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> On this page: [On the block · Monterey Car Week 2026](#on-the-block--monterey-car-week-2026) · [Cizeta’s transverse V16, from Modena to Los Angeles.](#cizetas-transverse-v16-from-modena-to-los-angeles) · [A bloodline, not a list.](#a-bloodline-not-a-list) · [A transverse V16](#a-transverse-v16) · [Gandini bodywork, contested lineage](#gandini-bodywork-contested-lineage) · [Aluminium on a tubular frame](#aluminium-on-a-tubular-frame)

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# Cizeta Moroder

Italy · est. 1988

Cizeta’s transverse V16, from Modena to Los Angeles.

Claudio Zampolli and investor Giorgio Moroder assembled former Lamborghini specialists around a Gandini-designed coupé and a 5,995 cc transverse V16.

| Label | Value |
| --- | --- |
| On the block | 1 lots |
| Top value | — |
| Period | 1988– |

[Explore models](https://hiconium.dev/manufacturers/cizetamoroder#essential) [Manufacturer profile](https://hiconium.dev/manufacturers/cizetamoroder#house-profile)

![Cizeta Moroder — manufacturer stage](https://hiconium.dev/_derived/images/marques/stage/cizetamoroder.jpg.w1920.q75.webp)

Forthcoming lots

## On the block · Monterey Car Week 2026

1 forthcoming lot · Monterey 2026

The house

## Cizeta’s transverse V16, from Modena to Los Angeles.

Cizeta grew from Claudio Zampolli's ambition to build a car under his own initials. A former Lamborghini test and development engineer, Zampolli had established an exotic-car business in Los Angeles when he partnered with Giorgio Moroder, then a 50 per cent investor in the enterprise; the concern was reported first as Cizeta Motors and then as Cizeta Moroder Motors.

Its sole model was the mid-engined V16T. Contemporary road tests described a 5,995 cc transverse V16 with one aluminium block, four cylinder heads, two crankshafts geared to a central output and a longitudinal ZF five-speed transaxle; the chassis was a tubular spaceframe. Oliviero Pedrazzi led engine development, Giancarlo Guerra was engaged for the first-run cars, and Marcello Gandini designed the body.

Chassis 001 was unveiled in Los Angeles on 5 December 1988. It was the only car badged Cizeta-Moroder; after Moroder and Zampolli parted following the prototype, customer cars used the Cizeta V16T name. The relationship between the Cizeta's Gandini design, the P132 study and the later Lamborghini Diablo is real but not settled tightly enough to call the Cizeta a Diablo prototype.

Autoweek reports that the Italian company was in bankruptcy by 1994. Sources record later California completions, including the 2003 Fenice TTJ Spyder, but disagree sharply over the total number of cars. The historical Cizeta-Moroder entity is defunct; later projects claiming the Cizeta name are not treated here as its continuation.

| Label | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Established | Late 1980s |
|  | Contemporary reporting records Cizeta Motors becoming Cizeta Moroder Motors; the opened sources do not establish a legal incorporation date. |

| Label | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Founder | Claudio Zampolli |
|  | Giorgio Moroder was reported as a 50 per cent investor during the prototype phase. |

| Label | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Built | Modena, then California |
|  | The original workshop was in Modena; later completions were reported in California. |

| Label | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Production | Disputed |
|  | Published totals conflict: RM Sotheby's says 10 including the prototype; Secret Classics says 11 including the 2003 Spyder; Zampolli told Autoweek in 2009 that he had made 12. |

| Label | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Fate | Italian company bankrupt by 1994 |
|  | Zampolli died on 7 July 2021. That is not a corporate end date for the original Italian company. |

Selected milestones

### A bloodline, not a list.

1. 1988

  Los Angeles debut

  RM Sotheby's identifies chassis 001 as the original prototype and show car, unveiled in Los Angeles on 5 December 1988. Contemporary CAR reporting describes the car then on display as a running prototype.
2. 1988–90

  Moroder exits

  The partnership ended after the prototype, with Moroder retaining chassis 001. Subsequent customer cars used the Cizeta V16T badge rather than Cizeta-Moroder.
3. 1991

  Customer-car production reported

  A period account republished by Cizeta USA says the first production car appeared at Geneva in 1991, with full production beginning later that year.
4. 1994

  Italian bankruptcy

  Autoweek reports that Cizeta Automobili was in bankruptcy by 1994; later accounts report that remaining components were taken to California.
5. 2003

  Fenice TTJ Spyder

  The one-off Fenice TTJ Spyder is documented as a 2003 Cizeta V16T derivative unveiled at Concorso Italiano in Monterey.

What defines Cizeta Moroder

### A transverse V16

The 5,995 cc engine used a single aluminium block, four heads and two crankshafts geared to a central output feeding a longitudinal ZF five-speed transaxle. It was mounted transversely behind the cabin.

### Gandini bodywork, contested lineage

Marcello Gandini designed the Cizeta body. A Gandini Countach-successor study and the Cizeta–Diablo resemblance are documented, but the exact derivation of the production Cizeta from Lamborghini's P132 programme remains disputed.

### Aluminium on a tubular frame

The V16T paired an aluminium body with a tubular spaceframe. The later split between Moroder and Zampolli was reported to involve Moroder's proposal for fibreglass bodywork and a BMW production engine.