A year after the passing away of Italian design house Pininfarina’s figurehead, Sergio Pininfarina in 2012, the company built a concept as a tribute to him. After getting a 2013 Geneva unveil and a positive response from the public, it was decided that six models of the Ferrari Sergio will be made in collaboration with Ferrari. Each of the six cars will be made according to specifications given by their owner in a series of sessions at Ferrari's workshop in Maranello, while the final assembly will be done at the Pininfarina plant in Italy.
Ferrari has now revealed the first of the six examples of the ‘Ferrari Sergio’ in Abu Dhabi. The Ferrari Sergio is based around the Ferrari 458 Spider, and features the latest iteration of the company's 597bhp 4.5-litre V8 engine, which also powers the Ferrari 458 Speciale. With this engine, the Sergio will be capable of achieving 0-100kph in 3.0sec.
As for the design of the Ferrari Sergio, the core structure of the 458 Spider has been retained. It also uses all of the interior components of the car, although the cockpit has been reworked to include black leather upholstery with red stitching, a carbon dashboard, door well trims and Alacantara leather seat inserts. The wheelbase and the track remain unchanged. However, the Sergio’s bodyshell has been claimed to be stiffer than the 458 Spider’s, and it is about 100kg lighter too.
Fabio Filippini, Pininfarina's chief designer said, "We asked Ferrari before even drawing the car, if we could do it and Luca di Montezemolo said we had all of his support. We decided it should be a mid-engined Ferrari because the first Sergio Ferrari was the Dino Berlinetta Speciale, the ancestor of all mid-engined Ferraris." Luca di Montezemolo recently stepped down from his post of chairman at Ferrari.The pricing of the Ferrari Sergio has not been revealed, however it is estimated to be around 2.5 million pounds (approx Rs 24 crore).