We’ve always thought that when it comes to Ferraris, the 599 would have made a lot more sense as a convertible than the 430 or 458. Think about it – roadsters are always slower, heavier and more rigid than their coupe kin, and pure supercars shouldn’t be compromised, while GT have the right sort of relaxed attitude.

This drop-top Prancing Horse is called the the Ferrari 599 SA Aperta and it was spotted by Alex Molik wearing Qatar plates. The limited production topless version of the 599 model has debuted in Paris back in 2010 and is the first application of the HELE (High Emotion Low Emissions). According to Ferrari, the SA APERTA celebrates Pininfarina’s 80th year of activity and pays homage to Sergio and Andrea. There were only 80 units of this car produced and this is just one of them.

“The SA APERTA is a new concept: a completely open-top interpretation of the architectural philosophy of the 599. It is an authentic roadster and comes with just an emergency soft top designed for use only if the weather gets particularly bad,” Ferrari says.

Just to let you know the volume of the video goes up near the end with cars revving so it might be a surprise to you. It was to me.
What do you think about this red Ferrari SA Aperta?
Join the discussion. Please leave a comment.
Please Share this video with your friends on Facebook and tweet on Twitter by pressing the buttons below.
Thank you!

Source: autoevolution.com

Sergio and Andrea Pininfarina would be proud. The Ferrari SA APERTA has made its global entrance, so stare at it while you can because you might never see one in person. Just 80 sans-roof examples of the front-engined V12 hot-rod will be built. That number serves to honor the 80th anniversary of Pininfarina, just as the letters S and A honor Sergio and Andrea Pininfarina.

It’s not entirely topless, though. It does come with a lightweight soft-top which can be installed if the rain begins to fall. We imagine the procedure for putting that top on is surprisingly difficult and it would be smarter to just drive faster and evade the weather. It would be a shame to muffle the open-air song from that 6.0-liter 12-cylinder engine, even just a little bit.

The Ferrari SA APERTA (aperta is Italian for “open”) is a wonderful way to pay tribute to two men and a company that have played an important role for Enzo’s company. 

Ferrari Press Release:

Paris, 30th September – At the Paris Motor Show Ferrari is presenting the SA APERTA, a strictly limited edition of just 80 cars, and the Ferrari California sporting the first application of the HELE (High Emotion Low Emissions) system which is designed to enhance driving pleasure whilst reducing environmental impact.

The SA APERTA celebrates Pininfarina’s 80th year of activity and pays homage Sergio and Andrea. The SA APERTA is a new concept: a completely open-top interpretation of the architectural philosophy of the 599. It is an authentic roadster and comes with just an emergency soft top designed for use only if the weather gets particularly bad.

The SA APERTA features a lowered windscreen which, combined with the fact that the ride height has also been reduced, makes the car lower and sleeker. In profile the A-post creates an arc that ends with two aerodynamic buttresses integrating the two roll hoops which follow the outline of the seats. Each individual detail of the SA APERTA, designed by Ferrari Centro Stile in collaboration with Pininfarina, has been chosen to highlight the craftsmanship involved in its creation, with the finest materials – such as leather, carbon-fibre and Alcantara – used throughout from the dashboard to the roomy boot.

The SA APERTA is powered by a V12 producing 670 CV at 8250 rpm and maximum torque of 620 Nm at 6500 rpm, while gear changes are effected in just 60 milliseconds. These figures translate into absolutely outstanding performance. Backing up the performance is a chassis that has been redesigned to guarantee the same structural rigidity of the berlinetta without adding weight.

Also on the stand is the Ferrari California equipped with the HELE system. In an urban driving cycle that realistically reproduces a clients’ use of the car, these solutions reduce emissions by 23 per cent compared to the 299 g/km announced at launch. Over the homologated combined cycle (ECE+EUDC) CO2 emissions are cut to a best-in-class 270 g/km. This is thanks to a finely tuned balance between energy demanded (vehicle efficiency) and the increase in energy generated (engine efficiency), a result achieved through the introduction of innovative solutions and the optimisation of numerous technological features.

HELE also incorporates the Stop&Start system designed specifically for sporty driving – intelligent engine fan and fuel pump control, electronically-controlled variable displacement air-conditioning technology and gear shifts that adapt to driving style. These solutions combine to reduce emissions and boost driving pleasure. The Stop&Start system restarts the car in just 230 milliseconds, guaranteeing maximum rapidity in getting underway again.

The Ferrari California thus seamlessly melds sportiness and versatility. The latter attribute, in fact, extends not only to its use, but also to the now even richer array of trim and personalisation options possible. As well as the 16 standard exterior colours in the range, clients can also opt for two-tone finishes or three-layer paint technology. Other options include an even wider choice of leather finishes, including water-repellent leather. Along with the SA APERTA and the Ferrari California on the stand at Paris will be the 458 Italia and the 599 GTB Fiorano with the HGTE pack, as well as the Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro Formula 1 car that Alonso drove to victory in the last two Grands Prix.

SA  APERTA  Technical  Specifications:

Electronics

CST with F1-Trac system

Control for stability and traction

TPTMS

Tyres Pressure and Temperature Monitoring System

Engine

Type

65° V12

Bore and stroke

92.0 x 75.2 mm (3.62 x 2.96 in)

Unit displacement

499.9 cm3 (30.51 cu in)

Total displacement

5999 cm3 (366.08 cu in)

Compression ratio

11,9:1

Maximum power**

493 kW (670 CV) at 8250 rpm

Maximum torque**

620 Nm (63 kgm – 457 lbft) at 6500 rpm

Performance

Top speed

325 km/h (202 mph)

0-100 km/h (0-62 mph)

3.6 sec

Gearbox

F1

6-speed + reverse

Suspensions

SCM

Magnetorheological damping control

Fuel consumption

Combined ECE*

17.5 l/100 km

CO2 Emissions

Combined ECE*

411 g/km

Note

*

European market version

Note 2

**

Engine power is quoted in kW, in accordance with the International System of Units (SI) and in CV for reasons of homogeneity.

What do you think about the Ferrari SA APERTA?

Join the discussion. Please leave a comment.

Check me out on Twitter: http://twitter.com/FerrariDreams and Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/FerrariDreams .

Source: ferrari.com, autoblog.com and zercustoms.com

The star Ferrari at the Paris Auto Show next month will be the gorgeous SA Aperta, which Ferrari bills as the “most exclusive Ferrari ever.”

Just eighty will be built. The special-edition V-12 roadsters — based on the 599 GTO coupe — honor the 80th anniversary of Carrozzeria Pininfarina, the famous Italian auto design and coachbuilding house that’s long worked with Ferrari. The SA in the name pays homage to now honorary company chairman Sergio Pininfarina, 84, and his son Andrea, who ran the company before his death in 2008. 

Aperta is Italian for “open” and that’s how this front-engine, rear-drive roadster is intended to be driven. It has a simple soft top Ferrari says is “designed to be resorted to only if the weather gets particularly bad.” Anything more complicated would have added weight, and Ferrari proudly claims the chassis was given the necessary stiffening to be topless, but brought in at the same weight as the coupe. 

The powertrain it shares with the 599 is a 670-horsepower, 6.7-liter V-12 mated to a six-speed automated manual — good for 0-60 in under 3.5 seconds in the coupe. The open SA Aperta sits slightly lower and features aerodynamic fins that sweep back from the roll bars. Ferrari says there are enough color, material and trim choices that no two cars will be alike.

Typically when a new Ferrari comes along, particularly a special edition model, the company gives its longtime customers the first shot at buying them. For those willing to wait, the cars usually wind up selling at a discount within a few years.

To really save a few bucks you could settle for a 550 Barchetta, the open-top special edition car Ferrari rolled out a decade ago to mark — you guessed it — Pininfarina’s 70th anniversary. They originally sold out quickly at the list price of about $258,000 and shortly thereafter began changing hands at nearly $500,000. Today you can get one for less than $200,000. Of course they are not as rare as the SA Aperta, as Ferrari built 448 Barchettas. So the new car probably will suffer less from depreciation.

But don’t get your heart set on one. Ferrari gave a private showing at this summer’s Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance and apparently all 80 of the roughly $450,000 cars are taken.

Press Release:

Maranello, 24th September 2010 – Ferrari is delighted to announce the presentation of the SA APERTA at the Paris International Motor Show 2010. This is a special series model of which a strictly limited number of just 80 will be built. All have already been sold. Ferrari chose to build 80 SA Apertas in celebration of Pininfarina’s 80th anniversary. The SA nomenclature also pays homage to both Sergio and Andrea Pininfarina whose company and work have been linked to the most successful road-going cars ever built at Maranello.

The SA APERTA is a true roadster which allows its occupants to enjoy the superlative emotions afforded by our signature front-engined V12 architecture in a completely open-top setting. In fact, it has just a light soft top designed to be resorted to only if the weather gets particularly bad. A low-slung windscreen and the fact that it crouches lower to the ground than our other models lend the SA APERTA an exceptionally aerodynamic sleekness. Its profile arches back from the A-post to two aerodynamic fins beautifully integrating the two roll-bars which themselves cleverly mimic the outline of the seats.

The chassis has been redesigned to deliver a standard of stiffness comparable to that of a closed berlinetta and there is a negligible weight difference also, thanks to work done on the chassis structure.

Thanks to the 670 CV engine beneath its bonnet, the SA APERTA beautifully embodies the sporty spirit of the 599, incorporating Ferrari’s most advanced technology to deliver absolutely benchmark performance and superb driving pleasure. Its interior too is stylishly sporty with particularly sophisticated materials, trim and colours used throughout. The virtually endless combinations available guarantee that each and every SA APERTA is absolutely unique.

What do you think about the Ferrari 599 SA Aperta?

Join the discussion. Please leave a comment.

Check me out on Twitter: http://twitter.com/FerrariDreams and Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/FerrariDreams .

Source: content.usatoday.com and blogs.wsj.com

The Italian company Pininfarina is known around the world for car designing.

The family’s holding Pincar has agreed with the creditor banks to sell its 50.6 per cent stake in the group, Pininfarina and would choose an advisor by February 28, 2009 as part of the deal. It designed and manufactured cars for Ferrari, Maserati and Ford, among others. The decision is part of the deal with a consortium of banks that includes Italy’s biggest lenders UniCredit and Intesa Sanpaolo to which it owes nearly 600m euros ($839.5m). At the end of November 2008, the net debt was 597.7 million euros.

As part of the agreement, 180 million euros of debt will be assumed by Pincar to give Pininfarina the working capital it needs for 2009. Last Wednesday’s deal reschedules its other debts.

The deal has to be implemented by the end of January. Without the deal, 2008 losses would have wiped out the company’s capital.

Pininfarina said the restructuring deal was a way to “[restore] equilibrium to Pininfarina’s balance sheet and financial position.”

The potential buyer of Pincar Holding’s stake will have to launch a bid on the remaining stake in Pininfarina.

Buyers for the stake may include the French tycoon Vincent Bollore who a year ago established a joint venture with Pininfarina to build an electric car.

Bollore’s French industrial group is to produce the B0 (pronounced “B Zero”), Pininfarina’s first full-scale, four door, electric city car with an estimated 153 mile range dedicated to the late Andrea Pininfarina.

Ratan Tata is also believed to be interested, but the head of the Tata Industrial conglomerate is already working on bailing out Jaguar Land Rover in Britain in his recent acquisition.

The company’s troubles began with the personal tragedy in August when Andrea Pininfarina, the company’s chairman and the grandson of its founder Battista (“Pinin”) Farina,  died on the way to work after his Vespa motor scooter collided with a Ford Focus.

His death provoked an outpouring of grief among the Italian motor manufacturing fraternity and prompted a statement of condolence from Silvio Berlusconi, the Prime Minister, who described him as “representative of a dynasty that helped bring the story of ‘made in Italy’ to the world.”

Known by his nickname “Pinin” – which means “the youngest” in Piedmontese dialect – Battista Farina went to America in 1920 and met Henry Ford, who offered him a job, but decided to return to Italy. There, in 1930, he founded Carrozzeria Pinin Farina, near the heart of the country’s growing motor industry, designing cars for Lancia, Isotta Franschini, Fiat and Alfa Romeo. In 1961, the President of Italy personally authorized his change of name to Pininfarina.

Pininfarina B0 (Pronounced B-Zero)

Source: business.timesonline.co.uk, ft.com, luxist.com, reuters.com, and printthis.clickability.com