Back in the old days – by which I mean up to the ‘50s/’60s, one-off or extremely limited-run coachbuilt cars were quite rare, by definition, but they did exist. Then the coachbuilders closed down one by one, even as cars became more difficult to work on due to both regulations and technology. The trickle of specials shrank down to almost nothing. But it never disappeared entirely.
By some miracle, Zagato never went out of business and kept on making remarkable work. What we have here is a 2015 Maserati Mostro, one of five produced. As a Zagato-bodied Maserati, you’d think it’s about as Italian as linguini vongole, but strangely enough, it has a waffle base.
First things first, though: this car’s purpose was to commemorate Maserati’s 100th birthday. Who’d have thought they would have made it into three-digit territory? It was certainly worth a special. Over the decades, Zagato and Maserati worked together many times, but the one Zagato-clad Maser that was universally hailed as a masterpiece was a one-off 1957 450S coupé, so the Mostro took its inspiration from that illustrious predecessor.
Here’s the original – not the worst thing ever designed, is it? It was the first of nine 450S chassis (#4501). Originally an open car like other 450Ss, it was very soon rebodied by Zagato, using a Frank Costin design. It was a true racer, with a 400hp 4.5 litre DOHC V8, and was piloted by Moss and Fangio. Sheer automotive royalty.
The issue with doing a 21st Century take on that 450S was that Maseratis of the 2010s were rather ill-suited for the exercise. Zagato themselves had no capacity to build a chassis, so some other supercar was going to have to donate its chassis. And it had to be a front-engined one, preferably with a Maserati V8.
It so happens that there was such a car hailing from, of all places, Belgium. Automobiles Gillet were founded in 1992 and the Vertigo .5 has been their sole product since 2010-11. It’s mostly carbon-fiber, chassis included, and fitted with the 420hp Ferrari-Maserati 4.2 litre V8 employed in the Quattroporte. Power drives the rear wheels only via a sequential six-speed transaxle.
So underneath the sleek Z-stamped and trident-festooned body lies a platform manufactured near Namur, the capital of Wallonia. It’s a good thing they used the Gillet’s best feature, i.e. its chassis, as in terms of looks, the only Belgian supercar is more tortured than anything else. The Mostro, on the other hand, is about as beautiful as a 2015 supercar could be.
It certainly caught the eye of more than just yours truly, when it pulled up at the famous gingko tree-lined Jingu Gaien avenue I regularly visit on Sundays. There are always plenty of recent Italian exotics about on those occasions, but this was not the usual screeching brightly-coloured Lambo.
The Mostro monicker (Italian for “monster”) was bestowed upon the original 450S Coupé by Stirling Moss himself, by the way. Perfect model name for both the 1957 car or this one. It’s also quite fitting that one of the five made migrated to Japan, as it’s the country of birth of Zagato chief designer Norihiko Harada, who penned the Mostro’s stunning lines.
At the 2022 Villa d’Este concours event, Zagato announced the production of another five Mostros – this time in open-top barchetta form, and all of them already spoken for. It would be nice to see them all aligned, like those Giulietta Spiders, one Sunday. Or perhaps that would be a bit too monstrous, even for Tokyo.
I must say the Belgian original looks like something the Germans ran over in Flander’s fields that really should have stayed buried for another hundred years, but that Zagato is no monster at all. I’ve very little time for modern super-duper cars, as they all seem shouty and domineering and crass, however this machine strives to be beautiful and curvaceous – and succeeds. Dare I say it’s actually nicer than the original inspiration? Looks like I do.
I have some vague idea Moss called the original a monster because, what with such a big engine, it was a bit of a handful to pilot (and let’s face it, if HE found it hard, it’s probably undriveable for the rest of us). Zagato’s Alfa SZ of the late eighties, which was reputedly an excellent driver, was dubbed Il Mostro for quite another reason: it looked like an angry dumpster.
I hadn’t a clue Zagato still existed. I’m terribly glad they’ve moved on from their era of the atrocious Bristol Beaufighter, or indeed, the SZ. This very sweet Maser is a good sign they recovered from whatever fever overtook them during the time of those two.
OMG what a beautiful body! But going to take if off my X-mass list when I looked up pictures of the interior. I realized super cars would never be in my future going back to the early 1970s. Then I was a college student in Miami and valet parked cars at a lounge / bar on Miami Beach to earn extra spending money (had to have the right look just to park cars). I was parking a Ferrari behind a RR convertible and BUMP! Understand clientele were celebrities and mob guys (or celebrity mob guys). I was just 19 and that night thought I would be just gator food. I was honest and told both car owners what I had done. Surprise, both owners tipped me extra heavy for being honest. Strange for being rewarded for honesty considering the clientele. Later, in the late 1970s, I was the corporate interior designer for a Texas high-in retail chain. My boss, whose name was on the side of all his buildings, asked me to pick a Lamborghini he had imported. Get it washed / detailed and drive it for a week to make sure it was OK. Like I knew anything about Lamborghini’s because my daily driver was a 1976 Eldo convertible. Yes, it too, received a paint chip at a grocery store parking lot. Didn’t matter, he never saw the Lambo and sold it after my week test drive.
Was your boss Tony Montana?
?atrocious? Bristol Beaufighter
?!!?
How dare you demean this paragon of 1970’s design!
Intriguing to say the least, and I think that styling could grow on you.
When you said another supercar with a Maserati V8 was the basis, I started to think it might have been the Alfa Romeo 8C, but I was wrong (again).
It looks nicely finished too, unlike the Belgian car, and visibly linked but not too slavishly to the original.
But Professor T87, we are now waiting for more on the temptation you put in the last photo – that line up of Alfa Romeo Giulietta Spyders………
Those were in the latest T87 Singles Outtakes back in January. But for you, here they are again.
…And again!
This is lovely – a bit D Type Jag at the rear. Beautiful monster! Bet it sounds great too…
I did get to drive the Alfa SZ Mostro in the late ‘80s when it was introduced – as sweet to drive as it was ugly to behold….