2006 Ferrari 575 GTZ

Yushiyuki Hayashi is a famous Japanese car collector, who owns numerous cars of great historical value, including several Ferraris such as the 166MM, the 250 Spider California, two Daytonas – a coupé and a spider – and the Enzo.

In the classic tradition of the keen purchaser of exclusive cars who stimulated the creativeness of Italian coachbuilders in the 1950s and 1960s, Yushiyuki Hayashi asked Zagato if it would be possible to create a body for his 575M, in the style of the famous 250GTZ berlinetta.

When Zagato received this request, it informed Ferrari of the project, which would be a good opportunity to celebrate the model's anniversary, and then created a car that harked back to the 250 GTZ, built around the Ferrari 575.

Like its forebear, the 575 GTZ has an all-aluminium body, and, as a tribute to Ferrari and to two-seater Italian sports cars, it has joined the exclusive group of cars that are the fruit of the tradition of custom-built cars.

Like the 250 GTZ, it sports two-tone paintwork with styling cues and volumes that explicitly refer back to the 1950s, and sublimates the character of the many cars built by Zagato to clothe original engineering, with the pure style of traditional sports cars.

For Zagato, the project represented an opportunity to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Ferrari 250 GTZ of 1956, one of the most outstanding GT cars, which has already gone down in history.

The model, which was also commissioned by a gentleman driver and collector, in the best Zagato tradition, is a sublime synthesis of prestige and performance, elegance and sportiness, to the point that it can boast the highest value of any car in the luxury period sports car market. The 250 GTZ has won numerous competitions and concours d'élégance, and it represents a dream come true, because experts and fans consider it one of the most beautiful cars in the world.

The new 575 GTZ has the Ferrari prancing horse on its bonnet and the Z of Zagato on its side, an expression of eternal Italian excellence in its form and content. It is a winning combination, linking the most powerful, famous engineering in the world with the most refined, fascinating sporting style, both made strictly in Italy.

The concept of sporty elegance, functional design that does not merely follow the trend of the moment but strives for pure performance, and the ultra-light aluminium body are Zagato's strengths which become a universally recognised value.

Just as in the 1956, the 250GTZ was showed at the most important concours d'elegance, 50 years later, the 575 GTZ will be presented in a world premier at Villa D'Este Concours D'Elegance, Cernobbio (Italy) April 22 th -24th.

by Zagato

by Ferrari

Coupe
Chassis number: ZFFBV55A740136920

From the very beginning of Ferrari production, the one-off body was a part of its history. Most of the early Ferraris were actually one-off bodies, with no car being exactly like any other. Early Ferraris were either bodied to the specific needs and design of a client or used a design from the coachbuilder that was then refined and modified to meet the new owner's requests.

Throughout the 1950s and into the 1960s, Ferrari, along with its normal production, continued to manufacture a few special cars specifically for its most favored customers. However, by the end of the 1960s, emerging governmental regulations began to make this process very difficult or even, in the case of the United States, impossible. As a result, the one-off-bodied special Ferrari became too expensive for both the Company and its clients.

Luckily, by the 2000s, automotive technology had progressed to the point where companies had mastered the emissions and structural requirements for a modern car. With the advent of computer-aided design, it again became possible to use an already government-approved automotive platform and then design a special body that would reflect the desires of a favored client.

Zagato is a design firm and coachbuilder whose history dates from the 1920s. They are famous for lightweight, distinctive aerodynamic bodywork on many of the world's most expensive and sporting cars. In the last few years, Zagato ceased to actually produce small runs of special vehicles and moved to the areas of prototypes and design exercises.

However, many of Ferrari's best customers still recall the spectacular Zagato bodies that graced some of the 250 GT Tour de France Berlinettas in the 1950s, and in recent years, approached both Ferrari and Zagato with requests for another series of special one-off bodies for their modern cars. Both factories agreed that this would be an exciting exercise and chose the 575 Maranello as the model to be specially bodied. Each individual car would receive a special one-off body which, while paying homage to the Zagato Tour de France Ferraris of the past, would also reflect the individual desires of the client. A total of six 575 Zagatos were constructed over about a three-year period for five special clients.

250 GT TdF Zagato Berlinetta 0537 was the 1956 Italian GT Championship winner and is also part of this collection. As a result, 136920 was constructed to reflect homage to this other great Zagato-bodied Ferrari. This 575 was originally sold in Flordia, before being acquired in 2006 and dispatched to Zagato to be rebodied in a modern interpretation f their own classic 1956 TdF Berlinetta.

Debuted in 2002, the Ferrari 575M (Maranello) is a two-seat, 2-door grand tourer that is basically an updated 550 Maranello with just slight styling updates from Pininfarina. In 2006 the 575M was replaced with the 599 GTB. The model number ‘575' stood for total engine displacement in liters and the ‘M' is an abbreviation of ‘modificato' or ‘modified'.

Slight updates from the 550 included a completely renewed interior but it did feature major improvements that included larger disc brakes, and much more powerful and larger engine and a different weight distribution. The aerodynamics was much more refined and fluid-dynamics were revised also along with an adaptive suspension set-up. The Ferrari 575M offered Magneti Marelli's semi-automatic ‘F1' gearbox for the first time ever on a Ferrari V12, along with two six-speed transmissions available along with a conventional manual gearbox.

The Ferrari 575M had a max speed of 203 mph and could achieve 0-60mph in just 4.2 seconds with the semi-automatic gearbox. The 575M had an overall length of 179 inches, a width of 76.2 inches and a height of 50.3 inches.

3 years after it had been introduced, an all new GTC handling package and Superamerica version and raised the power from 515 Ps to 540 PS was developed in 2005. The Superamerica version was a limited run of 559 retractable hardtop variants of the coupe. The GTC package came with Ferrari's fourth Carbon fiber-reinforced Silicon Carbide composite ceramic composite brake system, constructed by Brembo. Other features on the GTC package included a more performance-tuned suspension system, 19 inch wheels and low-restriction exhaust system. The all-new brakes were based on the company's Formula One technology. The brakes use 15.7 inch discs with six-piston calipers in the front and 14.2 inch discs with four-piston calipers in the back. The GTC package was priced around $23,500

The 575M Superamerica was debuted in 2005 and was a much evolved convertible variation of the 575M Maranello. The Superamerica came with an electrochromic glass panel roof that was capable of rotating 180° (a production vehicle first!) and the rear to lay flat over the trunk. Marketed by Ferrari as the world's fastest convertible, the Superamerica used the higher-output tune of the V12 engine which was rated at 540 hp. The Superamerica had a top speed of 199 mph and the GTC handling package was optional. 559 575M Superamerica's were constructed, an odd production, but followed Enzo Ferrari's philosophy ‘that there should always be one fewer car available than what the market is demanding'.

Announced at the 2006 Geneva Motor Show, Yoshiyui Hayash produced a one-off special 575M GTZ built by Zagato for Japanese Ferrari collector. To commemorate the 50th anniversary of the 250 range, the GTZ was endorsed officially by Ferrari. The 575M GTZ included Zagato's signature double-bubble roofline and two-tone paint.

The 575-GTC, distinguished from the 575M GTC Handling Package, was introduced in 2003 and followed the success of Prodrive in running the Ferrari 550, Ferrari wanted to offer their own racing vehicle to customers. The 575-GTC's were used primarily in the FIA GT Championship and succeeded to take a single win in their first season, with another one the following year. By the end of 2005 the 575-GTC's were not as good as the Prodrive-built 550-GTS's.

by Jessican Donaldson