In addition to working on a twin-turbocharged supercar to replace the existing Ferrari 458 Italia, the Italian marque is busy creating a 458 Speciale Spider. Recently previewed privately at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, the supercar has been spied testing for the very first time outside the firm’s headquarters in Maranello.
The obvious design giveaway that this is indeed the Ferrari 458 Speciale Spider is the fact that the prototype features the aggressive new side sills of the coupe as well as the prominent fins just in front of the rear wheels. They can be seen sticking out through the white camouflage and that is enough to prove to us that we are looking at the real deal.
Elsewhere, we know that the car won’t be called the 458 Speciale Spider just like the convertible version of the 430 Scuderia wasn’t called the 430 Scuderia Spider. While it remains unclear what the convertible 458 Speciale will be called, it will become the fastest production Ferrari convertible until the rumoured LaFerrari Spider arrives.
With production tipped to be limited to just 458 units, Ferrari will ensure the Speciale Spider stands out thanks to some exclusive features. For example, it will be available with differently designed racing stripes to the coupe and also be available with two different wheel designs. Additionally, new seats are set to be featured alongside a special individualised plaque for each of the 458 units to be produced.
Finally, the 458 Speciale Spider won’t have a see-through engine cover like the coupe and instead feature an engine cover and decklid more in keeping with the design of the existing 458 Spider.
Beneath this cover, the Spider will utilise the same uprated 4.5-litre V8 engine as the Speciale coupe. As a result, we expect it to deliver an identical 597 hp at a screaming 9000 rpm and 398 lb-ft of torque at 6000 rpm. As a result of this, the Ferrari 458 Speciale Spider should hit 100 km/h in around the same time as the coupe. That means a sprint of just over 3 seconds before hitting 200 km/h in 9.1 seconds.
The roof of the 458 Speciale Spider will be borrowed from the regular Ferrari 458 Spider which is of course an aluminium hard-top. This roof can be opened and closed in a mere 14 seconds.
At this stage, it seems likely that the car could debut publically at the Paris Motor Show 2014 in October.
[Via 4WheelsNews]
