Ferrari 488 Pista Spider unveiled in California

The Ferrari 488 Pista Spider is the 50^th drop-top model from the Prancing Horse and an American premiere was a natural choice given that, ever since the 1950s, North American clients have always been keen connoisseurs of high-performance convertibles.

The new car sets a new benchmark for Ferrari for spider performance with an unprecedented weight-power ratio, a result made possible by the adoption of the most powerful Ferrari V8 engine ever, which was recently named Engine of the Year for the third consecutive year at the 2018 International Engine of the Year Awards.

The 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8 unleashes 720bhp, 770Nm of peak torque and combines that power with increasing torque at all engine speeds for continuous and unending acceleration all the way to the red line.

The unique engine sound is now even more riveting thanks to the open-top configuration.

The Ferrari 488 Pista Spider represents the natural development of the defining design of the coupe version. The Ferrari designers' primary objective was to maintain unaltered the perfect marriage of aerodynamic efficiency, purity of form and racing spirit.

The philosophy that imposed an uncompromising choice of materials for the bodywork is also revisited in the interior solutions, with weight being saved by the use of lightweight, pared-back components. As well as the generous use of carbon fibre and Alcantara throughout, the carpets have been replaced by patterned aluminium foot plates and the driver's-side door handle is now a simple strap.

In terms of engineering, the Ferrari 488 Pista Spider is directly derived from the 488 Pista, which encapsulates all the racing experience gathered on world's circuits with the 488 Challenge and the 488 GTE. As a result, the new Spider offers the highest level yet of technological transfer from the track to a road-legal drop-top car.