Renowned Italian car design company, Zagato, is celebrating the 50th anniversary of one of its all-time classics, the 1956 Ferrari 250 GTZ, by building a 2006 re-interpretation of the original classic for one of Japan’s leading car collectors, Yoshiyuki Hayashi.

The original Ferrari 250 GTZ, 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 and because experts and fans consider it one of the most beautiful cars in the world.

Yoshiyuki 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 design 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 designed 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.

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.

The concept of sporting 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 575GTZ will be presented in a world premiere at a Villa D’Este classic car event.

1956 Ferrari 250GT Coupe Corsa

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