Michael Satterfield
Ferrari’s CEO, Amedeo Felisa, officially presented the 599 GTO and the 458 Italia and underlined Asia-Pacific’s growing role in the international market for sports cars. In 2009 Ferrari improved on its 2008 sales record with over 1100 cars delivered in the region, a figure that represents 47 percent of the market share.
The new 599 GTO is an extreme V12 Berlinetta that can lay claim to being the company’s fastest-ever road car. It is an exclusive limited edition special – just 599 cars will be built for clients who seek the maximum expression of high-performance driving, and the entire production has already been sold out. Designed on the platform of the production car, but developed with an entirely different concept in mind, the 599 GTO is based on the 599XX, the advanced experimental track car, and can be considered almost a road-going version.
The 599 GTO benefits directly from the technological transfer from racing and set a record lap time at Fiorano in 1’24”. That lap time provides just one indication of the potential of this car. Just as significant are the technical specifications – 670 hp in a 1495kg car represents a weight-to-power ratio of just 2.23 kg/hp and ensures a 0-100 km/h acceleration time of just 3.35” as well as a top speed of over 335 km/h.
The GTO (Gran Turismo Omologata) moniker instantly calls to mind two Ferraris that have entered the collective imagination as symbols of performance. After the 1962 250 GTO, which swept the boards in GT racing categories in the 1960s and is now a highly prized collector car, came the iconic 1984 GTO, which basically invented the entire modern supercar genre.
Ferrari 458 Italia
The 458 Italia is an 8-cylinder two-seater Berlinetta with a mid-rear mounted engine and is a synthesis of technological innovation, creative flair, style, and passion, a combination of characteristics for which Italy as a nation is renowned. Ferrari’s Chairman, Luca di Montezemolo, chose to pay homage to this fact by adding the name of the car’s homeland to the traditional figure representing the displacement and number of cylinders.
The Ferrari 458 Italia is a clean-sheet design and features a raft of track-derived technological innovations involving every aspect of the car’s functions, including engine, chassis, vehicle dynamics and electronics, aerodynamics, and driver-car interface.
Thanks to a new 4,499 cc V8 engine, which punches out 570 CV, the F1 dual-clutch gearbox, and a 1,380 kg dry weight, the 458 Italia boasts an extraordinary weight-to-power ratio of 2.42 kg (a power-weight ratio of 413 CV per ton). This enables it to sprint from 0 to 100 km/h in under 3.4 seconds and hit a maximum speed of over 325 km/h.
The 458 Italia was unveiled to critical acclaim in September 2009 and immediately picked up important international awards – Top Gear’s Car of the Year and Supercar of the Year, GQ’s Best Supercar of the Year (UK), and Quattroruote’s Favourite Sports Car (Italy).
The Ferrari Stand
Alongside the 599 GTO and the 458 Italia is the company’s flagship V12 front-engined 2+2, the 612 Scaglietti, the 2009 F1 car, the F60, and two examples of the Ferrari California. Launched in 2008, the Ferrari California, Ferrari’s first ever retractable hard-top convertible, continues its outstanding commercial and critical success, with an impressive list of international awards to its credit, the most recent including 2010 Best Convertible Car (Auto Motor und Sport, China), Best Supercar of the year 2009 (Car Plus, Hong Kong), 2010 Best Imported Cabrio (Auto Motor und Sport, Germany), 2010 Favourite Cabrio (Quattroruote, Italy) and Cabrio of the Year 2009 (Auto Hoje, Spain).
