Italian design legend passes
In memoriam: Ercole Spada
The prolific Italian designer has died aged 88 after an immense half century in the business
The industry has lost another design legend in Ercole Spada. The Italian is credited with a raft of hugely successful models throughout his career, but particularly so during the 1960s with brands including Alfa Romeo, Fiat, Lamborghini and Lancia.
From the '70s through to the 90s he would turn his hand to other major nameplates in Volvo, Ford and BMW, working on models such as the GTZ concepts, GT70 and iconic E34 and E32 generation 5- and 7-Series, respectively.
Towards the end of his career, he would go on to form the design house Spadaconcept, working alongside his son Paulo, who remains the CEO of the company today in Turin.
Spada was listed among other design royalty in a recent book, Made in Italy, compiled by ex-Bertone designer Piotr Degler. Though his portfolio consists primarily of Italian brands — or those with Italian styling via Zagato — Spada's greatest work is often credited to the Aston Martin DB4 Zagato, a project he worked on during his early twenties no less.
It was a broad and eclectic career for Spada who despite naturally being furnished with rare and beautiful sports cars to design, also worked on more humble nameplates like the Hillman Imp, Fiat Tipo and second-generation Nissan Terrano SUV.
Born in northern Italy in 1937, Ercole Spada died on 3 August 2025, aged 88.
