Ferrari P4/5 Competizione official rendering revealed

Ferrari P4/5 Competizione

If you are not familiar with the Ferrari P4/5, it’s a one-off car commissioned by American billionaire Jim Glickenhaus and designed by Pininfarina based on the Ferrari Enzo. The car is inspired by P3/4 and 412P race cars of 60s and 70s, and it’s one of the best coachbuilt Ferraris made to date. Now Jim wants a racing version of that car, and it’s getting built right now!

There are no shortage of reasons why we love the Ferrari P4/5, and by extension, owner Jim Glickenhaus for bringing it to realization. The Pininfarina-penned one-off drew its inspiration and design cues from the legendary P3/4, one of the most achingly beautiful – and devastatingly fast – Ferraris ever devised. Just one problem: the original P3/4 was an approved race car, going back to the days when you could drive your machinery to the track, race for the day and then blast back home. Those days are far behind us, but that’s no problem for our old friend Jim. He’ll just make another one.

And so was born the P4/5 Competition project, creating a racing version to compliment the street-legal coachbuilt special. Unlike the Enzo-based road car, Glickenhaus chose to base the Competizione model on the combination of F430 underpinnings, using the 430 Scuderia’s chassis (to ensure that it would be able to be converted back to street use once its racing days were over) and the F430 GT2′s drivetrain to keep it up to speed with the competition.

The project is now well under way, and Jim has released the rendering you see above to give us a heads-up on what the final product will look like. Of course the design is largely the same as the P4/5 roadcar, but upgrades with some race-specific components, from the front splitter to the rear wing and a livery inspired by racing Ferraris of the past. Reports indicate that it will be classified as an experimental racer in the same vein as the Porsche 911 GT3 R Hybrid.

For our part, we can’t wait to see it turn its wheels at the 2011 Nurburgring 24 Hours race, which is scheduled to take place on June 25-26, to see what the racer is really capable of.

What do you think about the Ferrari P4/5 Competizione?

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