Cizeta Automobili SRL was a supercar manufacturer and repairer in Modena, Italy, set up in the late 1980s by Claudio Zampolli, an Italian auto engineer and Lamborghini driver.
One of his customers was a three-time Oscar winner and composer Giorgio Moroder, who had Zampolli service his Countach.
Giorgio Moroder, widely cited as the Father of Disco and most famous for his music, was also a fan of supercars; he became a significant investor in Cizeta Automobili SRL.
With Moroder’s financial backing, design work by Marcello Gandini, a team, assembled from the best of Lamborghini, and Zamolli’s V16 supercar dream, the Cizeta Moroder V16T was born.
The name “Cizeta” comes from the co-founder Claudio Zampolli’s initials and the Moroder after Giorgio Moroder.
It was outrageous even by the ordinarily excessive standards of Italian supercars. At the same time, the rest of the world made mid-engine V8, and even V12 supercars, the V16T’s most spectacular feature was its transversely mounted, all-aluminium, 6.0-litre V-16 engine, mounted behind the seats and capable of 200mph.
Cizeta Automobili SRL only built twenty models of the Cizeta V16T, and the Cizeta brand never launched another vehicle. That said, you could order one custom manufactured; however, since 2003, none have been built.
Like many an obsession, Zampolli’s love for the project often drove him to extremes trying to fund it, and apparently, he left a trail of creditors and in his wake.
Claudio Zampolli died, 7 July 2021.