This beautiful creation is the Ferrari SP-8. It is a one-off, custom-made vehicle from the marque itself, all based on an F8 Spider and built by the company's Special Projects programme for a well-heeled customer.
The SP-8 shares the same chassis, layout and engine as the Ferrari F8 Spider, which means a mid-mounted 3.9-litre V8 twin-turbo engine. And that, in turn, results in 720hp and 770Nm of torque. The big change here is that the client, who hails from Taiwan, has requested that the SP-8 has no roof - so this unique creation is a permanent roadster. That decision alone meant that Ferrari Special Projects had to put the car through extensive aerodynamic refinements, including computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations, wind-tunnel testing and track testing as well.
Two-tone bodywork features much carbon fibre
Visually, the front of the SP-8 is rendered in unpainted carbon fibre, a feature which wraps around to the tail of the Ferrari to give a two-tone look to the car. In the middle is a matte-black section that houses much of the functional detailing, including the side air intakes, as well as ducts for the intercoolers and the engine. There's also a slatted vent array above the silver-finished engine compartment.
At the front, a cast aluminium, full-width grille gives the SP-8 an aggressive look, with vertical strakes in this feature mimicking those at the back of the car related to the engine. Other areas of the SP-8 that were redesigned from the donor car include the headlights, which have special masks and lenses, the rear lights derived from those of the Roma with specific lenses, the windscreen, the tailpipes, which were given the same treatment as the Ferrari 296 GTB's, and the specially-designed wheel rims in a dedicated colour (matte Grigio NART); they're supposed to look like the rims used on various Ferrari sports prototypes, as well as the wheels fitted to the legendary F40.
Blue theme, inside and out
Inside the SP-8, there's a change to the gear selection process, which now comes with 'F1 commands' as seen in the Ferrari SF90 Stradale. The seats are trimmed in Navy Blue Alcantara, while the carpets are resplendent in iridescent twill fabric. Back on the outside, that blue accent is replicated in the carbon-fibre body sections, which actually have glossy Blue Sandstone highlights, while Blu Scuro Stellato is a unique colour to link the two body sections together.
Ahead of going to its new owner, Ferrari will display the SP-8 at the Mugello Circuit from now until the end of the Finali Mondiali show. After that, it will go the Ferrari Museum at Maranello from November 16 until March next year, before then being handed over to its lucky custodian.
Ferrari's SP programme has previous in making bespoke one-offs like this to cater for its most demanding customers' tastes for 15 years now. The run began with the F430-based SP1 in 2008, and has incorporated models such as the SP12 EC, SP30 Arya, SP FFX, SP America, SP275 Competizione, SP38 Deborah, SP3JC and the SP51 in 2022. These were all commissioned either by some of the world's most renowned Ferrari collectors or celebrities - the 'EC' in the SP12 above, for instance, relates to guitarist Eric Clapton, who had his unique Ferrari based on a 458 Italia. It reputedly cost well over €3 million to create.