CompleteCar

Ferrari reveals spectacular P80/C one-off

Ferrari reveals spectacular P80/C one-off Ferrari reveals spectacular P80/C one-off Ferrari reveals spectacular P80/C one-off Ferrari reveals spectacular P80/C one-off Ferrari reveals spectacular P80/C one-off Ferrari reveals spectacular P80/C one-off Ferrari reveals spectacular P80/C one-off Ferrari reveals spectacular P80/C one-off Ferrari reveals spectacular P80/C one-off Ferrari reveals spectacular P80/C one-off Ferrari reveals spectacular P80/C one-off Ferrari reveals spectacular P80/C one-off Ferrari reveals spectacular P80/C one-off Ferrari reveals spectacular P80/C one-off Ferrari reveals spectacular P80/C one-off Ferrari reveals spectacular P80/C one-off Ferrari reveals spectacular P80/C one-off Ferrari reveals spectacular P80/C one-off Ferrari reveals spectacular P80/C one-off Ferrari reveals spectacular P80/C one-off Ferrari reveals spectacular P80/C one-off
Rich client commissions Ferrari to make the track-only P80/C, a one-off.

What's the news?

This is the Ferrari P80/C, a one-off bespoke creation built by the Italian company at the request of one of its connoisseur clients and long-time Ferrari collectors. It's supposed to look like a sports prototype inspired by two of Ferrari's most famous historic models, namely the 330 P3/P4 and the 1966 Dino 206 S.

Work began in 2015, with the basis car being a 488 GT3 racer, as this has a 50mm longer chassis than the 488 GTB road-going version. The P80/C is a track car only, so the emphasis is on performance and aerodynamic ability, above all else. But even though form follows function, Ferrari's Styling Centre has worked hard to make a beautiful vehicle.

So, it has a cab-forward stance with an elongated rear, the profile is wedge-shaped and purposeful, the front and rear wings are wider than they would be on the base 488, large side air intakes draw in the eye and the windscreen has a wraparound effect, to reference old sports prototypes. Buttress C-pillars are detached from the main cabin, while the bodywork (when viewed from directly above the car) is at its widest over the axles, tapering in towards the passenger compartment.

Aerodynamic development of the P80/C was based on the experience Ferrari gleaned competing with the 488 GT3, but without any international motorsport regulations to comply with, the Italian company could cut loose on this unique machine. This has resulted in a front splitter that's entirely specific to the P80/C, while it also has bespoke external surfaces for its expansion curve and vortex generators on the rear diffuser, and that rather striking T-wing spoiler adopted from Formula 1 in 2017. This apparently means the P80/C has aerodynamic efficiency five per cent greater than the 488 GT3, which allows for the best use of the P80/C's unrestricted engine.

Although it might not look like it, the P80/C actually has head- and taillights. Homologated for track use only, it could do without conventional items, so the front lamps have been set into nine-inch slits in the front of the Ferrari, to make them look like the intake housings of the 330 P3/P4. That style is echoed at the rear, where the lights are made to look like air vents. Meanwhile, the interior of the car is very like the donor 488 GT3's, with a roll cage integrated into the bodywork. The side sections of the dashboard have been redesigned from the GT3's, as have the seats and the door cards - the latter are now carbon-fibre shells.

Anything else?

The lucky owner of this unique monster requested that Ferrari designed the P80/C with two set-ups: a racing composition, which includes the large carbon-fibre rear wing and 18-inch, single-nut wheels; and then an exhibition package, which increases the alloys to 21-inch affairs, while deleting all of the aerodynamic appendages to better show off the purity of the car's form. Just out of interest, the P80/C is made entirely from carbon fibre, although only the parts with strictly technical functions are left bare; the client even named the red paint that clothes its bodywork, choosing Rosso Vero to describe the hue.

USEFUL LINKS

Written by
Published on March 25, 2019