Other ways of looking at things: Ercole Spada's Zagato Alfa

I read recently that Ercole Spada, the highly original chief designer at Zagato, was not a great admirer of the Bertone Alfa Romeo Guilia coupe, describing it as 'Baroque'. I use that term myself when I wish to describe something a little overloaded with gestural elements, remembering that the old art historical term for the art of the period was Mannerism. So what was Spada looking at in the Guilia? And how did he handle designing a car on the same platform at the end of the 1960s?

The Alfa Romeo Junior Zagato was introduced in 1969 and now appears a much more modern design than the Bertone Guilia coupe even though it is only six years distant from the earlier car. The Guilia was derived from the bigger 2000 coupe which was launched in 1960. Its development is rooted in ideas about automotive form from the previous decade. The 2000 coupe stood on narrow wheels carried deep inside the wheel openings and the whole car tapered towards the rear like the teardrop aerodynamic forms of the 1930s and the extraordinary BAT prototypes produced by Bertone in the early 1950s. Its visual mass was pulled forward with a large oval cabin and short frontal overhang. The bluff front end carried the traditional Alfa Romeo shield between four separately mounted lights while the rear featured a recessed panel with the edge of the boot lid turned inwards to meet it. While stylish and modern, it was not particularly progressive. Neither then was the Guilia that followed in 1963.

Spada was offered the opportunity to re-body the Guilia coupe and began with a wedge shape informed by scientific aerodynamics that had been proven on the track. German aerodynamicist Wunibald Kamm prepared the way for the sharply cut off tail which reduced turbulence and drag. The wedge shape begins with the low nose and rises in a flattened 'S' shaped curve towards the tail which finished with a flat panel. The nose exploits a related feature where the characteristic Alfa heart is cut from a sheet of clear acrylic plastic, along with geometric cooling slots. This gesture is strongly graphical rather than sculptural and disturbed many critics. Spada's reputation was based on not doing things in an orthodox manner and he coined this idea which had not been seen on any previous production car.

Unlike the Guilia, Spada's coupe appears almost too small for its wheels although both cars sat on the same platform. The dramatic flared arches almost cause the lines to clash together, particularly under the rear side window. This aversion to ideal form is also a feature of Spada's work where he was often challenged by his own gestures that could veer into the bizarre. This happened with his Lancia Flavia Sport, the precise nature of which I will explore next week. While progressive and unusual, the Alfa was unquestionably beautiful, noted by the designers of the Honda CRX who were strongly influenced by it. Spada's determined future gazing produced a car that looks like it was designed in the 1980s while Guigario's Guilia looks back on the formal legacy of the great carrosseirie of an earlier era.