Zagato Mostro powered by Maserati

Cernobbio, May 2015. The Mostro powered by Maserati is the latest creation of Zagato’s current Iconic decade, a new tradition for the atelier that began at the end of coachbuilder’s Neoclassical period (2000-2010) to celebrate the most iconic models of automotive history. Marking the delivery of the first customer car, Zagato will present the new Mostro as a world premiere at the Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este.

ICONIC MODERN COLLECTIBLE CARS

In 2010, Andrea and Marella Zagato launched a project to celebrate 100 years of Alfa Romeo and it materialized into the Alfa Romeo TZ3 Corsa, a one-off, and then nine multiples of the TZ3 Stradale (road car) followed. Inspired by current trends in the automotive industry, these models initiated a new outflow of cars from the atelier, which has recognized some car models as icons on their own, at times bearing more importance than the marque itself.

In the sector of collectible cars, this became the case for the Maserati “Monster” and “Birdcage”; Ferrari “GTO” and “Testarossa”; Alfa Romeo “8C” and “TZ”, and the Aston Martin “DB4 Zagato” and “Vanquish”. Among all of the mass-produced cars, this process also involved Fiat “500”; Volkswagen “Beetle” and “Golf”; Ford “Mustang” and GM “Corvette”; Porsche “911”; Dodge “Viper” and, perhaps also, for the Alfa Romeo “Giulia”.

The Mostro celebrates the centenary of Maserati and one of the most iconic racing cars in the history of the Tridente: the Maserati 450 S Coupé Zagato “Monster”, designed in 1957 with Frank Costin, a specialist in aerodynamics, and coachbuilt in Milan for the 24 Hours of Le Mans at the request of Stirling Moss.

Only five examples will be made and each has already been assigned to selected Zagato car collectors. Deliveries will be completed before December 2015, at the end of Maserati’s anniversary year.

See the Zagato Mostro Gallery

REPRESENTING THE PUREST OF THE GRAN TURISMO CARS

Exactly as the Maserati 450 S Coupé Zagato “Monster” was built for sport competitions and, subsequently, converted into a road car, the Mostro has been created from pure racing mechanics while also being road sanctioned. This philosophy, stemming from the late ’40s, was the basis of the commercial success, both in sport and in style, for the Gran Turismo category.

The cars from that period were produced with racing mechanics and also equipped with a luxurious interior that made them more comfortable for normal circulation. Zagato, since the ’20s, has been the leader in coachbuilding sport coupés and spiders with two-doors. During the second half of the ’50s, when the GT category had reached its height in popularity, the company founded in 1919 by Ugo Zagato was collaborating with all of the major European brands: Alfa Romeo, AC Cars, Aston Martin, Bristol, Ferrari, Fiat, Jaguar, Lancia, Maserati, OSCA, and Porsche.

FEATURES

The chassis of the Mostro is made of a MonoCell of carbon fiber coupled to a mid-structure of steel tubes in order to create the cockpit, as well as a subframe that sustains the fuel tank, exhaust system, rear suspension and gearbox. Made in Italy, the bodywork is entirely carbon fiber.

The central-front, V8 Maserati engine with dry-sump lubrication is equipped with a customizable, engine-management system. The engine is connected to the rear-positioned gearbox (a semi-automatic, six-speed transmission) and differential by a rigid tube (transaxle), which optimally distributes the weight of the car along the longitudinal axis. The front and rear suspension has a double wishbone architecture with a pushrod, spring/ shock absorber system. The Mostro is equipped with large disc brakes and 19″ alloy wheels. Front and rear tires specifications: 255/40 R19 and 295/35 R19.