Automotive

Ferrari unveils achingly gorgeous one-off SP38

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The Ferrari SP38 is a one-off creation for a mystery client
The Ferrari SP38 is built around the engine and chassis of the 488 GTB
The Ferrari SP38 is finished in a new three-layer metallic red
The Ferrari SP38 will be on display at this weekend's Concorso d'Eleganza Villa d'Este
The Ferrari SP38
The Ferrari SP38 is a one-off creation for a mystery client
View gallery - 5 images

Top-flight Ferraris are not cheap things, and special editions even less cheap. So we shudder to think what one-off creations like this SP38 would cost. It's a custom work by the Ferrari Design Center for a specific mystery client "with a deep passion for racing" and apparently quite a bit of taste.

The car's based on the engine and chassis of the 488 GTB, a twin-turbo mid-engine V8 making some 660 hp (492 kW), but from there the design team claims it has drawn inspiration from the Ferrari F40 of the late 1980s – a giant of a car and the last commissioned by Enzo Ferrari himself.

Mind you, beyond the tiny rear heat vent slashes in the otherwise solid engine cover, we'd be hard pressed to tell you where exactly the F40's angular lines are referenced in this thoroughly sensual, modern design.

The Ferrari SP38 is finished in a new three-layer metallic red

You'd certainly never recognize it as a GTB either. We'd argue it's much, much nicer to look at, finished in a new three-layer metallic red, with a very sexy wraparound concept to the front and rear bodywork, a nice curve leading to the back of the cabin windows, and narrow-waisted carbon side skirting that gives the impression the top three quarters of the car is thinner, pointier and riding on air. All this while still maintaining recognizable Ferrari lines around the wheel arches.

We're a fan of this design so some of these ideas seem sorely wasted on a one-off special. But that's probably the point, though. Still, we hope to see some of them sneaking their way into some production Ferraris in the future.

The Ferrari SP38 is built around the engine and chassis of the 488 GTB

If you want to see the SP38 in the flesh, you have precisely one opportunity to do so before it gets locked away in its mystery owner's collection and brought out sparingly for private use. That opportunity is this weekend's Concorso d'Eleganza Villa d'Este on the shores of Lake Como, Italy. If you can't make that, jump into the gallery for a few more photos.

Source: Ferrari

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13 comments
Reece Agland
More 512 or 328 than F40 to me. Beautiful
CarolynFarstrider
Polluting and vulgar rather than gorgeous. A really great car design would be electric.....
GlennG
Seems clear to me the design inspiration is the Lancia Stratos. It hints at the wedge nose, side window shape, and slatted rear window/deck cover.
ChairmanLMAO
i dunno - there seems to be too many supercars nowadays. dare I say boring?
ArthurGD3
I don't really see the F40 resemblance but regardless it is an extremely attractive design. I don't know how I feel about the rear, it's unique but maybe too far a departure from recent Ferrari designs but maybe that's what this client was looking for.
Expanded Viewpoint
If all of our electricity was generated by raw vegan Gerbils running in a squirrel cage, then maybe a case could be made for cars running on nothing but electrical power. But... that's not the situation. What virtually all of the pseudo environmentalists miss badly on, is that the very roads they travel upon are largely made from petroleum, and EVERY technology that we have in common use today creates some kind of pollution and waste in its manufacturing process. To all of the knee jerk reactionaries who delude themselves into thinking that electric cars/trucks/trains/airplanes/motorcycles are some kind of panacea to all of life's ills, I say to get on a treadmill and use your feet to make the electricity that you need to get to where you want to go! Or just walk it yourself.
Randy
steveraxx
Please to anyone with a good visual memory this looks exactly like the re-boot of the Stratos. And I do mean exactly.
guzmanchinky
Achingly, because it aches that i can't have it! But I agree with the poster who said electric is the future. How can supercars even compete with the 1.9 second Tesla that is coming soon?
Sim Puke
It looks "achlingly" like the new Ford GT, albeit missing the radical side air ducts.
Expanded Viewpoint
In my haste, I forgot to say DAMMMN! that's a gorgeous looking set of wheels there! Yes, it truly does make me ache, in my head, my heart and another place too, which I probably shouldn't mention in mixed company!! The rear deck looks sort of like a Horseshoe Crab, but every other view of it just makes me drool like a baby who is teething! That paint job is exemplary, hard to find anything more beautiful and precise!
Randy