---
title: Ercole Spada · HICONIUM
description: Ercole Spada in the HICONIUM register — one file carrying their credit.
canonical_url: https://hiconium.dev/people/ercole-spada
image: https://hiconium.dev/og/people/ercole-spada.png
---

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> On this page: [Reduced frontal area](#reduced-frontal-area) · [Sketch to aluminium](#sketch-to-aluminium) · [Skin over mechanicals](#skin-over-mechanicals) · [One file carries this name](#one-file-carries-this-name)

![Portrait photograph of Ercole Spada.](https://hiconium.dev/_derived/images/people/ercole-spada/portrait.jpg.w1920.q75.webp)

People

# Ercole Spada

Zagato designer of the Aston Martin DB4 GT Zagato

| Label | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Born | Busto Arsizio, Italy, 1937 |
| Died | Sestriere, Italy, 2025 |
| Nationality | Italian |

Wikimedia Commons

The record

Italian designer who, after joining Zagato as an apprentice in 1960, drew the lightweight body of the Aston Martin DB4 GT Zagato shown that October.

Ercole Spada was born in Busto Arsizio on 26 July 1937. He took a diploma as a mechanical industrial technician in 1956 and completed military service. In February 1960 he joined Carrozzeria Zagato; Aston Martin later recorded the post as an apprenticeship.

He later told Classic & Sports Car that, asked whether he could do full-scale drawings, he said yes, though he had never done one. There was no design department. A sketch went to a metalworker and became a body as quickly as it could be beaten. He said Elio Zagato, a racing driver, insisted that the cars be light and appear fluid, the bodywork wrapped around the mechanical parts like skin.

The Aston Martin DB4 GT Zagato was unveiled at the October 1960 London Motor Show. Aston Martin records the bodywork as by the newly qualified 23-year-old. Chassis were built at Newport Pagnell and shipped to Milan for Zagato's aluminium bodies; nineteen of a planned twenty-five cars were finished. He later said he applied those principles to the Aston and worked to reduce its frontal area as far as he could.

### Reduced frontal area

On the Aston Martin DB4 GT Zagato he said he applied Elio Zagato's demand for a light, fluid body and worked to cut the car's frontal area.

### Sketch to aluminium

In 1960 Zagato had no design studio. Full-scale drawings went to the metalworkers and were beaten into a body at once; he later said they made no models.

### Skin over mechanicals

He described Elio Zagato's brief as lightness and a fluid look, the bodywork wrapped around the mechanical parts like skin, and applied that brief to the Aston.

The stations

1. 1960–1969 Carrozzeria Zagato Designer
2. 1970–1976 Ford of Europe / Ghia Head of design
3. 1976 Audi Designer
4. 1976–1983 BMW Exterior designer
5. 1983–1992 I.DE.A Institute Head of design
6. 2006–2025 Spadaconcept Co-founder

The house

[![Aston Martin](https://hiconium.dev/images/marques/full/astonmartin.svg)](https://hiconium.dev/manufacturers/astonmartin)

Credited through Zagato.

In the register

## One file carries this name

- [Aston Martin DB4 GT Zagato Body designer · Zagato 1960–1963 €9.5M 1960–1963 €9.5M Rating 98.0](https://hiconium.dev/vehicles/astonmartin/db4-gt-zagato)

The files above are the register's own record of this name. [The people index](https://hiconium.dev/people) holds everyone the register credits.

In their words

> “I applied those basic principles to the Aston, and put a lot of effort into reducing the frontal area as much as possible.”

Ercole Spada · Classic & Sports Car, 2013

Sources

- [astonmartin.com](https://www.astonmartin.com/en-us/our-world/news/2018/7/19/db4-gt-zagato)
- [classicandsportscar.com](https://www.classicandsportscar.com/obituaries/rip-ercole-spada-1937-2025)
- [octane-magazine.com](https://www.octane-magazine.com/news/ercole-spada-obituary-influential-italian-designer-dies-aged-88/)
- [classicmotorsports.com](https://classicmotorsports.com/articles/interview-with-ercole-spada/)
- [lastampa.it](https://www.lastampa.it/torino/2025/08/05/news/ercole_spada_morto_designer_automobile-15260692/)
- [torino.corriere.it](https://torino.corriere.it/notizie/cronaca/25_agosto_06/morto-il-designer-ercole-spada-le-sue-auto-sono-passate-alla-storia-dalla-fiat-tipo-alla-ferrari-zagato-8c43db23-77e3-4eb6-8f94-206090fd3xlk.shtml)
- [classicdriver.com](https://www.classicdriver.com/en/article/cars/farewell-legendary-automotive-designer-ercole-spada)
- [ansa.it](https://www.ansa.it/amp/canale_motori/notizie/mondo_motori/2025/08/04/addio-a-ercole-spada-firmo-icone-come-giulia-tz-e-fulvia-sport_3daf286a-d2c5-4658-9502-63764e40e066.html)