A mint Ferrari 458 Speciale Aperta will now cost you £1m+
Rare mid-engined super convertible starts to reach unobtanium status. Shock horror
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The Ferrari 458 Speciale: you see it, you hear it, you want it. The issue these days is that a near-factory-fresh 'Aperta' will set you back over a million quid, as evidenced by this 350-mile example listed at RM Sotheby's.
Good lord. It does at least get the traditional 'Rosso Corsa' paint finish, and has just about every option ticked off Ferrari's list, including titanium exhausts, racing seats and heaps of Alcantara and carbon fibre trim.
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Aside from that utterly flawless body, the reason we take a liking to the Speciale is because of its mid-mounted, naturally aspirated 'F136' 4.5-litre V8. It'll kick and scream its way to a redline of 9,000rpm, and thanks to a healthy 597bhp/398lb ft, 0-62mph is sorted in just three seconds en route to a 199mph top speed.
Supplementing that sonorous engine are various other highly technical bits, such as a seven-speed DCT transmission and adaptive damping.
Plus, the Speciale gets an F1-derived traction control system with a rear-biased e-diff. Add in Ferrari's now familiar and still brilliant Side Slip dynamics control unit, and there's an incredible amount of duality to the Speciale: it'll dance when you want it to and grip when you don't.
Given that just 499 Apertas were ever built, it's likely this car will only appreciate with time. So you may as well grab it now while it's 'only' a million-and-a-bit pounds.
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