This Breathtaking Manual Hypercar Weighs Little More than a Miata and Hides the Heart of a Ford Mustang

A storied Italian design firm has penned its first hypercar, and it comes heaped with timeless, old-school cool.

Close-up of a sleek green sports car's rear with illuminated orange taillight and aerodynamic design.

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By Gray Van Dyke

Published October 13, 2025

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Updated October 13, 2025

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If you have an eye for exotic, low-volume vehicles, there’s a good chance that you’ll already know the Zagato name.

The Italian design firm has worked with everyone from Alfa Romeo and Aston Martin to Maserati and Porsche to create stunning coachbuilt interpretations of already luxurious and high-performance cars.

Zagato has been doing so for a long time, too, as it first opened its doors in 1919. Even still, throughout the company’s extensive history, it had never penned a hypercar that it could call its own — until recently.

Zagato handled the stunning exterior, while Capricorn ensured that the engineering was up to par.

Capricorn

Through a partnership with Capricorn, Zagato has officially entered the hypercar arena. In addition to some truly stunning looks, the resulting Capricorn 01 promises a uniquely analogue experience, a svelte curbweight and a thundering American V8 under the hood.

Redefining the driver’s car

It’s called the Capricorn 01 Zagato, and it’s intended to represent the culmination of each outfit’s expertise, as well as a shared idea of “what a true driver’s car should stand for.” With Zagato responsible for the striking looks, Capricorn was tasked to create an engaging package.

Top-down view of a car interior featuring two brown leather seats with black racing harnesses and a brown steering wheel with carbon fiber accents. — Carbon, leather and alcantara mean that the interior is a true work of art.

Being a consulting group that provides engineering services at the highest level of motorsport — including Formula 1, Le Mans and the World Rally Championship — it’s safe to say that the company knows what goes into a competitive car. However, this project isn’t about pure performance; it’s also about emotion and experience.

In practice, this means that the car will only be offered with the option of a five-speed manual transmission, and it will feed all of its power to the rear wheels. Even if slick-shifting DCTs and adaptive all-wheel setups equate to faster lap times, they don’t necessarily make for a more compelling drive.

Sleek matte green sports car with silver multi-spoke wheels and aerodynamic black accents on a gradient green background. — The Capricorn 01 Zagato keeps with many hypercar trends while also marching to the beat of its own drum in some ways.

Following this logic, Capricorn has designed the car around a full carbon fiber monocoque for minimal weight with plenty of response. At less than 1,200 kilograms (2,645 pounds) dry, it tips the scales at just a little more than an ND Mazda Miata.

That said, while the Mazda may have the edge when it comes to curb weight, the Capricorn 01 Zagato boasts a clear advantage insofar as its output.

By modifying Ford’s supercharged 5.2-liter Predator V8 (which also appears under the hood of the Mustang GTD, mind you) with upgrades like dry sump lubrication, an improved crankshaft and pistons, as well as a fresh air intake and a new cooling system, Capricorn has managed to bring power in excess of 887 ponies.

Carbon fiber engine cover with a metal badge labeled "Capricorn" on a high-performance car engine. — Ford’s 5.2-liter V8 has been massaged to make around 900 horsepower thanks to upgrades like an improved crankshaft and some stronger pistons.

On the road, this means that the car claims a 0-60 time of less than three seconds, a top speed of 223 mph and a redline of some 9,000 rpm. Thankfully, it’ll come standard with a set of Brembo carbon-ceramic discs to provide stopping power.

An exercise in timeless design

In addition to making the Capricorn 01 Zagato a compelling driver’s car, the two outfits wanted it to be truly timeless in character — inside and out.

Green Capricorn 01 Zagato sports car rear view with sleek aerodynamic design and silver wheels. — The rear of the car is as functional as it is attractive — the airfoil and diffuser ensure that it has plenty of downforce.

For this reason, even though the sleek carbon fiber body has been optimized for performance, you’ll find that it incorporates a number of distinctive choices.

The aerodynamics, for example, are all subtle and integrated into the design. Rather than making use of large spoilers and wings that would detract from the car’s form, Zagato instead designed it with a unique underfloor and a subtle rear airfoil to create passive downforce through internal airflow management.

Black carbon fiber car chassis mounted on a white metal stand with caster wheels in a gray room. — A carbon fiber monocoque keeps things light and strong underneath.

What’s more, the car intentionally places its mirrors at the front wheel arches to minimize the weight of the gullwing doors, and it also avoids the use of exterior cameras in an effort to preserve its utility for years to come.

Rounded out by a minimalist cabin designed to “enhance the driving experience” while being “free from distractions,” the Capricorn 01 Zagato features an interior that’s cloaked in expansive swatches of carbon fiber, solid titanium and aluminum, as well as Connolly leather and Alcantara. Importantly, with just three instrument displays on the dash cluster, it’s refreshingly free of any displays or screens.

Brown leather-wrapped steering wheel with black center and three gauges on a carbon fiber dashboard. — From the refreshing lack of screens to the eye-catching manual shifter sitting in the center console, the interior is sharp.

Exclusive… and priced accordingly

As a tribute to Zagato’s founding year, Capricorn and Zagato will be building just 19 examples in total. Being so exclusive, each one will be priced accordingly at €2.95 million ($3.4 million).

Interestingly, Capricorn has stated that this isn’t the last of its vehicles. Through its efforts to bring the Capricorn 01 Zagato to life, the company has expanded its production capacity such that it could build as many as 100-200 units a year.

In other words, there’s more to come from Capricorn on the horizon, though only time will tell if it manages to be as breathtaking as this debut Zagato design. If you’d like to learn more, you can check out the Capricorn website.

Matte green sports car with silver wheels and brown interior on gradient green background.

Capricorn 01 Zagato

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About the Author: Gray is an associate editor at Gear Patrol, covering cars, motorcycles and anything else with wheels. When he’s not chasing the latest industry news, he’s probably wrenching on one of many projects. For better or worse, he believes classics make perfectly practical daily drivers.

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