The Ferrari P80/C Is a Two-in-One Track Car and Garage Beauty, and There's Only One
Commissioned in 2015, the P80/C is the first Ferrari one-off track car.
It's based on the 488GT3 but adheres to no racing regulations.
A collector, reportedly in the Hong Kong region, is about to become very happy.
Fun fact: Dropping millions on this Ferrari P80/C bought one collector access to the company's secret design studio and its board of directors for four years, plus a complimentary short film produced by the dealership. Such handholding by the supercar overlords in Maranello, and the customer's delight in making them bow, could actually be more powerful than the car itself.
The money talks underneath a 488GT3 race-car chassis, where the design and engineering team had freedom from otherwise tight FIA restriction. Ferrari says it's the first dedicated track car it has ever created as a one-off, although the P80/C does not reach the same extremes as the FXX K. What it offers, however, is the right to stay in this owner's garage somewhere in Hong Kong.
Without the detailed specifications that normally accompany a new Ferrari, all we can do is look at the carbon-fiber body in awe. It's evident that Ferrari's people visualized the beautifully humped 330 P3 and P4 race cars, along with the Dino 206 S, while sketching this car. We see a striking resemblance to another Italian from this era, that stunning mid-engined coupe with the splash of Argentinian blood. Ferrari wouldn't patronize the De Tomaso Pantera in public, but it definitely looked in that direction, as everyone since has.
Among modern Ferraris, the P80/C is nearly a track-only version of the SP38 that debuted last year, the roadgoing 488GTB special purchased by a young Swiss man. Note the T-wing, a miniature spoiler just aft of the roof, that Ferrari borrowed from its F1 cars and is supposed to reduce turbulence by creating "an extremely limited separation bubble" before the air slips through the lower wing and the upper wing. The diffuser sticks out several inches behind the car's bodywork, which incorporates two flying buttresses that aren't quite as dramatic as those on the Ford GT. Still, any time a body panel is fused from fender to roof while creating the most delicate of air cavities, there is reason to celebrate.
Most interesting is what Ferrari won't show us. The owner doesn't want to push the car to the limit all the time, even though the GT3's twin-turbo V-8 is unrestricted from its 600-hp racing spec (figure 710 horsepower, at least, as on the 488 Pista). So all the aero bits snap off. The 18-inch center-lock wheels swap with custom 21s. Sometimes-and who has this not happened to?-you just want to flip on a light switch in the garage and admire every curve. There's a price for that, and it's worth it.
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