car enthusiasts.
After leaving Zagato, Spada moved onto working for Ghia under Ford and this was where he designed the ultra rare Ford GT70; essentially a smaller scale GT40 made for rally to compete against the likes of the Porsche 911 and Alpine A110. The concept car was more angled and was definitely more "Italian" in design language, with a flat rear deck lid and flying buttresses. The production car was a lot more 'Ford GT'.
Spada then moved onto designing cars for Audi and BMW. While there he was responsible for the designs of the E32 7-Series and E34 5-Series cars.
In 1983, Spada worked for I.D.E.A. Institute, which was a rival company to ItalDesign with another legendary designer, Giorgetto Giugiaro. At I.D.E.A., he designed some pretty normal hot hatches and basic sedans like the Fiat Tempra and Lancia Kappa. But he did design the Alfa Romeo 155 and also the Daihatsu Move.
In 1992, Spada returned to Zagato where he designed the 512 TR-based FZ93 and the OSCA 2500 GT Dromos.
After Zagato, Ercole designed his own car: the 2008 Spada Codatronca. The car is powered by a 7.0 Liter LS7 Chevrolet V8 mated to a 6-speed manual. Its chassis is also built on a Chevrolet Corvette (C6). The power was increased to 630 hp and the torque to 668 Nm. This, combined with an all carbon-fiber bodywork, lightening the vehicle to 1,360 kg. The Spada Codatronca's nomenclature means "cut-tail", and one can see this in its design, which was based on the Alfa Romeo TZ. Only about 20 Codatronca TS cars were built. In 2011, Spada then created a convertible version called the Codatronca Monza with a supercharger, bumping the performance to 710 hp and 950 Nm of torque.
To the legend that is Ercole Spada, Riposa in Pace...
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