by Wallace Wyss –
Ferrari has always built special models for special customers. But they formalized it a few years back by starting a special group to build cars to order.
For this latest one they called back a one time dominant coachwork supplier, Pininfarina.
The car is called the Ferrari SP 275 rw competizione, actually a modified version of the F12 Berlinetta but powered by the more powerful V12 engine and using the gearbox from the limited-series F12tdf.
The customer’s initials are –“rw”–used in the car’s name and it is believed the customer is Dr. Rick Workman, a dentist from Florida.
Just like they earlier modified a mid-engine car to resemble the Boxer, this time what I would call a “tribute” harkens back in design cues to the Ferrari 275GTB of the Sixties, especially in the same shape and positioning of the side vents and similar proportions.
To achieve the more bulbous look of the ’65 275GTB’s rear fenders, they widened the rear track, as they said in their press release, to “express potency over the rear wheels and confer a rakish attitude.”
A highlight of the original 275GTB was the closed B-pillar with vents so this time they filled in where the F12 berlinetta’s quarter windows were and put in louvers similar to the 275GTB. The rear three quarters behind the rear wheels also have louvers.
Though you can’t see it in the two press pictures released, there’s a milled aluminum fuel filler cap, similar to that on the racing 275 GTB (chassis number 06885) that won the GT category in the 1965 Le Mans 24 Hour race. The yellow paint scheme is also a tribute to that 275 GTB, echoing its Ecurie Francorchamps team color.
The front features what they call “a closed perimeter Ferrari grille” which means entirely surrounded by trim metal. Ferrari says the vertically-stacked headlights and forged 20” alloys are unique to this car.
While it may not be an entirely new production car, the involvement of Pininfarina is encouraging. It shows Ferrari still respects their former design consultants. Ferrari is now designing their own cars but they obviously still respect Pininfarina’s skills by involving them in building these special special one offs.
Let us know what you think in the Comments.
THE AUTHOR: A fine artist who specializes in Ferraris, he reports a list of prints available can be obtained by writing Photojournalistpro@gmail.com
I’ve always thought that it was Pininfarina’s coachwork that made Ferrari’s cars so awesome. I know a lot of car guys will say it’s the engine, handling, or overall performance but if they weren’t so beautiful they would have gone no where. Pininfarina is what Armani and other’s are too fashion, Michaelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, and a lot of others are too art. Let us not forget Galileo’s art and futuristic contributions to science.
I agree with you in that Pininfarina did the best Ferrari designs quantity-wise. But don’t forget the Ferrari 250GTO. Ing. Bizzarrini thought “why the hell do we need a stylist” and just slapped bondo on a mule and re-tested it every night on the autostrada until he got up to a suitable target top end, and that was the design.
(Maybe we should turn more designs over to just the engineers!)
For the modern one off, I am a little surprised it didn’t get to wear the Pininfarina script on the side.
I also wonder, if Pininfarina does do a design from outside that’s accepted in the future by Ferrari for production, will the name
“Pininfarina” on the side help make it more successful?
When you let engineers design you get the AzteK or the bread van, when writers design you get the Cyclops II. Lets let the pro’s do their art.
Well said Mike