Ercole Spada started his design career with Carozzeria Zagato in 1960. Photo: David Gooley
Artists and artisans have called Italy home for millennia, with pursuit of the arts a natural activity for countless Italians inspired by the natural beauty all around them. One with such a destiny arrived on July 26, 1937 in the town of Busto Arsizio, northwest of Milan, a newborn son of the Spada family named Ercole.
After discovering his gift for drawing cars while studying industrial engineering at Milan’s Instituto Technica Feltrinelli, Spada realized he could merge his passions for art and automobiles through a career in Italy’s coachbuilding industry. Upon fulfilling his national military obligations, he went to the famed Milanese design house Carrozzeria Zagato early in 1960 to seek employment. There, Elio Zagato hired him on the spot after hearing affirmative answers to two questions: Could he make full-scale drawings, and did he have a degree?
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