Zagato's 550 GTZ is one of the secret Ferraris that was made
from the prying eyes of the press and Ferrari themselves. We first broke the
story in 2007 when the Quail Motorsports Gathering had an advertisement for one
in their program catalog. Since then, Zagato has denied the existence of the
model despite including it in their latest book Zagato Milano 1919-2009: The
Official Book.
Zagato and Ferrari's successful relationship started with
the 1948 Ferrari 166 MM Zagato Panoramica and continued sporadically throughout
Ferrari's lengthy history. The most famous example is the Ferrari 250 GT Zagato
(GTZ) which helped Camillo Luglio become the Italian sports car champion twice
over. We hope one day the relationship between Zagato and Ferrari reaches a
similar level.
The new model pays tribute to the old by joining the
exclusive group of Ferraris that are custom-built. Like Ferrari's early
competition cars, the 575 GTZ has an all-aluminum body and is strictly a two
seat affair.
Unlike the five Coupés Zagato made on the 575M Maranello
platform, Zagato had to start with the much more exclusive Ferrari 550
Barchetta Pininfarina. These had the required chassis strength and provided a
basis for the 550 GTZ.
Zagato only built five Coupés and three Barchettas. They
first featured a silver example with red interior in their Official Book. A
second car in Grigio Silverstone with Sabbia interior appeared at the 2010
Goodwood Festival of Speed as a display model for the Bonhams Auction. This
second car was listed as a 2000 model year, which is probably the date the
original Barchetta car left the factory. It also appears to be delivered new to
England with the British plates WOF19 and has side markers in the front fender
vents. Bonhams described it as “one of only five examples of the car
bodied by the famous Italian carrozeria Zagato and the only Right Hand Drive
example.”
We can only speculate as to why Zagato has tried to remove
all traces of the 550 GTZ online. Our best guess is that this model was made
without authorization from Ferrari who forbid custom bodies after the P4/5 was
completed in 2006.
source: http://www.supercars.net/cars/3881.htmlby Richard Owen
photos by supercars.net
http://www.sfmotorsports.com
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