Maranello’s latest one-off creation is the Ferrari SP51, a special roadster version of the front-engined 812 GTS.
Created for a Taiwan-based customer by Ferrari’s Special Projects department and Ferrari design boss Flavio Manzoni, the SP51 retain’s the 812’s basic proportions but features bespoke wheels and headlights and softer, more flowing bodywork that give it a subtle retro look.
The blue and white livery that runs nose to tail also tips a hat to Ferrari’s past, specifically the 1955 Ferrari 410 S racer. But the three-layer Rosso Passionale paint that was developed specifically for the this project brings the SP51 bang up to date.
Though the donor 812 GTS has an aluminium structure Ferrari has made extensive use of carbon fiber, some of it exposed, to change the look of every panel, including the hood, which flows around, and contrasts with, the two composite-framed air vents below the windshield.
Related: One-Off Ferrari SP48 Unica Is So Forward-Looking It Doesn’t Have A Rear Window
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But arguably the most eye-catching element of the SP51’s design is the transverse carbon wing that bridges the two flying buttresses located behind the driver and passenger seats. Ferrari says it’s a stylistic reference to the targa designs used on 1960s sports prototypes in which the central bar added strength and concealed a safety roll-hoop.
Ferrari also claims that the pinnacle of the design process, which involved the owner at each step, is found in the interior thanks to the inclusion of two particular ideas. One was to incorporate the blue and white front-to-rear exterior livery in the interior by applying it to the dashboard, rear firewall and centre tunnel. And the other was to use the same Rosso Passionale custom color for the Alcantara seat fabric which has had the unintended result of making this multi-million dollar Ferrari one-off look like a C3 Corvette modified by George Barris circa-1973. Still, it makes a change from boring old black, and we like blue and white stitching, another link to the stripes on the exterior.
As always with these one-off cars Ferrari makes no reference to the running gear because those components usually remain untouched by the Special Projects team. That means the SP51 is likely running the 812 Superfast/GTS’s stock 6.5-liter V12 that makes 789 hp (800 PS) at 8,500 rpm and generates 530 lb-ft (718 Nm) at a sky-high 7,000 rpm.
What do you think of the SP51, in particular that unusual interior color scheme? Leave a comment and let us know.
