Ferrari 550 GTZ – the last Zagato Ferrari: Exclusive

Zagato has a long history of modifying Italian exotica. But not just Italian exotica. They’ve had a go at most high-end stuff over the years – some more successful than others. But this is the 90th anniversary of Zagato so they’ve got something very special up their sleeves – a new Zagato Ferrari.

Ferrari and Zagato have played before. Last up was the 575 GTZ built in 2006 for Japanese collector Yoshiyuki Hayashi, but probably the best was the 250 GTZ from 1956.

But future collaborations with Ferrari are unlikely as Ferrari is aiming to take all customisations in-house in the future. That of course doesn’t preclude the one-off commissions, but they couldn’t be badged Ferrari. But Ferrari has agreed one last swansong for the Zagato Ferrari and just five Ferrari 550 GTZ will be built. But they won’t be cheap – over £1 million each.

Zagato has scoured the planet for five of the best Ferrari 550 Barchettas they could find. These have been shipped to Ferrari and been stripped and re-built to as-new condition. Then they’ve been taken to Zagato for the bodywork and trim.

The original Ferrari 550 Barchetta had a 5.5 litre V12 engine with 485bhp. It managed 0-60mph in 4.2 seconds and a top speed of 199mph. So even though the basis of the 550 GTZ is a decade old it still offers true supercar performance.

But it looks as if all five cars have already found a home, even though Ferrari and Zagato have still to announce the car officially.

The images we had here have been removed after Zagato threatened legal action. They have demanded the source of the photos. We cannot of course give them this but we respect their objection to the photos having been presented here and have removed them.

By Cars UK