Description:

The Gillet Vertigo and the Birth of the Alfa Romeo TZ3 Zagato

In the late 1990s, Belgian engineer and racing driver Tony Gillet set out to create one of the most advanced lightweight sports cars of its time. The result was the Gillet Vertigo, first introduced in 1999, built around an innovative carbon-fiber chassis. Designed with racing principles in mind, the Vertigo combined extremely low weight, high structural rigidity, and exceptional agility. Power came from an Alfa Romeo V6 engine prepared by Elligi, reinforcing the car’s strong mechanical connection to Alfa Romeo engineering.

A few years later, an unexpected encounter would link the Vertigo to one of Italy’s most renowned coachbuilders.

In 2002, automotive author Philippe Olczyk was preparing his book Alfa Romeo TZ Zagato, dedicated to the famous Alfa Romeo TZ models created in collaboration with Zagato. During the preparation of the book, Olczyk met Andrea Zagato, head of the historic Milanese coachbuilding house, to request permission to include images of a proposed Alfa Romeo TZ3 concept.

During their discussion, Olczyk suggested that the Gillet Vertigo’s carbon chassis could serve as the technical base for a modern interpretation of the TZ lineage. The idea intrigued Andrea Zagato, who soon traveled to Belgium to meet Tony Gillet.

Zagato carefully inspected the Vertigo, studied its carbon structure, and drove the car. The evaluation confirmed what Olczyk had suggested: the Vertigo offered a remarkably advanced and lightweight platform, perfectly suited for a limited-production coachbuilt sports car.

This meeting marked the beginning of a collaboration between Gillet and Zagato.

Using the Vertigo rolling chassis as a technical foundation, Zagato went on to create the Alfa Romeo TZ3, a modern interpretation of the legendary TZ series. The project combined Zagato’s design language with Gillet’s advanced engineering.

The relationship between Gillet and Zagato would later extend further. The Vertigo chassis architecture would become the engineering basis for subsequent Zagato creations, including projects associated with Maserati, such as the Maserati Mostro.

At the center of this story stands the original Vertigo-based prototype that initiated the collaboration. Only one example was built, and Tony Gillet kept the car for more than twenty years. For Gillet, it represented far more than a prototype: it was the bridge between his engineering work and Zagato’s coachbuilding tradition, linking projects involving Alfa Romeo and Maserati.

Today, this unique car remains a remarkable symbol of how a small Belgian manufacturer and a historic Italian design house came together to create a new chapter in modern coachbuilt sports cars.

Keyword Search Terms:

Ferrari, Lamborghini, Alfa Romeo, Zagato, Porsche, Bugatti, Pagani, Sport Car, Le Mans, Race car