Automotive

Ferrari presents its most extreme one-off creation ever – the P80/C

Ferrari presents its most extreme one-off creation ever – the P80/C
Ferrari claims the P80/C is its "most extreme one-off ever"
Ferrari claims the P80/C is its "most extreme one-off ever"
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The Ferrari team pores over the P80/C
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The Ferrari team pores over the P80/C
On track at Maranello
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On track at Maranello
The P80/C in pieces: a 488 GT3 car underneath, with completely revised bodywork and a derestricted engine
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The P80/C in pieces: a 488 GT3 car underneath, with completely revised bodywork and a derestricted engine
At home on the racetrack
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At home on the racetrack
A huge rear wing and massive diffuser setup dominate the rear of the car
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A huge rear wing and massive diffuser setup dominate the rear of the car
The P80/C with its clothes off
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The P80/C with its clothes off
The interior is every bit a race car
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The interior is every bit a race car
Ferrari claims the P80/C is its "most extreme one-off ever"
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Ferrari claims the P80/C is its "most extreme one-off ever"
That front splitter is not designed to take prisoners
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That front splitter is not designed to take prisoners
Downforce has been a priority here
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Downforce has been a priority here
The rear of the car with bodywork removed
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The rear of the car with bodywork removed
The engine is derestricted. Possibly up to the tune of the 488 Pista motor's 710 hp, possibly more, we don't know
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The engine is derestricted. Possibly up to the tune of the 488 Pista motor's 710 hp, possibly more, we don't know
Ferrari's Dino 206 S
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Ferrari's Dino 206 S
Ferrari's 330 P4, from the mid-60s.
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Ferrari's 330 P4, from the mid-60s.
View gallery - 14 images

Ferrari has released a beautiful new one-off supercar, and we all know what that means: a certain percentage of our venerable readership has already scrolled to the bottom of the page to leave a comment about how it's slower than a Tesla, bad for the planet and a rolling fossil from a bygone age. Which is fine, and certainly true, and we do enjoy hearing from you guys, so feel free to pop down the bottom of the page, stick the boot in and get that out of your system before reading further!

With that out of the way, Ferrari is describing the P80/C as its most extreme one-off design ever. Built for an anonymous customer with a long family history of Ferrari fanaticism, it's effectively a 488 GT3 race car, unshackled from any racing regulations and limitations and treated to an entirely new body kit. Thus, it's both more powerful and aerodynamically superior to Ferrari's own race car, which made it a blast for Ferrari's GT race driver Alessandro Pier Guidi to test during the development phase on the company's private Fiorano racetrack in Maranello.

The interior is every bit a race car
The interior is every bit a race car

Not even a little bit road legal, the P80/C's interior is almost identical to the 488 GT3, including the roll cage, race harnesses and racing steering wheel. Indeed, the GT3 provides the entire drivetrain and chassis, but where the GT car appears to be restricted to 592 horsepower, the P80/C isn't. No mention is made about this car's final power figures, but considering that the 488 Pista rolls with 710 hp, it seems reasonable to expect at least that from this multi-million-dollar one-off.

Which leaves us with the bodywork, which is a totally custom job by Ferrari's design team styled to echo two of the client's favorite race machines, both from the mid-60s: the 330 P3/P4 and the Dino 206 S. Here they are for reference:

Ferrari's 330 P4, from the mid-60s.
Ferrari's 330 P4, from the mid-60s.

Ferrari's Dino 206 S
Ferrari's Dino 206 S

Low hoods, then, with big arches over all four wheels, smooth wraparound windscreens, prominent air intakes on the sides and a sexy flat rear of the cabin with more or less no rearward vision.

That front splitter is not designed to take prisoners
That front splitter is not designed to take prisoners

Looking at the P80/C, then, it's hard not to notice that it looks a lot more like a 488 than either of those voluptuous designs. Still, there are visible nods. The wheel arches look to have been exaggerated by an inch or two, the rear of the car seems to flare upward where the standard 488 tapers down, and the side air intakes have been exaggerated and cut to follow the lines of a very sexy wraparound windscreen that flows into the side windows and disappears back under the flying buttresses that define the shape of the rear. The back window is just about obscured by an aerodynamic mini-wing designed to channel air back to a giant main wing.

Underbody aeros go fairly bonkers, with a whopping front splitter that looks like it could be used to mow the lawn, complete with upturned wings at the sides. Likewise the side skirts also flick up at the rear, and the carbon rear diffuser setup is colossal. All told, Ferrari says its downforce is well balanced between the axles, and offers "an improvement of around 5 percent in overall efficiency, required to make full use of the unrestricted engine."

A huge rear wing and massive diffuser setup dominate the rear of the car
A huge rear wing and massive diffuser setup dominate the rear of the car

While this car will definitely be called to account for itself on track, the customer wanted something he could parade around at concourse shows as well, so Ferrari made it a "dual soul" machine. You can pull the rear wing off, and replace the 18-inch single-nut race wheels with spunkier-looking 21-inch rims when you need a car that goes with an evening gown rather than your Nomex race suit.

Only one will be built, and you can't have it. You'll probably never see it again. So jump into the gallery or click on the 12-minute documentary video below for a closer look, and don't forget to let us know how vastly, shamefully, hopelessly inferior it is to an electric car in the comments. We shall attempt to pass your scorn on to the owner if we can elbow our way past his teetering piles of money.

Source: Ferrari

Welcome to the new Ferrari P80/C

View gallery - 14 images
5 comments
5 comments
Rocky Stefano
Love the car. Don't give a shite about electric vehicles and never will. Long live the V8!!!
Fletcher
The P80C looks beautiful, job well done, but I only see 3 things the P80C and the Dino have in common. They are both red, have tires and 1 windshield wiper, otherwise nothing is even distantly similar. The P80C looks more like a Lamborghini than a Dino. Still looks great but not like a Dino, which is also a beautiful in its own right.
skyking96w
Looks more like a Ford GT than a Ferrari.
Buzzclick
OMG, the 330 P3/P4 is one of my favorite Ferraris! This P80/C borrows a little of its rear end and its big wheel arches. The Dino, not so much, maybe the windshield. It's purpose-built with a lot of Italian passion. It barely has a bad angle, which is rare. The dude who owns it is a lucky SOB. Una Bella Machina.
Hey Loz, the electric crew should have their day. If someone prefers pure speed instead of the sound and feel of a well designed ICE with a transmission, that takes skill to get just the right power curve, well, let 'em have their fun with the 'go' pedal.
Suman M Subramanian
Gorgeous car. To my eyes it looks like a more modern, and more extreme, 288 GTO.