04.07.2010 RARE ZAGATO FERRARI TESTAROSSA PROJECT SHOWN IN GOODWOOD

ZAGATO FERRARI FZ93

ZAGATO FERRARI FZ93

ZAGATO FERRARI FZ93

ZAGATO FERRARI FZ93

Zagato has dredged its official collection to find the long-forgotten Ferrari Testarossa-based FZ93 concept car which it has brought to the Goodwood Festival of Speed this weekend where its distinctive racing-inspired shape is gracing the "Cartier Style et Luxe" Paddock.

The FZ93 (Formula Zagato 1993) was built around Ferrari's Testarossa, chassis number 83935, by the Milanese design house as its headline presentation concept car at the 1993 edition of the Geneva Motor Show. It's lines were the work of legendary designer Ercole Spada who had returned to Zagato the previous year having penned the Aston DB4 Zagato 32 years earlier.

Pininfarina's Testarossa design was a logical starting point as the project came during a period when Zagato had been creating one-offs or small runs based on Ferrari production models such as the 348 Zagato Elaborazione built during 1991-92 for a handful of owners. Like the "Elaborazione" and the Testarossa, the FZ93 featured a huge side air intake, fashionable for the period, but was cleared of all the long slats that identified Pininfarina's design.

There were more large intakes at the front end which was focused around an F1-themed nose, a styling direction that was picked up by Ferrari just under a decade later for its Enzo supercar. Pop-up headlights, like the Testarossa featured, as did foglights tucked into the front air intakes. The FZ93's F1 inspiration led to the "Formula Zagato" nametag, while the coachbuilder's traditional "double bubble" roof cue was also incorporated. The bonnet featured a Naca duct positioned centrally just below the windscreen and in true Zagato style this cue was replicated at the rear end to form the dramatic body lines that swept down from the rear screen on either side of the engine bay to finish tightly, a trademark of the car's designer, Spada, while two smaller Naca ducts on either side of the engine cover complement the effect.

The FZ93 was finished in red and black when it made its debut in Geneva to mixed reviews, the black section covering all the bodywork below the belt line and the front spoiler, as well as large "Cavallino" decals on the rear three quarter. It was later painted all-red, which improved its lines greatly, and has recently been shown to acclaim at the Concorso d'Eleganza Ville d'Este.

This weekend at the Goodwood Festival of Speed the FZ93 is being shown on the rolling lawns of the "Cartier Style et Luxe" Paddock in: Class 8: Far Fetched Fantasies - The Audacious Supercar 1980-2000. A fully working prototype it remains as part of Zagato's collection in Milan.
 

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