In Maranello today, Ferrari unveiled two 800 horsepower V12 specials, SP1 and SP2, that unequivocally announce a 21st Century renaissance of carrozzeria, low-volume and one-off bodywork for sports cars. The two cars are the first installments in a new component of Ferrari’s business, “Icona.” These cars were presaged by the America model of several years ago, and bring to fruition efforts made by Ferrari and other sports car makers to develop ultra-low-volume editions with unique or highly specialized bodywork. Icona is a breakthrough achievement.
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Monza SP1 and SP2 draw design inspiration from Ferrari sports-racing barchettas of the 1950s, specifically the 1948 166 MM, which originally inspired the name “barchetta,” and the 750 Monza and 860 Monza. In the 1950s, Ferrari engaged the services of the greatest carrozzeria shops in Italy. Ferraris from the late 1940s through the late 1960s are considered works of art thanks to the hand-forming of the aluminum bodywork. SP1 and SP2 take the sweeping, erotic forms of pre-aerodynamic sports cars and capture them in current Ferrari design language.
Wearing a passenger-side tonneau, Ferrari Monza SP1 is a single-seat road car. Monza SP2 is a two-seater with an arching isthmus of bodywork splitting driver and passenger.
With the 800 horsepower V12 of the 812 Superfast mounted front mid-engine—the most powerful road car engine Ferrari has ever created—and with extensive use of carbon-fiber, both cars have extraordinary power-to-weight ratios.
Both cars can sprint from 0-100 km/h (0-62 mph) in 2.9 seconds and 0- 200 km/h (124 mph) in 7.9 seconds. They could potentially break or rub up against the 10-second barrier in the favorite performance measure of Americans, the quarter mile. Both are developed and calibrated not solely for sprinting, but for exhilarating performance on a road course, or a lonely mountain road.
Bodywork is carbon-fiber. The one-piece hood and front fender assembly hinges at the front to present the V12 as a work of art. The minimalist doors open upwards. Absence need for a roof and windscreen, the designers had complete freedom to create unique proportions that would not have been possible on a traditional spider. Because these are purely open cars with minimalist windscreens, Ferrari developed a “Virtual Wind Shield” that draws an airstream into the cockpit.
For those who have hoped for a carrozzeria renaissance, Ferrari has answered.