Ferrari 458 Speciale Spider will make Paris debut

Wed, 17 Sep 2014

The news out of Ferrari is coming nearly as fast as its wonderful sports cars, as of late, with CEO Luca di Montezemolo stepping down and a special model for America upcoming. Now, it's looking increasingly likely that the 458 Speciale Spider is making its world debut at the 2014 Paris Motor Show in early October, confirming earlier rumors.

Di Montezemolo had already confirmed that the Prancing Horse would unveil a new car in Paris, but exactly which model it would be had been a mystery. However, an unnamed Ferrari insider has recently confirmed to 4WheelNews that it would be the droptop Speciale.

As the name suggests, the special model takes the sonorous 4.5-liter V8 engine from the 458 Speciale with 597 horsepower and 398 pound-feet of torque and drops it into the convertible hardtop from the Spider. According to the source, the special Ferrari is also getting new wheels, stripes and seats, but the folding top might mean losing the coupe's transparent engine cover.

There's the possibility that Ferrari could build even more Speciale Spiders than originally thought. Earlier rumors indicated that it might be limited to just 458 units worldwide. However, wealthy buyers reportedly already reserved many of them during private showings. With Sergio Marchionne reportedly scrapping di Montezemolo's 7,000-units-per-year production limit, more of these Prancing Horses could hit the road. Regardless of how many the company makes, we hope this high performance convertible actually shows its face in Paris in a few weeks.

By Chris Bruce