Ferrari pays homage to 1960s race cars with slick new Daytona SP3

22 November 2021 - 11:21 By Daniele Lepido and Bloomberg
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Ferrari has unveiled a new limited-run retro model that the storied Italian manufacturer is billing as its most aerodynamically efficient car ever.
Ferrari has unveiled a new limited-run retro model that the storied Italian manufacturer is billing as its most aerodynamically efficient car ever.
Image: Supplied

Ferrari NV unveiled a new limited-run retro model that the storied Italian manufacturer is billing as its most aerodynamically efficient car ever.

The Daytona SP3 that debuted on Saturday at Mugello Circuit, a Formula One track near Florence, honors the brand’s 1960s race cars. It represents the second leg of Ferrari’s special-edition Icona series, the first being the Monza SP1 and SP2 cars introduced three years ago.

Like those Monza models, the Daytona SP3 carries a seven-figure price tag. It will cost 2 million (roughly R35,659,297) in Italy, according to a company spokesman. Ferrari will produce 599 of them and deliveries are set to start at the end of 2022.

Its mid-rear mounted, 618kW V12 is Ferrari’s most powerful engine, enabling the car to go from zero to 100km/h in 2.85 seconds. 

New Chief Executive Officer Benedetto Vigna announced another Icona was coming during his debut earnings call early this month. The auto industry outsider joined from chipmaker STMicroelectronics NV in September and is under pressure to put Ferrari on course for the electric era.

The Maranello, Italy-based company has been slow to embrace battery power, slating the debut of its first fully electric vehicle for 2025. Rival Lamborghini has been more forthcoming about its electrification strategy, laying out a plan in May to shell out 1.5 billion (roughly R26,829,774,000) to switch its lineup over to plug-in hybrids and a first EV coming in the second half of the decade.

Wall Street hasn’t lost hope, however, with Morgan Stanley’s Adam Jonas raising his Ferrari price target this week to $350, the highest among analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg.

“We see EVs as a ‘force vector’ for expanding the addressable market in a profitable way while maintaining scarcity of the Ferrari brand,” Jones wrote in a November 16 report.

Ferrari will brief investors on its future strategy during a capital markets day in June. It will also start sales of its first-ever SUV, the Purosangue, next year.

Bloomberg News. For more articles like this please visit Bloomberg.com.


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