By Wallace Wyss –
Unlike most of the world’s automakers, Ferrari makes prototypes of future car designs and sells them. There’s no guarantee the buyer will be able to register it in their country. No matter, this is a “track only” car.
Part of the appeal of this program is that the buyer, sometimes is able to get their initials attached to the car’s name thus becoming a part of Ferrari history. This 2023 one-off was based on the 488 GT3 Evo racer, described by some as a “leading collector’s commissioned V8 track toy”.
Ferrari learned a lot developing this car but didn’t go on to offer the bodywork and some of the innovations on a production model. So whoever ordered it got something rearlly exclusive.
There are Daytona SP3 production cues in the design, but the KC23 is, according to Ferrari, based on a 488 GT3 Evo racecar. It took over three years to develop. The 488 GT3 didn’t really need its ideas, it has been Ferrari’s most successful racecar ever, with over 530 race wins and around 120 championship titles to its name.
First of all I have to praise the styling. It was described by one magazine as a car with “monolithic beauty, as if it were sculpted from a single block of metal”. So smooth overall you even wonder if it’s a Ferrari. Great lengths were taken to try special features like the removable rear wing and motorized air intake vents that sit just behind the swing-skyward butterfly doors and then, surprise, they pop out automatically when the engine is switched on.
There was no claim on hp but it is rumored to be over 660 hp. Since it was not made to be a series race car, it is “completely free of homologation constraints”. Since it’s not trying to be confined to one country’s laws, the mirrors were swapped out for cameras.
One reason for the dramatic front end is it is all a single clamshell while the rear is centered on a lightbar that copied a similar one on the Ferrari Vision Gran Turismo. You have to see it in action to know all its tricks, such as little flaps behind the front wheels which also extend to make more downforce.
The paint looks sort of green in the pictures but is described as Gold Mercury, four layers which project a mirror-like luster. Now as far as the name of the car, well Ferrari’s SP group has been doing this tantalizing we-will-we-won’t name tango for years—if you pony up the money for a one off car, your initials can be incorporated but yet no press release issued to identify you.
How much did it cost? You know the old saw “If you have to ask, you can’t afford it,” so presume it was lots more than the SF90’s 2023 price of $575,445.
Who actually bought it? We’ve seen hints of various sports figures. But it’s possible for someone to buy a SP car, and have their initials not used, so even though they were assigned, the identity is still secret. Google’s AI identifies him as Kevin Cogan, a real estate investor who likes Ferrari race cars. Ferrari Chat lists him as winning an award at a concours in Italy in 2021 –a Best of Show in Competition Ferraris for his 340 America Barchetta Touring, chassis #004/0116.
So it’s safe to assume he is a long time Ferrari buff with great taste spread over the marque’s history. That’s just the type of assets Ferrari likes a SP buyer to have, so they know they are true-blue Ferrari believers.
Let us know what you think in the Comments.
THE AUTHOR Wallace Wyss (rhymes with Reese) portrays Ferraris in oil on canvas. For a list of articles showing his work write photojournalistpro2@Gmail.com.
Images compliments of Ferrari.
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