There are not many manual hypercars. I think we have the Hennessey Venom F5 Revolution LF and the Nilu27. And by “we,” I mean some rich car collector has them. The scarcity of manuals in general, especially in the hypercar segment, makes Capricorn Group’s newly revealed hypercar quite fascinating.
Of course, most hypercars are not manual for a reason. Firstly, most are EVs. But secondly, hypercars are meant to push the boundaries of performance to the absolute extreme, making them the fastest and most powerful cars to ever exist. Giving them a manual transmission is a bit of a strange choice, since you’re essentially slowing down your hypercar by shifting.
Those who care about top speed figures clearly want to go fast. These are super-rich millionaires and billionaires who want to take the car to a private track, hit 300-plus miles per hour, high five their greedy friends who are just waiting to get a free meal out of the deal, and then store the car in a garage somewhere. They don’t want to learn manual. They don’t want to be held back from that record-breaking speed.
Hennessey‘s Venom F5 Revolution LF is a one-of-one manual hypercar that is said to exceed 300 mph thanks to its 1,817 bhp, making it the fastest manual car in the world. However, its 0-60 time is clearly not going to match those of standard hypercars. And I’m not sure why a billionaire would pay all that to go slower on purpose.
However, we are not billionaires. Probably not even millionaires. We’re just people who love driving. So a manual hypercar? Hell yes.
Capricorn 01 Zagato offers visceral driving experience to rich people
The 01 Zagato was launched back in October 2025, and Capcricorn Group has been working on its “extensive calibration” ever since. The Capricorn’s second prototype of the 01 Zagato was revealed at Salon Retromobile in Paris earlier this week. A third is apparently on the way.
Robertino Wild, Capricorn’s CEO, said: “Each prototype of the Capricorn 01 Zagato allows us to deepen the relationship between design, engineering, and driver — and to validate our decisions under real conditions before production begins later this year.”
The 01 Zagato has a supercharged 5.2-liter V8 producing 888 horsepower and 738 lb-ft. of torque inside a carbon fiber body. The dramatic lines and wedges make the 01 Zagato look like a more “reserved” Apollo Project Evo, trading the extra flair for more aggression and streamlined angles. It will apparently reach 60 mph in 3 seconds flat, with a top speed of 224 mph. The 01 Zagato will also have a five-speed dogleg manual transmission.
While it may not be as zippy and fast as most hypercars, the Capricorn 01 Zagato is more appealing to someone like me. i.e. someone with a Lotus Elise. The cockpit looks quite bare-bones, albeit more comfortable-looking than the Elise. But it most definitely screams “driver’s car” more than most plush supercar and hypercar interiors. The 01 Zagato is clearly about experiencing the drive, not pushing for a record speed. Shifting in a powerful car that can reach over 200 mph seems like an insane experience that would make you feel at one with the machine (or with the road, depending just how engaging it feels).
Plus, I’m a sucker for gullwing doors.
But don’t get it twisted, alright? This is still a hypercar. There will only be 19 Capricorn 01 Zagatos, each one costing about $3.5 million. It’s definitely not a track toy, and I’d be surprised if we even saw one make it out of a temperature-controlled garage at all. But man, I’d love to see someone drive the crap out of this thing more than most hypercars.
A bad idea doesn’t mean a bad time.
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