Listen to the Ferrari 488 GTB for the first time

Mon, May 4 2015

We've received the initial information, seen it on the floor of the Geneva Motor Show and even played around with the online configurator. The one thing we haven't seen (or heard) just yet is the new Ferrari 488 GTB actually firing up. (Well, that and driving the thing, but let's not get ahead of ourselves.)

Fortunately some paparazzi with a video camera have caught the new mid-engined, eight-cylinder Ferrari undergoing testing – still under wraps despite having already been unveiled Â– in Maranello, entering and exiting the factory. And in case you were worried that the twin turbochargers would muffle the exhaust note, it seems the boys in red have invested some time making sure that wouldn't be an issue.

Not only that, but we appear to have here our first glimpse at the convertible version, expected (in accordance with traditional Ferrari nomenclature) to be dubbed the 488 GTS Â– that S standing for Spider instead of the B for Berlinetta. Expect a similar folding hardtop mechanism to that found on the outgoing 458 Spider.

Then again, the last time the GTB handle was used on this line was with the F355, where the GTB was the coupe, GTS was the partial convertible with the removable roof panel, and the full convertible was called the F355 Spider. (The more recent, twelve-cylinder 599 GTB Fiorano only led to the limited-edition 599 SA Aperta, as Ferrari doesn't typically offer twelve-cylinder roadsters in "regular" production.)

By Noah Joseph