Another prototype of the upcoming Ferrari 458 Speciale Spider has been spotted testing outside the company’s headquarters in Maranello, Italy. This particular prototype is finished in dark blue and wearing less camouflage than another prototype recently spied testing.
Alongside the new shots, it has emerged that the car could be dubbed the Ferrari 458 LS. While it remains to be seen if this is true, we know that the car won’t be called the 458 Speciale Spider just like the drop-top variant of the 430 Scuderia wasn’t called the Scuderia Spider and instead became the 16M Scuderia Spider.
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.
According to reports, production of the car will be limited to just 458 units. To ensure the Speciale Spider stands out, a host of exclusive features will be available. 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 car should debut at the Paris Motor Show 2014 in October.
[Via Teamspeed]
