Ferrari 550 GTZ: Zagato and Ferrari's Swansong Collaboration Revealed

Ferrari 550 GTZ Zagato

By Thami Masemola
October 28, 2009 8:08 PM
Filed Under: Classics, European, Ferrari, Specialty Marques

Italian design and engineering company Zagato has worked with a number of other Italian brands in the past, including the best-known of them all, Ferrari. As a 90th anniversary celebration they are collaborating with Maranello once again. The last time the two came together was for the 575 GTZ made for Japanese collector Yoshiyuki Hayashi in 2006.

The new cooperation involves five carefully selected Ferrari 550 Barchetta examples sourced from around the world. After finding them they were shipped to Ferrari, stripped bare, rebuilt from the ground up and passed on to Zagato for bodywork and trim. Curiously the finished article bears a very close resemblance to Mr Hayashi's car but without the roof.

The original 1996 550 Barchetta was powered by a 361kW (492hp) 5.5-litre V12 with a 0 - 60mph time of 4.2 seconds and a top end of 199mph (320km/h). No performance details were provided for the Zagato interpretation but such a base is quite a good sign.

Prices are set at over £1 million (€1.1 million/ US$1.6 million) each and it seems all five units have already been snapped up. The cars could become future classics as it is probably the last time Zagato or anyone else is officially allowed to modify a Ferrari. New company rules dictate that all post-production tuning will now be done in-house.

Source: carsuk.net

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Tags: Zagato, Ferrari 550 GTZ, Ferrari 575 GTZ, Zagato 550 GTZ, Zagato 575 GTZ

Comments

Shyne

October 28, 2009 8:19 PM

yes yes yes..now thats a beautiful ferrari.. thats the reason why im always saying the should switch their design bureau and go to zagato! though i like the gt version much more.

v6s_stink

October 29, 2009 5:41 AM

I agree. This is the most appealing retro design I have seen in years, if not ever.

http://www.worldcarfans.com/109020616855/legendary-ferrari-pontoon-fender-testa-rossa-set-to-break-world-auction-record

Joe_Limon

October 28, 2009 8:52 PM

no no no... now that's an ugly ferrari.. it seems that they are being very hit an miss with their designs lately.

djcocum

October 29, 2009 2:02 AM

But this one is designed by Zagato, which is not the usual designer for Ferrari cars. That's Pininfarina. Definitely, Zagato ones are uglier than Pininfarina ones

autoficianado

October 28, 2009 8:53 PM

looks like a 612 Scaglietti mixed with a Mercedes Benz SLS retro theme....I think its kinda boring

Edited by user on October 28, 2009 at 8:55 PM

xLumino

October 29, 2009 4:22 PM

can't understand such similaries searches. You can even say: it looks like a Ferrari, it looks like a convertible, it looks like a car. it looks like a vehicle...oh yes, thats boring!

Edited by user on October 29, 2009 at 5:19 PM

akbars600

October 28, 2009 8:59 PM

BMW Z8 looks better than this

GuyOh

October 29, 2009 1:51 AM

hahhaa, that's exactly what came in my head!!!!

trekkerbin

October 29, 2009 10:45 AM

To me, it looked more like Shelby Cobra GT to me!

Lamborghini

October 28, 2009 9:04 PM

I would get the 550 Barchetta over this any day.. Special, and limited edition or not, this is just pure ugly and cheap.

Xanavi23

October 28, 2009 9:21 PM

Like i said, i don't like alot of Ferrari's but this classic beast is gorgeous. I love these cars that have old styling with new technology, can't make a better marriage, not considering aerodynamics of course.

Lamborghini, you just don't get this car...im not a Ferrari fan by any stretch of the imagination, but this is ugly? come on now.

Lamborghini

October 28, 2009 9:45 PM

As you can guess I'm not a Ferrari fan either, but I did like their older cars, like the 575, F355, Testarossa, F40 etc. And I believe that I do get this car, and I must say that I hate the way it tries to mimic the 250 GTO, which is one of the most beautiful cars ever built in my opinion.

Xanavi23

October 28, 2009 10:23 PM

I can't hate on your opinion, we share taste in some Ferrari's in common. While i like the car, i see where you're coming from.

Siawa

October 28, 2009 10:20 PM

Arghh, not a good looking one.

bcuth

October 28, 2009 10:50 PM

Plain old fugly

scratchy996

October 28, 2009 11:07 PM

Zagato sucks.

EDavis

October 28, 2009 11:24 PM

If someone has told me this was a rebodied '89 Corvette I would have believed them. Just looking at these photos makes me want to run out and buy a big-ass gold chain to show off my just-sprouted-as-I-typed-this-message chest hair. Might we be able to find a sleazy lookin' cocktail waitress to pose next to it? Or a g-stringed postergirl for the silicone industry?

GuyOh

October 29, 2009 2:45 AM

looks like a deformed down syndrome Z8

velsatis

October 29, 2009 4:49 AM

I see an Alfa 8C, a BMW Z8, a Mercedes SLR Stirling Moss. Get an overdose of it and this is the result, pure trash.....Of course this is 007 Next car, see the rocket lunchers????? ;)

jerry05cod4

October 29, 2009 6:35 AM

looks like a porsche boxter on the articles profile picture... its got a little of the 550 spyder as well from the side

Edited by user on October 29, 2009 at 6:37 AM

sideskraper

October 29, 2009 8:25 AM

The real interesting thing in this article is:

"New company rules dictate that all post-production tuning will now be done in-house."

It will be interesting to see what this entails and how they enforce it.

SirTristan

October 29, 2009 4:33 PM

Looks like a BMW Z8 combined with a boat. Don't like it. The 575 Zagato was nice, and this is just... what's the point? 550 is old now, it's a bit like an Aston DB7 Zagato which used a modified 1975 Jaguar XJS platform still in 2004...

xLumino

October 29, 2009 4:42 PM

It makes me sad to read most commentions here. This thing is a strong piece of designwork. I can't imagine anyone of the people below have an imagine how to create shapes for a car. They have no ideas to bring interesting details in a whole well proportioned design. For sure there are similar aspects to other fabrications everytime you design a car. You cannot reinvent The car completely new. And if you try, everyone say again, that it's ugly and it remains to nothing that anyone knows.

I dislike all the haters on boards like this. All the automobile-news-consumers, that have no respect and no idea for niceful conversations. All the couch potatoes criticies cars they can never buy or drive in completely irrelevant facts and subjective aspects like design. All the "specialists" that are extremely curosily and prejudiced about brands and designers.

Guys, just come of age if you are interested to get seriously. You are simply poor. Like I said: It's sad, 'cause none will win after your deconstruction.

Edited by user on October 29, 2009 at 5:27 PM

Bremen_Koenigsegg

October 29, 2009 5:10 PM

Boo-urns! It's not our job to be constructive; it's Zagato's job to make a good looking car. And they kinda suck at it.

v6s_stink

October 30, 2009 4:12 AM

I agree with XLumino up to a point. Designing a fresh car is hard. I've been sketching them as a hobby for 30 plus years. I've only produced a few that I'd be proud to show. Doing a retro design is especially challenging. Think about how many attempts have been made at this over the last 15 or so years. There have only been a few successful ones. The Fiat 500, new Mustang and Camaro and the Mini are the rare ones. This Ferrari pulls of something that is really difficult. The 250 TR is so iconic and unique. There is little about its pontoon fenders that seem to belong in 2009. But here is a successful design that evokes it without being awkward and out of synch with its time.

There are many designs, though, that I believe warrant disdain instead of respect. Some are extremely blatant copies of another or an intentional mishmash of several.

scratchy996

October 30, 2009 7:38 PM

xLumino , we mortals bow to your wisdom... but this car still sucks, as do most of Zagato's designs, they are the D&G of car designers.

GTurbo

October 30, 2009 3:34 PM

It is always interesting how unique and instantly recognisable Zagato design language is, irrespective of their project collaborations; Aston Martin or Ferrari. The signs are in the carnographic curves of the front and rear wing treatments, followed by period headlight and rear light cluster designs. The interior leather is a trademark blood-red finish. Unless your soul is dead, you'll never understand, let alone appreciate, Zagato design. If Fisker can churn out remodelled BMWs with fancy grilles, why can't Zagato go it alone?

GTurbo

October 30, 2009 3:38 PM

I can also see strong BMW Z8 design cues here; great compliment not an accusation for design plagiarism!

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