Ferrari CZ26: A Bespoke One-Off Supercar Revealed
Ferrari presents the Ferrari CZ26, a new One-Off supercar created as part of its Special Projects programme. The Ferrari Design Studio, under the direction of Flavio Manzoni, designed and developed the car for a US client, expressing an extremely personal vision of the supersport berlinetta concept. The team reimagined this vision through an essential, technological design language with a forward-looking outlook.
The car draws on the exceptional dynamic capabilities and performance of the SF90 Stradale, retaining that model's technical specifications and the essence of a top-of-the-range, ultra-high-performance supercar. The project set out to create a car with an immediately recognisable character, one that embodies strength, precision and formal purity through a rigorous design with a strong sense of identity.
A distinctly horizontal design defines the Ferrari CZ26's stylistic theme, and a highly distinctive two-box silhouette shapes its profile. A structure based on a pure, capsule-like central mass gives the car a stable, road-hugging presence, while four muscular elements at the wheel arches support that mass. The composition flows from the front fascia, as though the body forms a single extruded element, and it ends naturally in a clean, sculpted, truncated rear that a geometry echoing the front design frames perfectly.
A full-width functional grille dominates the front, incorporating specific lighting units, ultra-slim modules with a concealed effect, brake air intakes, sensors and technical components. An unprecedented vertical leading edge accentuates the car's distinctive front end and gives it a bold, assertive presence. At the rear, a truncated tail and cantilevered taillights lend the Ferrari CZ26 a light, sculptural appearance. At the same time,e a diffuser with a pronounced horizontal design visually widens the car's stance and reinforces its stability and poise.
An extremely clean, rigorous aesthetic underpins the overall bodywork design, with functional elements emerging directly from the main surface. The side air intakes for cooling, the front end, the rear diffuser, the cantilevered light clusters and the carbon-fibre elements that visually extend the wheel arches all belong to a single design language that combines function with aesthetic expression. This approach draws on some of the most significant examples of Italian industrial design from the 1970s, and it reinterprets their principles through a contemporary lens.
Black trim on the roof and pillars blends the cabin harmoniously into the car, creating the effect of a cockpit set within the bodywork and further enhancing the design's clean lines and visual lightness.
Ferrari paid particular attention to the selection of colours and finishes, drawing on a futuristic inspiration throughout. The choice of materials and shades conveys a technical, sporty character while still feeling refined and forward-looking. The exclusive Argento Veloce shade, a silver finish with a liquid-like effect, finishes the bodywork and emphasises the richness of the surfaces and the precision of the lines. Rosso Lampante details provide a striking contrast against the car's functional and technical elements, helping to define its dynamic character. In contrast, pigmented carbon-fibre elements further emphasise the complexity of the bodywork.
Bespoke wheels, designed specifically for the Ferrari CZ26, combine a gloss-black finish with a shot-peened surface treatment, which Ferrari achieves by blasting the surface with microscopic beads to produce a polished effect. Natural-finish titanium exhaust tailpipes complete the overall design and directly express the car's technical, high-performance nature.
The exterior design theme carries through consistently into the interior, where a bespoke black technical fabric serves as the focal point. Seat inserts produced using additive manufacturing feature a design developed specifically for the Ferrari CZ26, Rosso Lampante details echo the exterior colour scheme, and an embroidered CZ26 logo adds a further layer of personalisation within the cabin.
A special gloss carbon-fibre with metallic filaments woven into its structure heightens the contrast between the matte surfaces of the technical fabric and the satin-finish carbon-fibre. Body-coloured elements on the door panels and the upper section of the dashboard complete the composition.
Ferrari's aerodynamic development encompassed every area of the car. At the front, the team completely redesigned the cooling system and airflow management by reorienting the central radiator pack and introducing dedicated bypass ducts, which improved both cooling efficiency and the downforce generated over the front axle. Ferrari also completely redesigned the underbody and the vortex generator system to optimise aerodynamic balance.
The outer sections of the front bumper incorporate an air curtain system that manages the wake generated by the front wheels, helping reduce aerodynamic drag. Ferrari has completely redesigned the rear, introducing a large upper rear spoiler and a dedicated diffuser, both designed to increase downforce while maintaining high aerodynamic efficiency. The redesigned rear engine cover incorporates dedicated vents for thermal management of the engine compartment, ensuring effective heat dissipation under all operating conditions.
