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Cizeta Automobili SRL is a car manufacturer in the U.S. and one time headquartered in Modena,
No production Cizeta was ever badged "Cizeta-Moroder" but merely "Cizeta V16T". Only 8 cars were built before the shutdown of the firm in 1994. Subsequently, 3 more cars were completed (two more coupe, and one spyder) in 1999 and 2003.
Cizeta Automobili
Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 1988 Vehicle manufacturing companies disestablished in 1994 Sports car manufacturers
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...
, set up in the late 1980s by Claudio Zampolli, an Italian auto engineer, and Lamborghini driver, and the record producer Giorgio Moroder.
History
The name "Cizeta" comes from the Italian pronunciation of co-founder Claudio Zampolli's initials (C.Z.). Moroder became involved into the project when he took hisLamborghini Countach
The Lamborghini Countach () is a rear mid-engine, rear-wheel-drive sports car produced by the Italian automobile manufacturer Lamborghini from 1974 until 1990. It is one of the many exotic designs developed by Italian design house Bertone, w ...
for a service at Zampolli's garage. Their only product, the Cizeta-Moroder V16T, featured a technically advanced transverse-configured sixteen-cylinder engine. Styled by Marcello Gandini
Marcello Gandini (born 26 August 1938) is an Italian car designer, known for his work with the automotive design house Gruppo Bertone, including his designs of the Lamborghini Miura, Countach, and the Lamborghini Diablo.
In a 2009 interview wit ...
, the body was strikingly similar to the later Lamborghini Diablo
The Lamborghini Diablo is a high-performance mid-engine sports car built by Italian automobile manufacturer Lamborghini between 1990 and 2001. It is the first production Lamborghini capable of attaining a top speed in excess of . After the end ...
's as Gandini first proposed the design to the then Chrysler-owned Lamborghini, which altered the concept significantly. Gandini then brought the original Diablo design to Cizeta. The prototype was the only car to carry the "Cizeta-Moroder" badge, as Giorgio Moroder pulled out of the Cizeta project in 1990. The prototype remained with Giorgio Moroder for over thirty years, when, in early 2022, he sold it.
No production Cizeta was ever badged "Cizeta-Moroder" but merely "Cizeta V16T". Only 8 cars were built before the shutdown of the firm in 1994. Subsequently, 3 more cars were completed (two more coupe, and one spyder) in 1999 and 2003.
Refoundation
Mr. Zampolli moved to the US after the company went bankrupt in Italy and has set up a new company inCalifornia
California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...
, called Cizeta Automobili USA. He serviced exotic cars and continued to build (on demand) the Cizeta V16T.
On one instance a Cizeta was seized by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement
The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is a federal law enforcement agency under the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. ICE's stated mission is to protect the United States from the cross-border crime and illegal immigration tha ...
on December 7, 2009.
Mr. Zampoli died on July 7, 2021 at age 82.
References
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Cizeta Automobili
Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 1988 Vehicle manufacturing companies disestablished in 1994 Sports car manufacturers