1988 Cizeta Moroder V16T

In the mid-1980s, Giorgio Moroder and sports car specialist Claudio Zampolli decided they wanted to build something truly unique. Their vision was of the ultimate super-luxury, super-performance sports car. This car, borrowed from the realm of rich men's daydreams, would offer everything the wealthiest might want in such a vehicle: bold, innovative styling, custom manufacturing, greatly enhanced performance, and infinite luxury. Combining their names (Cizeta is Italian for C.Z., Zampollis initials), the two men decided to refer to their supercar as the Cizeta-Moroder.

Claudio Zampolli was a Lamborghini test driver and development engineer who relocated to Los Angeles in the 1980s, opening a business that serviced exotic vehicles. Giorgio Moroder, known as 'The Father of Disco,' was a music producer and composer who had worked with many of the best-selling artists of the era and won a total of three Academy Awards and four Grammy awards throughout his career. These two individual's shared interests in sports cars led to the creation of a new supercar, with Moroder acting as an investor.

To create a look worthy of such a supercar, Moroder and Zampolli turned to Marcello Gandini. This accomplished sports car designer became famous by producing the styling of many Lamborghini vehicles, such as the Countach and the Lancia Stratos. The two visionaries were rewarded for their choice with a design that is sleek, sporty, and dramatic.

But where do you go to build a car the likes of which the world had never seen? Moroder and Zampolli went to the Mecca of fine Italian car production in Modena. Here, a crew gathered that included many who had worked on Marcello Gandini's Lamborghini Countach years earlier.

Engine Specification
To accomplish such high performance, chief engineer Oliviero Pedrazzi, introduced a powerful engine that would combine the best of available sports car technology.

The Cizeta exuded an air of exoticism in every aspect, encompassing its design, the materials employed, the configuration of its engine, and its mechanical specifications. The vehicle was equipped with a transverse-mounted 6.0-liter engine featuring sixteen cylinders, placing it among a select group of manufacturers that have utilized such a formidable powertrain. This engine comprised two banks of cylinders arranged in a 'V' configuration, sharing a single aluminum cylinder block. It was derived from the Lamborghini Urraco's 90-degree DOHC flat-plane V8, sharing several components, including the distinct cylinder heads, crankshafts, and the Bosch K-Jetronic fuel injection systems.

The 6.0 liter (5,995cc) engine had a compression ratio of 9.3 to 1, eight overhead camshafts, 64 valves, and produced 540 horsepower at 8,000 RPM and 400 lb-ft of torque at 6,000 RPM.

Chassis and Dimensions
Embracing the footprint of a proper supercar, the Cizeta had a wheelbase size of 105.9 inches, a length of 176.9 inches, a width of 80.8 inches, and stood just 43.5 inches tall. The transverse configuration of the elongated V16 engine required a substantial width, resulting in one of the broadest vehicles ever constructed. The structure was constructed using elliptical steel tubing made of chrome-moly. The use of lightweight materials throughout the vehicle kept the overall weight to a minimum, with the prototype example tipping the scales at around 3,750lbs.

Suspension and Brakes
The Cizeta suspension incorporated unequal-length control arms connected to light-alloy upright joints, and Koni-developed spring-damper units attached to the control arms. The spring damper units located at the rear were mounted 10 inches inboard of the rear wheels.

The Brembo-developed brakes had twin-pot calipers and drilled and slotted rotors.

Body Design
The aerodynamic and elegant styling of the Cizeta penned by Marcello Gandini had more than just a passing resemblance to the Lamborghini Diablo, sharing many styling cues between the two. The front of the Ciezeta and Diablo are similar, albeit the former had pop-up headlights, two stacked vertically on either side (the only car to have such an arrangement and design). The rear section of the Cizeta differed from the Diablo, sourcing its design inspiration from the Alpine A610.

Even the design of the sports car's logo received maximum thought and attention. In 1988, Moroder received the Philadelphia award for design excellence for his attractive logo concept for the Cizeta-Moroder.

The five-spoke, two-piece, cast-aluminum OZ Racing wheels were wrapped with Pirelli P Zero tires, with the front measuring 245/40ZR-17 and the rear at 335/35ZR-17.

The production examples differed slightly from the prototype, both with the interior and exterior. The dashboard, central tunnel, steering wheel, door panels, and seats of the prototype were different from those of the production V16T. The prototype had different turn signals, fog lamps, and side mirrors, larger side air intakes with more strakes, and a diagonal crease in the lower bodywork tying into the rear bumper design.

Performance
Equipped with a state-of-the-art chassis, a sixteen-cylinder engine producing 540 horsepower, lightweight componentry, and a wind-cheating wedge-shaped design, the Cizeta-Moroder V16T was capable of sprinting from zero to sixty mph in four seconds and had a top speed of 204 mph (328 km/h).

Production
The sole prototype developed bore the Cizeta-Moroder name, as it was manufactured before the partnership between Moroder and Zampolli dissolved. It is believed that nine production examples followed, bringing the total - including the prototype - to ten. Predictions for production estimated that a single car could be produced per month, but an estimated eight left the Modena factory doors between 1991 and 1995. Production was moved to Fountain Valley, California, where two more coupe examples were completed between 1999 and 2003, along with a Spyder (convertible) known as the Cizeta Fenice TTJ.

A rift between Moroder and Zampolli was caused by the slow production of the labor-intensive Cizeta. Suggestions to speed up the process by using a BMW powerplant instead of the bespoke V16, and to simplify the body construction process by using fiberglass were ignored. The partnership dissolved after the first prototype.

Debut
The prototype was known as the Cizeta-Moroder V16T, but the production examples that followed wore only the Cizeta name. Chassis number 001 was unveiled in Los Angeles on December 5, 1988, at an event hosted by Jay Leno. In celebration of the occasion, Moroder composed an original song for the event titled, fittingly, 'A Car is Born.' The fully function prototype, wearing a pearl white exterior with a red leather interior, was later displayed at the 1989 Los Angeles and Geneva Motor Shows.

The Cizeta was originally priced at around $300,000, a figure that subsequently increased to approximately double that amount several years later.

Several orders were placed for the Cizeta, including from the Sultan of Brunei, but a world recession and a slow production cycle limited the number of examples built. After Brunei became an independent country in 1983, the Sultan of Brunei and his family built one of the largest car collections in the world, with approximately 2,000 cars from many different manufacturers. Among them were three Cizeta V16Ts, including two with a black exterior and one blue. The latter had a blue leather interior and right-hand drive and was shown at the Geneva Auto Show in 1993.

by Daniel Vaughan | May 2011