Ital Auto Singapore, together with Ferrari, unveiled the 458 Speciale at the newly opened Ferrari showroom. The car, making its South East Asian debut, joins the Ferrari range alongside the multi award winning 458 Italia and 458 Spider and, like all special series Ferraris, is aimed at a specific kind of owner, in this case, those looking for an even more focused sports car that offers extreme driving emotions.

The special edition Prancing Horse was decked out in an unusual red livery, featuring a blue and white central stripe, inspired by the historic North America Racing Team (NART) livery, which is available on request.

Aerodynamic requirements guided the work of the Ferrari Styling Centre, which led the project in collaboration with Pininfarina, to sculpt the car's forms to ensure they were more performance-oriented than ever.

One of the main highlights, in this sense, is the new Ferrai-patented mobile aerodynamics solution at the front and the rear of the car, which ensure that different aerodynamic configurations can be adopted in cornering, where maximum downforce is essential, and on straights where drag must be reduced to a minimum.

The front of the car features two vertical flaps in the centre and a horizontal one below them. At speeds in excess of 170km/h, the flaps open, reducing the volume of air flow into the radiators, thereby cutting drag. At speeds of over 220km/h, the horizontal flap lowers to balance downforce between the front and rear axles, leading to a 20 percent shift in overall downforce towards the rear.

At the rear, the triple exhaust tips have been replaced by twin tailpipes, allowing for a new diffuser to be designed which optimises the extraction capacity of the underbody.

The mid-rear mounted 4.5-litre naturally-aspirated V8 GDI engine is the most powerful ever developed, punching out 605bhp at 9,000rpm and a maximum torque of 540Nm at 6,000rpm.

The 458 Speciale's performance is exceptional across the board, thanks to factors such as an extraordinary power-to-weight ratio of 2.13kg/bhp, a century sprint time of three seconds flat, as well as a lateral acceleration of 1.33g.

The 458 Speciale is available for pre-order at the Ferrari showroom from $1,190,000 (without COE).