Ferrari Officially Reveals One-Off P540 Superfast Aperta for American Client

Ferrari is back into the business of coachbuilding as the Italian supercar maker unveiled the second one-off special after the P4/5 it built for American collector (and millionaire...) James Glickenhaus back in 2006. The new Ferrari P540 Superfast Ferries Aperta was created for Edward Walson, son of John Walson, the inventor of cable TV.

The wealthy American approached Ferrari in 2008 to produce a modern reinterpretation of the gold-coloured 1965 Ferrari 250GT NART Spyder featured in a 1968 Fellini short film called "Toby Dammit".

"I had always dreamed of designing sports cars," Walson explains, "and when I saw this film the decision came of its own accord: one day I would have 'my' Ferrari." And well, he did.

In case you didn't notice, the Ferrari P540 Superfast Aperta is based on the 599 GTB Fiorano. The car was designed by Pininfarina and built in Maranello, with Ferrari claiming that Walson was directly involved in each stage of its development.

According to the Italians, while considerable effort went into strengthening the chassis after the roof was chopped off, the increase in weight was kept down to just 20 kg or 44 pounds by employing carbon-fibre extensively.

Ferrari said that from the initial sketches to the final, road-legal car, it took just 14 months to complete the project.

Those of you with a strong memory may remember that we first showed you the P540 Superfast Aperta earlier this year, though then, we didn't know any details about the one-off Prancing Horse model.

Technical specifications

Length 4731 mm

Width 1954 mm

Height 1300 mm

Wheelbase 2750 mm

Front track 1690 mm

Rear track 1620 mm

Engine

65° V12

Displacement 5999 cc

Maximum power 456 kW (620 CV) at 7600 rpm

Maximum torque 608 Nm (62 kgm) at 5600 rpm

Transmission

F1 6-speed gearbox

Tyres

Front 245/35 20"

Rear 305/35 20"

Fuel consumption

Combined cycle 17.9 l/100 km

CO2 emissions

Combined cycle 415 g/km

Ferrari Dino Rosa: Concept Study for a New Entry Level Mid-Engine Ferrari

Many independent designers have tried to capture the Ferrari spirit in their conceptual proposals, but to be completely honest, very few have really succeeded. Unfortunately for designer Paolo Rosa, we'd classify this study for a smaller mid-engined Ferrari sportscar -supposedly inspired by the 1967 Dino 246 GT- in the first category. In our opinion, the worst design aspect of the Ferrari Dino Rosa is the rather generic front-end. Hit the jump to check out more photos of Rosa's 1:10 scale model that is currently on display at the "Dreaming the Automobile" Exhibition hosted by the Museo dell'Automobile Bonfanti-Vimar in Italy.

Source: Museo dell'Automobile , Via: Carbodydesign

Pininfarina 'Golden Ferrari' Revives Fantuzzi's 1965 Ferrari 250 GT NART Spyder

The retro-styled Ferrari you see pictured above was snapped by a reader over from our Dutch friends at Autoblog.nl. There's no official information on the Pininfarina-designed Prancing Horse model other than it's named 'The Golden Ferrari'. Though it looks that it could be based on the Ferrari 599 GTB, we can't be sure about its underpinnings. However, what we can tell you is that it's styling revives the 1965 Ferrari 250GT NART Spyder that was designed and built by Modena coachbuilder Fantuzi for Ferrari's North American importer, Luigi Chinetti.

This car, that was based on the Ferrari 250 GTE was shown for the first time to the public at the 1965 San Francisco Sports Car show and it later appeared at the New York and Miami Auto motorshows.

A golden version of the 250GT NART Spyder was featured in a short film called "Toby Dammit" that we've never heard before but apparently inspired Pininfarina in the creation of this mysterious Ferrari.

We thank Vincent from Autoblog.nl for the photos

For Photos of the orig. 1965 Ferrari 250GT NART Spyder Click here: Prancing Horse Farm / Supercars

Lamborghini, Ferrari and BMW Sportscar Concept Studies by Iranian Designer Emil Baddal

Remember the collective Iranian concept studies that we showed you back in April? Well, we found yet another designer with potential from the Middle Eastern country. His name is Emil Baddal and we picked out three illustrations from his portfolio that caught our attention. The designs proposals are for a Lamborghini, a Ferrari and a BMW supercar. We reckon that all three studies could benefit from some tweaks here and there, but overall not a bad attempt at all.

LAMBORGHINI

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BMW

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FERRARI

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CGIs: Emil Baddal , Via: Designerspace

Rare Video of 1968 Ferrari 512 Modulo Concept on the Road

It's not often that we get the chance to see driving footage of a rare concept car like the 1968 Ferrari 512 Modulo that was created by Italian designer Paolo Martin who was then working for Pininfarina. Unveiled at the 1970 Geneva Motor Show, Martin's futuristic Ferrari 512 Modulo was built on the chassis of the Ferrari 512 S racer featuring a 550HP V12 engine that could be seen through 24 large holes in the rear compartment. One of the most prominent features of the Modulo was its canopy style sliding roof that moved forward along with the windshield.

Thanks for the tip Alex!

Geneva Preview: Ferrari's Hardcore 599 GTB Fiorano HGTE and 599XX Study

At next week's Geneva Motor Show Ferrari will reveal two new variants of its 599 GTB Fiorano sportscar. More specifically, the Italian firm will launch a more hardcore version of the two-seater coupe fitted with a new sport kit dubbed Handling GT Evoluzione (HGTE) Package and a technical study called "599XX". Ferrari has not disclosed any details on the 599 HGTE (pictured above) that will be finished in a new three-layer metallic Rosso, but aside from the new alloy wheels and high-performance tires, expect to see a sportier suspension set up and changes to the steering an and braking system.

As for the 599XX, Ferrari said that the car incorporates the most advanced technologies resulting from the firm's road-going and F1 research. Many of the systems on the 599XX will be used for the first time.

In addition to the two 599 GTB Fioranos, Ferrari's booth will also feature the firm's single-seater F1 racing car that recently won the Prancing Horse its 16th Constructors' World title and the full range of the firm's road cars including the Scuderia Spider 16M in a Grigio Titanio livery, the 430 Scuderia in Rosso Corsa and two Grand Tourer models, the Ferrari California in Nero Metallizzato with a Sabbia interior and the flagship 612 Scaglietti.

From Russia with Love: Ferrari Four-Door Coupe Study

If we were to follow the norm, we’d say that since Aston Martin, Porsche and quite possibly, Lamborghini, are preparing to introduce a new bunch of sporty four-door coupe models, then it would be only logical that Ferrari would do the same, thus justifying these renderings that were made by a Russian designer called Krasnov Igor. But we won’t. We’ve heard of no such thing as a four-door Ferrari and we seriously doubt that the Prancing horse will ever make a car like this, especially in the presence of Maserati. -Continued

As for the Ferrari four-door coupe proposal, our opinion –and feel free to disagree with us- is that Krasnov will have to try much harder next time as we fail to see anything inspiring or beautiful about this design.

Source: Cardesign , Via: Worldcarfans