FERRARI P80/C · KUGA · GAMING · TOP 9 · FUTURE
Four years in the making, Maranello’s latest one-off is for the hardcore enthusiast
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This is the P80/C, the latest in Ferrari’s client-driven one-offs, and we’ll stick our necks out and call it the best yet. Sure, any new Ferrari will provoke a debate so fierce it can get more heated than the sun, and these totally bespoke SP (special project) cars are often very personal interpretations of a theme. Former Ferrari CEO Amedeo Felisa says that the SP clients “effectively embody the marque, and go beyond just being a collector”, and they certainly need to have the funds to back up the vision of designing their own car. Previous examples include
2009’s P540 Superfast Aperta, a gold tribute to one of Federico Fellini’s less successful films, as commissioned by the son of the bloke who invented American cable TV, and Eric Clapton’s SP12 EC, which referenced his beloved 512 BB.
But the P80/C cranks things up a few notches: it’s the most extreme one-off so far because it’s also the first to use a racing car as its jumping-off point, which is a genius move in itself. Crucially that also means it’s liberated from any road-car homologation requirements, enabling all involved to do something wilder than usual.
OK, so it’s not a rebodied F1 car, but the P80/C is based on a 488 GT3 chassis, so its wheelbase is 50mm longer than the standard 488, as well as being fully combat-ready beneath the skin. This allowed Ferrari’s Centro Stile to shift the visual balance forward, accentuating the rear end. Ferrari and its Corse Clienti division have raced so many of these cars now that they’ve got a mountain of aerodynamic data. The new car is said to be five per cent more efficient overall, and although elements of the rear diffuser are shared with the GT3, the front splitter and all the external surfaces are
unique. The body is made of carbon fibre; the most functional elements are left bare, the rest of the car finished in Rosso Vero.
Ferrari says that P80/C’s aero treatment, in particular in the area above the engine bay, is influenced by the T-wing that appeared on the Scuderia’s F1 cars in 2017, and helps reduce the length of the flow over the rear, providing a “strong recompression of the flow rearwards, reinforcing the downforce generated by the tail and the wing.” More downforce, in plain English, and a serious commitment on a one-off.
Visually, the new car calls on a pool of historic references, including such beloved touchstones as the Le Mans 24 Hourswinning 250 LM, the Dino 206 S and especially the 330 P3/4, and is a contemporary homage to the period in Maranello history when the racing prototypes’ styling licks would often transition to the road cars. But it’s also determinedly doing its own thing: the side windows flow into the air intakes in a deliberate act of aesthetic disruption. Looked at from the side and above, there’s more than a hint of Ford GT in the way the flying buttresses separate from the body, while the concave rear glass and aluminium louvres on the engine cover are another nod to the 330P3/4.
There are no head- and tail-lights to speak of, but a pair of small slashes in the bodywork at either end create what you might term an ‘ocular’ effect. Well, no one wants to look at a car with no eyes. Viewed directly from behind, a huge carbon-fibre wing predominates, but the clear line of sight into the car’s 660bhp, 3.9-litre, twinturbo V8 engine truly is something to behold. The P80/C also has an interesting duality: in race trim, it keeps the wing and uses 18in single-nut wheels, but the aero addenda can be removed and 21in wheels fitted to accentuate the car’s form language.
“A Ferrari project always arises from a dream,” design director Flavio Manzoni notes before adding pragmatically, “and then one also has to deal with the reality. This project was a way to evoke the spirit and power of those Sixties Sports Prototypes.”
These things are highly subjective, of course, but we can confirm that it’s the work of someone steeped in Ferrari mythology, with an acute aesthetic sense to match – not to mention a beautifully curated collection of other Ferraris, including two of the most revered historic racing cars. So although this is most definitely a one-off, it’s no mere vanity project. It’s a highly significant statement – for the lucky owner, but also for Ferrari.
“A FERRARI PROJECT ALWAYS ARISES FROM A DREAM”