From Workshop to Legend: Zanella, the Italian Heart That Set Argentina in Motion

A story of emigration, courage, and more. In the postwar period, Juan and Santiago Zanella left Italy carrying the technical know-how typical of our mechanical tradition. In 1948 they founded a company that would set all of Argentina in motion and is still active today.

At first it was a modest workshop founded by immigrants, but fate had much more in store. Zanella quickly became the standard-bearer of European build quality transplanted into the heart of South America, showing how Italian artisanal genius could transform into an overseas industrial empire.

The bond with the motherland was cemented thanks to the collaboration with Ceccato, the historic Venetian firm, which allowed the Zanella brothers to produce 100 and 125 cc engines under license. Those powerplants bore the prestigious signature of Fabio Taglioni, the engineer who shortly thereafter would revolutionize Ducati. Thanks to this infusion of Italian technology, Zanella motorcycles became standouts for performance and style, elevating the brand to a level of excellence above the local competition.

Over its long history, Zanella has produced models that became true social icons. The absolute symbol remains the 50 cc moped series, indestructible machines that motorized Argentina and are still seen on South American roads. Unforgettable too is the Sapucai series, a simple, affordable road bike. On the higher-performance front, the Patagonian Eagle line set the standard for cruisers in South America. More recently, the Ceccato Series has reinterpreted, in a modern and café racer key, the style of the earliest models from the 1950s.

In the Caseros and San Luis plants, a manufacturing heart still beats today, overseeing the complete production of mopeds. For higher displacement segments, the brand has adopted an advanced assembly model. Much of the current range in fact arrives as assembly kits from China to be completed in local factories. This system ensures an impressive production capacity, able to put more than 12,000 units per month on the market and support a supply chain involving four thousand workers.

The brand’s versatility is also reflected in its expansion into light and commercial transport. Beyond traditional two-wheelers, Zanella has conquered city streets with the ZMax series of cargo tricycles and small trucks.

Zanella is now preparing for a new revolution. Under the solid leadership of the Iraola Group, the brand is experiencing a strong revival, with sales growth that in 2025 exceeded 50%, a sign of renewed market confidence. The challenge for 2026 is being played on two fronts: technological nostalgia and sustainable mobility.

Zanella’s future lies in the integration of electric powertrains and the adoption of global technological standards. The goal is to transform the brand into a technology hub, able to combine the assembly of high-quality international kits with the development of solutions for urban electric mobility.

The legacy of the Zanella brothers today is not just a memory, but an identity projected toward tomorrow.