The Capricorn 01 Zagato made its public debut today at the Zoute Grand Prix in Belgium, and it might have also just become my new favorite hypercar. It’s an LMP1-style chassis with a V8, rear-wheel drive, dog-leg five-speed manual transmission, super classy analog interior, and a gorgeous Zagato body.
The car reportedly weighs “less than” 2,645 pounds, dry. The builders claim that the Ford 5.2-liter engine, which is both supercharged and revs to 9,000 rpm, is making north of 900 horsepower and 738 lb-ft of torque.
It looks … pretty much perfect. There are a lot of swoops and scoops, but the design is clean and tidy.
Initial performance specs are big zoomy: 0 to 62 mph in 2.9 seconds, top speed of about 224 mph. It doesn’t look like the kind of car you need to constantly be at maximum attack in to enjoy, though. The delightfully old-school cockpit has a really nice, elegant-industrial aesthetic, and rowing your own gears will keep you engaged at any speed. Plus, a dog-leg transmission is always cool—that means first gear is down and to the left, so second and third can be in a straight row.
Zagato has, of course, been doing elite car bodies for many decades and with quite a few different OEMs. This is the first project the outfit’s working on that it’s classified as “hypercar,” as confirmed by Zagato President, Andrea Michele Zagato, in a press release.
Capricorn is not as widely known as a brand as big Z, but even if you haven’t heard of it you’ve probably watched its hardware in action. The company has been building lightweight high-performance structures for racing as well as aerospace applications going way back. Capricorn’s engineering contributed to the Porsche 919 and Mercedes F1 effort, among many other things. It’s netted 18 Formula 1 World Championship titles and 14 Le Mans wins to date.
“The [C]apricorn 01 Zagato represents the culmination of everything we have learnt from decades of pioneering ultra-lightweight materials, technologies[,] and construction techniques,” Capricorn CEO Robertino Wild stated in a press release.
That release also included some details on the chassis design, which I’ll drop in wholesale for you to get the full rundown:
“Applying its expertise from LMP1 racing, capricorn has built its first road car around a super-stiff, super-strong all-carbon fiber structure, using the material to form the monocoque, front and rear subframes, crash members, and all body panels. The suspension comprises a double wishbone, pushrod system with an anti-roll bar and spring/damper units from Bilstein front and rear, calibrated for optimum response and agility. The damper elements offer three driving modes (Comfort, Sport & Track), which can be selected manually by the driver from the steering wheel controller. A similar, no-compromise approach has been taken by capricorn’s engineers to the steering to ensure optimum driving feel.”
The electric power-assisted steering system has a small motor for low-speed assistance, but that turns off completely when you’re moving quickly to give you a fully mechanical steering feel.
After learning all that, I was completely sold on this thing. But unfortunately, it won’t be U.S. import-legal without exploiting a “show and display” loophole. Oh, and only 19 of these will be made. And they’re starting at around $3.4 million. Shoot, here I was with cash in hand ready to put $5,000 down.
For those of you reading this who are actually in a position to spend seven figures on a car, the Capricorn 01 is being sold through the Louyet Group which slings expensive hardware in Belgium, Luxembourg, and France. The cars themselves will be handmade in Germany, and the first are supposed to be finished as soon as next year.
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