I Got a Close Look at the F 458 Speciale

[Lostbuckeye]

I took my car to XPEL to have my clear bra repaired where a tire carcass "jumped up and bit it" on the way to NSXPO 2013. The bra took the damage but protected the paint. The Orange Unicorn is in some good company. The car on the lift in the back is a 2014 BMW M335i, the Pearl Yellow car is a Mercedes SLS AMG Black Edition and the Red Ferrari in front of me is the 458 Speciale. The Ferrari is 1 of 10 in the US. The 458 is very Spartan no stereo. Seats are made of light weight materials, no leather just a very small amount of alcantera for seat trim and some on the dash. The rest, door panels, center console etc., are carbon fiber. in fact a significant amount of the car is carbon fiber. I thought that the black wrinkle powder coated exhaust was a nice touch as well. The SLS and the Beamer were awesome too. But, the 458 Speciale made me drool.

 

[Ritesh]

Interesting Interior choice on the F458S. Btw - You sure about the "no stereo"....that seems a bit extreme.

Btw - it might be 1/10 today but it will be 1/100 by end of summer and 1/250 by end of year ;-). I just helped a friend spec out his order. He is getting his by mid summer.

 

[Lostbuckeye]

No Stereo, no Nav, no arm rests and no glove box. Though a sound system is an option as is a Nav Center. The Speciale was designed to be a track car first. The one I looked at didn't have those options. I liked the simplicity of the interior even though the complexity of the car its self is off the charts. This particular car is the personal car of the owner of the local Ferrari dealership. Even if it's 1/1000, it's still rare. My only reservation is how much the technology will drive the car for you. But, I guess that's the way sportscar development is going these days.

 

[Osiris_x11]

Was the 458 Italia (and Spider, Speciale`) a Pininfarinia designed model?

Lots of unique and neat details on the Speciale`, I love the "Coke-bottle" form-factor on the 458 lineage (which Lamborghini, Audi, McLaren have failed to emulate in their comparable models; likewise with Honda with the forthcoming NSX-v2). Such design-philosophy is the norm with the ~$1M+ hypercars (LaF, P1, Huayra). With that said, I don't think I can ever grow to (really) palate the headlights on the 458 (and LaF, etc)...

 

[davidf]

Optional sound system not needed. Sound system is wrinkle black and poking out the back. :wink:

 

[BATMANs]

I would be pretty unhappy if my car that was designed to be driven on the street to had no stereo or GPS, just so that it can save some weight. The Enzo with the no power windows..... really?

 

[Cincy Jamie]

Very nice. a member of our local motorsports group is an italia owner

 

[bngl3rt]

I would be pretty unhappy if my car that was designed to be driven on the street to had no stereo or GPS, just so that it can save some weight.

I think the regular 458 (which they still sell) is designed to be driven on the street and the 458 Speciale is designed for the track. Kind of nice that they serve both markets. I wish Honda would follow suit making a regular NSX and an NSX-R - I mean, they do, but not in this country...

 

[AZNSX001]

Interesting Interior choice on the F458S. Btw - You sure about the "no stereo"....that seems a bit extreme.

Audio is an option

No Stereo, no Nav, no arm rests and no glove box. Though a sound system is an option as is a Nav Center. The Speciale was designed to be a track car first. The one I looked at didn't have those options. I liked the simplicity of the interior even though the complexity of the car its self is off the charts. This particular car is the personal car of the owner of the local Ferrari dealership. Even if it's 1/1000, it's still rare. My only reservation is how much the technology will drive the car for you. But, I guess that's the way sportscar development is going these days.

The spartan interior in the Speciale, like the CS before it, is very minimal and with the addition of A/C very livable. I do not have a Speciale but have put over 40K miles on CS's and drive them semi-daily and they give a real, raw sportscar feel. There nothing like bathing in a sea of carbon, leather and noise. Sadly they are only offered with the F1 set-up or they would surely occupy a more permanent spot in my garage.

Optional sound system not needed. Sound system is wrinkle black and poking out the back. :wink:

So very true. I haven't had the radio on any one of my Fcars in over 8 years, there's just no need.

 

[EuroBoutique]

Audio is an option

The spartan interior in the Speciale, like the CS before it, is very minimal and with the addition of A/C very livable. I do not have a Speciale but have put over 40K miles on CS's and drive them semi-daily and they give a real, raw sportscar feel. There nothing like bathing in a sea of carbon, leather and noise. Sadly they are only offered with the F1 set-up or they would surely occupy a more permanent spot in my garage

Totally agree, if the CS had a 6-speed gated shifter option it would probably be in my garage already! I've been looking at low mileage yellow examples and they are so rare but not 100% onboard with the F1 tranny

Speciale is certainly a nice car but not too friendly on the checkbook for sure! Again a 6-speed shifter is needed...c'mon Ferrari!