It has been a little over a month after the reveal of the brand-new Ferrari 296 GTB but the guys at Maranello don’t seem to rest on their laurels. A camouflaged test car of the 296’s open-top variant was spied testing in Italy, hinting at Ferrari’s next model. This will be the fifth spider in Ferrari’s range next to the Portofino, F8 Spider, SF90 Spider, and 812 GTS.
The Italian carmaker will have its complete range on offer in both coupe and spider bodystyles, (besides the Roma which has the Portofino sibling) so it was natural for the same thing to happen with the 296 GTB. Instead of a more traditional fabric roof, the 296 will get a hardtop with an electronically operated reclining mechanism. The test car was heavily camouflaged, but we can see the slightly different roofline and shut lines.
Like in other convertible Ferrari models, design changes will be limited to the roof and the rear deck, with the rest of the bodywork and the interior being carried over from the hardtop 296 GTB. The think camouflage on the tail might hide a new spoiler design but the diffuser and taillights look exactly the same.
We expect no changes on the hybrid powertrain. This means that the turbocharged 2.9-liter V6 gasoline engine and the electric motor will produce a combined 819 hp and 740 Nm of torque. A little bit of extra weight due to the roof reclining mechanism will be added over the 1470 kg dry weight of the closed-body variant, slightly affecting the performance figures. As a reminder, the 296 GTB accelerates from 0-100 km/h in 2.9 seconds and has a top speed of 330 km/h. The open-top version of the 296 GTB could bear either the Spider or the GTS name (like the larger 812). We expect an official debut towards the end of 2021 or in early 2022.
