Ferrari Builds a One Off P540 Superfast Aperta For a Very Special Client

by Sam Abuelsamid (RSS feed)
Dec 12th 2009 at 6:01PM

Ferrari P540 Superfast Aperta - click above for high res image gallery

Throughout its sixty-two year history, Ferrari has always been willing to give special treatment to certain customers. What does it take to be considered such a special customer? First off you must have an exceptionally fat checkbook. That much is a given since large wads of cash at just the entry point even for a standard Ferrari. However, if you are a long-time customer that has bought numerous examples over the years, the mechanical chefs at Maranello are willing to produce dishes not found on the menu. Over the years the Sultan of Brunei has purchased a array of Ferraris found nowhere else in nature.

Another such special customer is Edward Walson whose father John invented cable TV. Walson was infatuated with a previous custom Ferrari built for the 1968 Fellini film, Toby Dammit. The Ferrari P540 Superfast Aperta is based on the chassis of a 599 GTB Fiorano and took 14 months to complete. The P540 is completely road legal and is powered by a 612 hp 6.0-liter V12 engine. Extensive use of carbon fiber allowed the Special Projects engineers to keep weight gain down to only 44 pounds in spite of having to strengthen the open top car. No mention is made of cost, but if you have to ask ...

Gallery: Ferrari P540 Superfast Aperta

[Source: Ferrari]

press release

Revealed: the new Ferrari P540 Superfast Aperta one-off

The first shake-down has been held at Fiorano of a very special one-off, the P540 Superfast Aperta, built for an American client. The car, the second in a new Special Projects programme created by Ferrari to meet requests from the most discerning clients and collectors to create truly unique models, is based on the 599 GTB Fiorano and was inspired by a Carrozzeria Fantuzzi-designed Ferrari built specifically for the 1968 Fellini film, Toby Dammit, itself inspired by one of the tales of Edgar Allan Poe.

The P540 Superfast Aperta's proud new owner, Edward Walson, son of John Walson, the inventor of cable TV, approached Ferrari in 2008 to produce a modern reinterpretation of the gold-coloured car in the film. "I had always dreamed of designing sports cars," Walson explains, "and when I saw this film the decision came of its own accord: one day I would have 'my' Ferrari."

In accordance with the Special Project's approach to producing such individual one-offs, the P540 Superfast Aperta respects all existing international safety and homologation requirements and is thus road legal. The car was designed by Pininfarina and built in Maranello, and the client was directly involved in each stage of its development. As the 599 GTB Fiorano donor car is a coupé, considerable effort went into strengthening the chassis by using finite element analysis in development and the increase in weight was kept down to just 20 kg by employing carbon-fibre extensively. From the initial sketches to the final, road-legal car took just 14 months.

As the client took delivery of the car at Fiorano his excitement was understandable: "This is the most special Christmas present of my life."

Technical specifications

Length 4731 mm

Width 1954 mm

Height 1300 mm

Wheelbase 2750 mm

Front track 1690 mm

Rear track 1620 mm

Engine

65° V12

Displacement 5999 cc

Maximum power 456 kW (620 CV) at 7600 rpm

Maximum torque 608 Nm (62 kgm) at 5600 rpm

Transmission

F1 6-speed gearbox

Tyres

Front 245/35 20"

Rear 305/35 20"

Fuel consumption

Combined cycle 17.9 l/100 km

CO2 emissions

Combined cycle 415 g/km

Curiosity

This special car's colour was inspired by the film "Toby Dammit", one of the three episodes of the film "Histoires Extraordinaires" made in 1968 based on stories by Edgar Allan Poe.

"Toby Dammit", the third of the three episodes, directed by Federico Fellini, with Terence Stamp Salvo Randone and Milena Vukotic, based on the story "Never Bet The Devil Your Head".

The other two episodes, "Metzengerstein" and "William Wilson", were directed by Roger Vadim and Louis Malle.