Ferrari J50, Kia Optima Sportswagon, Mazda MX-5 RF win 'Red Dot: Best of the Best' design award

A limited-edition supercar, a station wagon for the European market, and a roadster with a retractable hardtop have been named as 2017 Red Dot: Best of the Best awardees, an honor that was only given to 102 of the 5,500-plus entries to this year's product design contest.

Based on the Ferrari 488 Spider, the Ferrari J50 was built by the Italian carmaker to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Ferrari in Japan. A sophisticated two-seater, mid-rear-engined roadster designed in-house by the Ferrari Design team under the direction of Flavio Manzoni, only 10 examples of the J50 will be built.

The Kia Optima Sportwagon, meanwhile, was engineered exclusively for the European market and offers a striking exterior design and high quality interior but with the added practicality and appeal of an estate or wagon.

As for the Mazda MX-5 RF, its three-piece power retractable hardtop--which opens and closes in just 13 seconds--combines all-weather coupé practicality with the hair-in-the-wind spirit that inspired the original, first-generation model.

One of the world’s largest product competitions, the Red Dot Awards was initiated in 1955 by the Design Center of North Rhine-Westphalia. The Red Dot Awards are presented in the three categories (Product Design, Communication Design and Design Concept), and are judged on criteria such as degree of innovation, formal quality, functionality and ecological compatibility.