Car of the Day - Ferrari P540 Superfast Aperta

Car of the Day - Ferrari P540 Superfast Aperta

Ferrari continue to set themselves apart from all other car makers with a level of customer involvement no other can come close to. With two significant programs currently running; the XX program for the track and the “Special Projects” for those wealthy enough to be able to afford an individual one-off Ferrari.

The Special Projects program resulted from the success of James Glickenhaus’ fabulous P4/5 which was built at a reported cost of $4 million dollars. The first actual car built directly under the newly introduced SP program was the F430 based SP1 for Junichiro Hiramatsu.

Now comes the P540 Superfast Aperta built for the son of cable tv inventor John Watson. Cable TV was obviously very good for the Watson family and son Edward has been able to give himself “the most special Christmas present of my life.”

The project kicked off in 2008 when Watson approached Ferrari with his dream to build a modern re-interpretation of what is obviously his favorite movie car. The 1968 film “Histoires Extraordinaires” is a work in three episodes, the third of which was directed by Fellini. Entitled “Toby Dammit”, it starred Terence Stamp and was based on the Edgar Allan Poe story “Never Bet The Devil Your Head”. The Fellini episode also features a Gold Carrozzeria Fantuzzi designed Ferrari that is the inspiration for the Aperta. The other two episodes by the way are “Metzengerstein” directed by Roger Vadim and “William Wilson”, directed by Louis Malle.

On seeing the Fantuzzi design in the Fellini film Watson is quoted as saying “I had always dreamed of designing sports cars, and when I saw this film the decision came of its own accord: one day I would have ‘my’ Ferrari.”

The P540 is not just a cosmetic re-body of a donor 599GTB, the removal of the main roof section means a complete re-work of the chassis structure was required. Considerable effort (and therefore Watson’s money) went into finite element analysis which was used to assess the best approach to designing the strengthening elements required for the chassis structure. As always at Ferrari a paramount concern is to keep weight gain to a minimum. By using carbon fibre extensively that gain was contained to just 20 kg

The P540 was designed by Pininfarina and built in Maranello, with Watson’s involvement in each stage of development. From the initial sketches to the final, road-legal car took just 14 months. As with all “Special Project Ferrari the P540 Superfast Aperta meets all the current at time of build international safety standards and homologation requirements and is road legal.

Rod Halligan