Ferrari
Sergio
The first Ferrari
Sergio has arrived in the United Arab Emirates. It has been delivered to its
new owner, the SBH Royal Auto Gallery in the UAE, at Abu Dhabi's Yas Marina
Circuit, where the Finali Mondiali Ferrari are being staged and which is home
to the Ferrari World theme park.
Designed by
Pininfarina, just six of this incredibly limited edition roadster are being
built. The car was created to celebrate the spirit and core values of the
historic Cambiano company in the 60th anniversary year of its collaboration
with the Prancing Horse. Needless to say, Sergio was the only possible choice
of name for the model, in homage to great Sergio Pininfarina, who sealed the
unique, longstanding partnership with Ferrari.
The Ferrari Sergio is a
genuinely radical car. It is both exclusive and spare in the sense that every
single element aboard is focused entirely on performance. An authentic
open-top, it explicitly references the track, underscoring and intensifying its
sense of sportiness, fun behind the wheel and the pleasure of design at its
purest.
The Ferrari Sergio's
performance and dynamics are excellent in the extreme too. It is based on the
458 Spider and retains the latter's technological content as well as all of the
functional aspects of its cockpit. It is powered by the latest 605 hp version
of Ferrari's naturally aspirated 4497 cc V8 which has won the International
Engine of the Year award on three consecutive occasions. This power unit also
guarantees the car sprints from 0 to 100 km/h in just 3 seconds.
The Ferrari Sergio has
an extremely simple, clear style. Both its volumes and treatments of its
surfaces reflect the spirt of Pininfarina's 1960s and 70s creations for
Ferrari. Its proportions have been pushed to the extreme with the front of the
car seeming to penetrate the rear which itself projects forward. The result is
an exceptionally sculptural, three-dimensional take on the classic roadster.
The two bodyshell masses are melded together via a longitudinal black insert,
the main styling cue of the design. The flank is also characterised by the same
black longitudinal element which acts as both a dividing and unifying element
between front and rear. The two sections of the car flow effortlessly into one
another resulting in sublimely harmonious yet extremely muscular forms.
At the front of the
car, Pininfarina has integrated the headlights in a classic move, turning them
into a single transparent transverse element, a signature of the car's extreme
formal purity. At the rear, the circular tail lights are another modern nod to
Ferrari history. The two-tone theme continues on both the front bonnet and rear
deck with the latter featuring the iconic circular air vents seen on other
iconic Pininfarina creations from the past.
The cockpit is
pared-back and functional in the extreme with the engine compartment actually
hugging the backs of the seats. The example delivered to Abu Dhabi has
three-layer red exterior paintwork and an extremely sporty cockpit with black
leather upholstery with contrasting red stitching, Alcantara seat inserts, and
extensive carbon dash and door well trim. It also features Sergio-specific
forged wheels, in this instance gold in colour with a diamond finish.
Each one of the six
Ferrari Sergios was configured by its owner in dedicated sessions at the Tailor
Made atelier in Maranello where clients are invited to personalise their cars
to their own individual tastes. The atelier offers enormous freedom of choice
in terms of colours, materials and finishes. As a result, every detail is
extremely exclusive, thereby continuing the Prancing Horse tradition begun in
the 1950s and 60s of creating bespoke cars minutely tailored to each client's
wishes.
