Even by Pagani standards, the new Zonda Tricolore is a rare beast, as the Italian hypercar maker is only building one example of this £1.3 million car. It's due to be unveiled at the Geneva motorshow, but here we have a sneak preview of this rarest of the rare.

The Tricolore is a tribute to the Italian air force's Frecce Tricolore, which is the Latin equivalent of the Red Arrows aerobatic display team. Pagani has come up with a new carbon fibre finish for the body of the Zonda Tricolore and there are unique air intakes mounted on top of the rear wings styled to look like the intakes of the jet fighters used by the display team.

Other distinguishing marks of this one-off Zonda are the red, white and green stripes of the Italian flag that run up either side of the car's bonnet and the blue interior. The blue seats and steering wheel mimic the colour scheme of the uniforms worn by the Frecce Tricolore's pilots and the blue paint finish of their jets.

Underneath the Pagani's body, the Tricolore is based on the Zonda Cinque, already a very rare machine. That means the Tricolore comes with a 678bhp version of the Zonda's 7.3-litre V12, Mercedes-sourced engine and it's good for 0-62mph in 3.4 seconds and a top speed of 220mph.

Pagani is adamant that only one Zonda Tricolore will be made. This could be the final flourish of this amazing supercar as Pagani is busy working on the Zonda's replacement. You'll need to be as quick as the Frecce Tricolore to grab the £1.3 million Zonda Tricolore though, as Pagani reports several customers have shown an interest in buying the unique hypercar. The rest of us will have to make do with trying to touch it in Geneva.

Alisdair Suttie - 26 Feb 2010