Revealed: 'One-Off' Ferrari SP38

Don't like the idea of buying a Ferrari off the rack? Maranello has a solution for that...

Ferrari's One-Off programme has been running for well over a decade now, and is responsible for some of the manufacturer's most dazzling creations. As the name suggests, it's all about building visually unique products; the vast majority of which are never revealed to the public. Famously, you cannot buy your way into participating - most of the cars originate from customers with a longstanding, one-to-one relationship with Maranello.

Consequently, any unveiling of a Special Project Ferrari is a standout event - and the new SP38 lives up to its rarefied billing. Based on the chassis and running gear of a 488 GTB, the car is apparently inspired by its new owner's professed love of motorsport - although the most direct styling reference is to the F40.

The allusion is plain enough in that dramatic engine cover, which replaces the rear glass with a carbon fibre flip-up hood; one that includes three transversal slats to exhaust heat from the 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8. The assembly is integrated into a new rear spoiler, which links seamlessly with the car's substantial diffuser to frame the SP38's back end.

Elsewhere the 488's distinctive air scoops have disappeared from the flanks, reinforcing the idea that the car's visual mass has moved rearward. (For anyone worrying about the airflow still getting to the intercoolers, there is now an inlet at the base of the windows.) At the front, Ferrari has dramatically reduced the size of the headlights and shifted the DRLs to compliment a new slimmer bumper lip - one reminiscent of the 308 GTB.

It's all in the eye of the beholder, of course - but we're rather taken by the result. The 488 GTB is visually arresting, but doesn't figure high on the list of genuinely pretty Ferraris. Even if you think that rear end a little ostentatious, the overall effect of tapering toward the sharper nose revolutionises the car's original shape. The SP38 looks razor-edged, which you'd imagine was the whole point.

Either way, it is unique, and that alone confers on it enormous value. No word on who the buyer is - or how much they paid Ferrari for the privilege of an entirely bespoke body - but the fact that they agreed to a publicised handover (including a series of hot laps) suggests they're no shrinking violet. The car is intially destined for a display stand, too - at the Concorso d'Eleganza Villa d'Este on the shores of Lake Como this Saturday. It ought to blend right in...