Ferrari is back into the business of coachbuilding as the Italian supercar maker unveiled the second one-off special after the P4/5 it built for American collector (and millionaire...) James Glickenhaus back in 2006. The new Ferrari P540 Superfast Ferries Aperta was created for Edward Walson, son of John Walson, the inventor of cable TV.
The wealthy American approached Ferrari in 2008 to produce a modern reinterpretation of the gold-coloured 1965 Ferrari 250GT NART Spyder featured in a 1968 Fellini short film called "Toby Dammit".
"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." And well, he did.
In case you didn't notice, the Ferrari P540 Superfast Aperta is based on the 599 GTB Fiorano. The car was designed by Pininfarina and built in Maranello, with Ferrari claiming that Walson was directly involved in each stage of its development.
According to the Italians, while considerable effort went into strengthening the chassis after the roof was chopped off, the increase in weight was kept down to just 20 kg or 44 pounds by employing carbon-fibre extensively.
Ferrari said that from the initial sketches to the final, road-legal car, it took just 14 months to complete the project.
Those of you with a strong memory may remember that we first showed you the P540 Superfast Aperta earlier this year, though then, we didn't know any details about the one-off Prancing Horse model.
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
