Have You Ever Heard Of – The Autozodiaco Damaca?

You can always rely on the Italians to bring a little bit of extra flair to the table. From simple pasta dishes to finely tailored suits, it’s pretty much a given that anything coming out of ‘Bel Paese’ will arrive with a drop of extra elegance, a pinch of added class and a dash more elan. Take this Autozodiaco Damaca for example. It may be a VW underneath but its creator and company founder Mario Zodiaco bucked the trend and danced to his own tune when it came to the design, taking the buggy in a different direction to the Meyers Manx styling that was popular at the time. Of course it was clearly influenced by the Manx but like we said, there’s a little more grace and refinement in the styling of the Autozodiaco Damaca, looking less like a bath tub on wheels and more like an actual car.

Speaking of design, Zodiaco employed the services of the legendary Tom Tjaarda to style the Autozodiaco Damaca, who’s name may sound familiar due to his work on the De Tomaso Pantera, along with about a million other cars, and so the intent to create something a tad more special was there from the beginning, with said beginning being way back in 1968, when Zodiaco had a bright idea to start building dune buggies.

Bit niche maybe but we all like what we like and Zodiaco was determined to make it work, so he forged ahead and started a company that would facilitate his desires, allowing him to put his own Italian stamp on the then burgeoning buggy business.

But why buggies, you may be asking. Well, if you’ve ever seen the original Thomas Crown Affair from 1968 then you’ll no doubt remember Steve McQueen’s titular character cutting about on the beach in a Meyers Manx dune buggy with Faye Dunaway in the passenger seat, albeit with a far more powerful Chevrolet Corvair, air-cooled six-cylinder providing the power, installed, unsurprisingly, at the behest of McQueen himself. It’s an alluring image and one that served as the catalyst for Zodiaco’s own love affair with the thing because he immediately fell head over heels and became determined to acquire one for himself.

As it turned out he wouldn’t have to wait long and later that same year Zodiaco, now running his own car sales business, would acquire a Manx in kit form, and using Beetle bones, build it himself. At this point his only thoughts were self-serving and we’re sure you can relate, dear reader, because how many times has it happened to us as car fans? We see something we like (more than likely right here on Car & Classic), we want it, we buy it, we rejoice. Little did Zodiaco know, however, that a hell of a lot of other people were in the same boat, something he would soon discover as his new buggy began to cause quite the stir in the neighbourhood.

Zodiaco quickly realised that there was a market for these buggies in Italy, and more than likely in other countries across Europe, too and so with his entrepreneur’s hat pulled down tight he established Society Autozodiaco Srl in order to produce them, teaming up with fibreglass expert and boat builder Beppe Seragnoli – who’s expertise was vital to the success of the business due to the fact that the buggy bodies would be moulded out of the stuff. All that was needed now then, was a prototype.

Unsurprisingly you can’t just telephone Tom Tjarda – who was already incredibly renowned at this point – and ask him to pen you a car, especially if you’re just starting out and nobody has ever heard of you, so before the American designer got involved, Zodiaco developed his own prototype and unveiled it to a rather rapturous crowd at the Turin Motor Show in ’69. His instincts about the buggy were right, and the car garnered a ton of interest.

It was far from plain sailing from this point on though and Zodiaco immediately fell foul of pesky Italian bureaucracy that decreed his buggy as being inherently unsafe. Thankfully, after scouring reams of records in Rome he managed to find a loophole allowing him to continue with his plan and complete the orders placed so far, of which there were over a hundred. Unfortunately, however, putting a car into production is an expensive business and Zodiaco and co. simply didn’t have the funds in the bank. Or anywhere else for that matter.

Zodiaco turned to his friend, notorious playboy Paolo Pazzaglia, for help. Pazzaglia agreed and provided the necessary cash to get things moving but unfortunately this relationship would quickly turn sour for reasons that remain unclear and Zodiaco would buy him out shortly afterwards. The fact that Pazzaglia subsequently nicked Zodiaco’s original buggy prototype – found later in his garage by the police – is rather telling though, and it’s not too far-fetched to assume that not being content with a 50% share, he instead wanted to develop and produce the buggy himself, therefore reaping 100% of the spoils. An utter b*stard in other words…

Luckily, Zodiaco’s second attempt to secure financial backing was more successful, having partnered with Giannini, a small company dedicated to modifying and preparing Fiat 500s, and after relocating to Pianoro, just outside of Bologna, he was able to start fulfilling those aforementioned buggy orders, beginning with the ‘Deserter’.

Numerous other designs followed over the ensuing years and in 1972 the Tjarda-styled Damaca was introduced. Here was a sportier looking buggy that looked more car-like than any previous design, sitting more in line with the auto aesthetic of the time. Fitted with either a 1.5 or 1.6-litre VW four-cylinder, the Autozodiaco Damaca was built on a full size Beetle chassis which allowed for four seats, unlike the Manx buggies which could only accommodate two people. With a body built entirely of fibreglass the Damaca weighed just 675kg and could reach top speeds of around 100mph, making it perfect for dune bashing, a-la McQueen’s Thomas Crown.

Unlike a lot of similar stories of this ilk, Autozodiaco didn’t go bankrupt due to cash flow problems or fail spectacularly because of oil crisis shenanigans. Far from it. In a classic case of quit while you’re ahead, Zodiaco sold up in 1974 and buggered off to sail around the world before settling in Panama to enjoy his spoils, and that, ladies and gentlemen, is how it’s done. But if you fancy a bit of sand blasting yourslef then you can grab this 1977 example, available right here on Car & Classic. We’ve spoken to Autoclassic who tell us the asking price is around €45,000, which is about £37K in real money, should your pickle be suitably tickled.

So there you have it. The Autozodiaco Damaca remains an incredibly rare car, making this is a wonderful opportunity to pick up one of the more individual buggies out there, so channel your inner Steve McQueen, grab your Faye Dunaway and go and have some fun in the sun.