Gold colored Ferrari one-off P540 Superfast Aperta
Ferrari is back into business of coachbuilding as the Italian supercar maker unveiled the second one-off special. After the P4/5 was built for American collector (and millionaire…) James Glickenhaus back in 2006 by Pininfarina and the first SP1 (Sport Prototype 1) in 2008 for the prominent Ferrari collector and Japanese business executive Junichiro Hiramatsu which was designed by Leonardo Fioravanti and built by Ferrari.
Inspired by a Luigi Chinetti-owned 330 LM used in an obscure Fellini film, the Ferrari P540 Superfast Aperta is a 599 GTB Fiorano-based one-off Pininfarina designed for the son of the creator of cable TV.
This is the work of Pininfarina and Ferrari’s Special Projects division, which handles one-off customizations for the automaker. And while it shares similar technical specs with the 599, it’s a strong visual departure featuring touches of Maserati, 250 GTO and even a bit of Shelby Series One. Whereas the donor car is a sportier GT, the P540 is a more aggressive and masculine take. Most notably, and the reason for the Aperta label (Italian for “window”), is the open top.
Revealed: the new Ferrari P540 Superfast Aperta one-off
The first shake-down has been held at Fiorano of a very special one-off, the P540 Superfast Aperta, built for an American client. The car, the second in a new Special Projects programme created by Ferrari to meet requests from the most discerning clients and collectors to create truly unique models, is based on the 599 GTB Fiorano and was inspired by a Carrozzeria Fantuzzi-designed Ferrari built specifically for the 1968 Fellini film, Toby Dammit, itself inspired by one of the tales of Edgar Allan Poe.
The P540 Superfast Aperta’s proud new owner, Edward Walson, son of John Walson, the inventor of cable TV, approached Ferrari in 2008 to produce a modern reinterpretation of the gold-coloured car in the film. “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.”
In accordance with the Special Project’s approach to producing such individual one-offs, the P540 Superfast Aperta respects all existing international safety and homologation requirements and is thus road legal. The car was designed by Pininfarina and built in Maranello, and the client was directly involved in each stage of its development. As the 599 GTB Fiorano donor car is a coupé, considerable effort went into strengthening the chassis by using finite element analysis in development and the increase in weight was kept down to just 20 kg by employing carbon-fibre extensively. From the initial sketches to the final, road-legal car took just 14 months.
As the client took delivery of the car at Fiorano his excitement was understandable: “This is the most special Christmas present of my life.”
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
Curiosity
This special car’s colour was inspired by the film “Toby Dammit”, one of the three episodes of the film “Histoires Extraordinaires” made in 1968 based on stories by Edgar Allan Poe.
“Toby Dammit”, the third of the three episodes, directed by Federico Fellini, with Terence Stamp Salvo Randone and Milena Vukotic, based on the story “Never Bet The Devil Your Head”.
The other two episodes, “Metzengerstein” and “William Wilson”, were directed by Roger Vadim and Louis Malle.
What do you think about the Ferrari One-Off P540 Superfast Aperta?
Join the discussion. Please leave a comment.
Check me out at Twitter: http://twitter.com/FerrariDreams and Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/rick.resch
Source: autoblog.com, jalopnik.com and carscoop.blogspot.com
Powered by Max Banner Ads
Related posts:
- James Glickenhaus planning Ferrari P4/5 race car
- James Glickenhaus confirms he’ll build P4/5 Competizione
- Japan is a safe haven for Ferrari
0 Responses
Stay in touch with the conversation, subscribe to the RSS feed for comments on this post.