The Golden Ferrari

[LeonOfTheDead]

source: The Golden Ferrari! Pininfarina Coachbuilt » Autoblog.nl (http://www.autoblog.nl/archive/2009/05/24/the-golden-ferrari-pininfarina-coachbuilt)

english text from worldcarfans:

Our friends over at Autoblog.nl have uncovered details about a new Pininfarina project dubbed the "Golden Ferrari". Apparently based on the 599 GTB, the car seems to have received inspiration from the Ferrari 330 LMB featured in the short film "Toby Dammit".

Like the one-off P4/5 built for James Glickenhaus, the Golden Ferrari features unique Pininfarina styling with a definite retro flair. The most eye-catching detail is the car's exclusive open top design and a beautiful rear roll bar which fits exquisitely into the rear quarter panels.

Although we can't be certain, the car likely uses the 599's 6.0-liter V12 engine which produces 620 horsepower.

The car was apparently bought by Wal-Mart's CEO, Rob Walton, for an undisclosed amount of money.

The car appears to have 612's headlamps, 599's bonnet and other details taken here an there from the modern line-up, apart from the clear resemblance to a special based on a 330 LMB.
afaik the 599 didn't allow for an open top version due mainly to the insufficient strength of the chassis, but perhaps that was supposing a production of some hundreds of units, while a one-off allows for much different methods and mods.
WTF?!

[Dino Scuderia]

Fugly and cheap looking like a bad kit car.

[Roentgen]

Is it made of Gold?

[LotusLocost]

Is it made of Gold?

Yeah.

Solid gold.

[Matra et Alpine]

:) ^ no :)

[pimento]

The P4/5 makes you wonder why they didn't produce it as an official model.. this one makes you glad they didn't. Eww.

[IBrake4Rainbows]

It's a bit.....well, outright facsimile, isn't it.

Another reason why Retro Styling is a dead end.

[mclaren_crazy]

"and a beautiful rear roll bar which fits exquisitely into the rear quarter panels."

By this they of course mean directly lifted directly off of a Civic Del Sol, possibly one of the ugliest vehicles ever in my mind

[NicFromLA]

I think you guys are crazy, the colour isn't that great, but the car is gorgeous! I think an actual completed version would be stunning.


The P4/5 makes you wonder why they didn't produce it as an official model.. this one makes you glad they didn't. Eww.

P4/5 was a commissioned one-off and the person who commissioned it owns the rights and tooling for the design, so even if Ferrari wanted to they couldn't build another. Same with 612 Kappa and 575 GTZ.

[Matra et Alpine]

I think the colour sucks and the reason is "gold is the new white" in Dubai.
Lots of gold coloured cars popping up .... makes chavs and F&F Civics look sophisticated :)

[LeonOfTheDead]

I think you guys are crazy, the colour isn't that great, but the car is gorgeous! I think an actual completed version would be stunning.



P4/5 was a commissioned one-off and the person who commissioned it owns the rights and tooling for the design, so even if Ferrari wanted to they couldn't build another. Same with 612 Kappa and 575 GTZ.

612K and 575GTZ aren't official though.
Didn't know they had the same treatment as the P4/5.
I could expect it for the K since it's another Pininfarina, but not for the GTZ, also because, afaik, Zagato doesn't have the tools to produce, just designed the car.

[cargirl1990]

gold will go real far in California... :p
but the overalll design of the car is gorgeous! just no gold thats all

[Ferrer]

The color is vile indeed and I'm not a fan of the 80's style targa roof.

But I'm with Nic, they could've accidentally produced a nice Ferrari...

[fisetdavid26]

The colour and the wheels don't fit it all. Maybe with these two issues corrected it could be a great looking car.

But since it's owned by the Wal-Mart CEO let's destroy it. With fire.

[Rockefella]

It looks pretty good, albeit kind of cheap and sloppy in that color

[f6fhellcat13]

It is a very confused design, imo.
Even taking away the gold would not make it look good.
The overly-sized insect-with-Downs-Syndrome front end doesn't match the much more graceful and petít rear.
A sloppy chop of it in something that could barely be called red.
307597

[LotusLocost]

:) ^ no :)

I'm sorry, I forgot to tell I was being sarcastic.

[f6fhellcat13]

I'm sorry, I forgot to tell I was being sarcastic.
But I though gold was really good at absorbing heat.:confused:
Why wouldn't they make it out of gold?

[LeonOfTheDead]

But I though gold was really good at absorbing heat.:confused:
Why wouldn't they make it out of gold?

transmitting, not absorbing

[clutch-monkey]

doesn't gold block infra red or some other such electronic emanations, i thought EA-6B's had their cockpit canopy's lined with a thin film of gold
electronic warfare ferrari!

[jump15vc]

the wheels look photoshopped, throw some old school Borrani's on to complete the retro look

[Vindesh17]

I love the front intake design. Not much else to love.

[092326001]

no, that is awful
the rear hoop was lifted from a 70s corvette targa

[Spastik_Roach]

"and a beautiful rear roll bar which fits exquisitely into the rear quarter panels."

By this they of course mean directly lifted directly off of a Civic Del Sol, possibly one of the ugliest vehicles ever in my mind

thats exactly what i thought when i saw it...

[LeonOfTheDead]

doesn't gold block infra red or some other such electronic emanations, i thought EA-6B's had their cockpit canopy's lined with a thin film of gold
electronic warfare ferrari!

it reflects radar waves too.
The F22 and F16, among others I'm sure, use it too.

[Matra et Alpine]

the reason you dont' make cars out of solid gold is gold is a very VERY soft metal.
Park the car in the garage for a month and by the time you go to drive it out the panels are all droppy ... think of a Salvador Dali painting of a Porsche :)

[P4g4nite]

Oh god !!! My eyes!!

Quick, get the medical acid!!

[ScionDriver]

The Wal-Mart CEO bought a gold tacky looking Ferrari? Really? No I guess that fits.

[switters78]

This has been done before. Witness the gold Porsche Boxster...

A gold Porsche worthy of Auric Goldfinger - MotorAuthority - Car news, reviews, spy shots (http://www.motorauthority.com/a-porsche-worthy-of-auric-goldfinger.html)

http://www.motorauthority.com/official-images-of-the-gold-boxster.html

[LeonOfTheDead]

This has been done before. Witness the gold Porsche Boxster...

A gold Porsche worthy of Auric Goldfinger - MotorAuthority - Car news, reviews, spy shots (http://www.motorauthority.com/a-porsche-worthy-of-auric-goldfinger.html)

Official images of the Gold Boxster - MotorAuthority - Car news, reviews, spy shots (http://www.motorauthority.com/official-images-of-the-gold-boxster.html)

this Ferrar is just painted in "gold" color, it isn't made of gold. And it's only a moke up, by now.

[LeonOfTheDead]

on a side note, I think I've already seen those air intakes side by side to the grille, in the lower part of the front fascia. They seem a little DBS-ish, but I think there is something even more similar than that, maybe from a tuning company.

HALP

[f6fhellcat13]

This has been done before. Witness the gold Porsche Boxster...

A gold Porsche worthy of Auric Goldfinger - MotorAuthority - Car news, reviews, spy shots (http://www.motorauthority.com/a-porsche-worthy-of-auric-goldfinger.html)

http://www.motorauthority.com/official-images-of-the-gold-boxster.html
Why would you goldplate a Boxster?
Seriously, it's like getting a world-renowned architect to design your house, but after that you only have enough money to make it in 1:48 scale.

[kingofthering]

Why would you goldplate a Boxster?
Seriously, it's like getting a world-renowned architect to design your house, but after that you only have enough money to make it in 1:48 scale.

No, it's more like getting a famous architect to decorate your trailer-park mobile home - you'll have something nice, but at the end of the day, it's still a mobile home in a trailer park. ;)

edit- Pretty much everything in front of the windshield is good, everything from there; not so good.

[092326001]

the reason you dont' make cars out of solid gold is gold is a very VERY soft metal.
Park the car in the garage for a month and by the time you go to drive it out the panels are all droppy ... think of a Salvador Dali painting of a Porsche :)
you know, i think i get it now, they designed a car that would look better as it aged, that's why it's starting out really ugly

[NicFromLA]

612K and 575GTZ aren't official though.
Didn't know they had the same treatment as the P4/5.
I could expect it for the K since it's another Pininfarina, but not for the GTZ, also because, afaik, Zagato doesn't have the tools to produce, just designed the car.

612K and P 4/5 were done through the same program at Pininfarina at the same time. I believe 575 GTZ was designed and produced at Zagato under similar circumstances. As far as I know Zagato produced the Maserati GS Zagato Coupe and the Bentley Conti GTZ on their own.

[LeonOfTheDead]

612K and P 4/5 were done through the same program at Pininfarina at the same time. I believe 575 GTZ was designed and produced at Zagato under similar circumstances. As far as I know Zagato produced the Maserati GS Zagato Coupe and the Bentley Conti GTZ on their own.

I know the circumstances, but i never heard the 612K was officially recognized, and same for the 575GTZ.
I remember an interview with Zagato himself stating they are just a design company, they don't produce the cars, just working prototypes at best (I checked the site, wasn't really helpful).
Like Bertone, which designed the Mantide, but it was actually engineered and built by Danisi Engineering and another company which supplied the carbon fiber parts. Carbon Avio, or something similar, I can't remember right now.

[Wouter Melissen]

I know the circumstances, but i never heard the 612K was officially recognized, and same for the 575GTZ.

The cars would not have had Ferrari badges, if Ferrari had not given the nod. Why would Ferrari not approve? All these cars were bought by their biggest customers. I believe that Ferrari even helped Zagato find suitable candidates for the cars. BTW, Robson Walton also owns one of the Zagato Ferraris.

[LeonOfTheDead]

The cars would not have had Ferrari badges, if Ferrari had not given the nod. Why would Ferrari not approve? All these cars were bought by their biggest customers. I believe that Ferrari even helped Zagato find suitable candidates for the cars. BTW, Robson Walton also owns one of the Zagato Ferraris.

I thought there were only two 575GTZ, both commissioned and owned by the same Japanese collector.
So, who's Robson Walton?:o

And also, even the GG50 have been recognized?
And the 348 Elaborazione?

Even the Novitecs have the Ferrari badges, but I know for a fact it's one of the only two approved tuners by Ferrari (the other being Stola iirc), being also technical partners, as it is Italdesign too.

Btw, thanks for the info.
This is going to mess up even more my archive. What has to go where?

[switters78]

I think it kind of looks like an evil Dino. With cars like this, seems like it's less important that it looks good and more important that it's expensive and no one else in your postal code will have one. I want to see it with real headlights, a fixed top, and no shark gills...oh wait, I just described a real Ferrari.

[cargirl1990]

you know, i think i get it now, they designed a car that would look better as it aged, that's why it's starting out really ugly

possibly because of the car being made could be called The Golden Years?

[dydzi]

the car's now official as Ferrari P540 Superfast Aperta: here are the pics from my website (http://www.rossocorsa.pl/modele/drogowe/599/p540/zdjecia.php)

[Tati25]

I like the rear, not so much the front. The color is just wrong... and the name.... bahhh

[ZZMX-5]

Horrific; the design is "meh" enough, the color kills it :rolleyes:

[Ferrer]

I think that my original opinion still stands.

[LeonOfTheDead]

ehm... better than what I thought, still not enough to say that it is ok.

Thanks for the shots dydzi, some of the tail?

I'd be curious to know how they went to create an open top on the 599 though

[LeonOfTheDead]

I should add that this car (iirc) is referred to as the SP3 at Ferrari, so there also should be an SP2 somewhere, maybe it has already been delivered, or yet to be finished, given the first was called SP1. makes sense?

Press release:


The first shake-down has been held at Fiorano of a very special one-off, the P540 Superfast Aperta, built for an American client.
The car, the second in a new Special Projects programme created by Ferrari to meet requests from the most discerning clients and collectors to create truly unique models, is based on the 599 GTB Fiorano and was inspired by a Carrozzeria Fantuzzi-designed Ferrari built specifically for the 1968 Fellini film, Toby Dammit, itself inspired by one of the tales of Edgar Allan Poe.
The P540 Superfast Aperta’s proud new owner, Edward Walson, son of John Walson, the inventor of cable TV, approached Ferrari in 2008 to produce a modern reinterpretation of the gold-coloured car in the film. “I had always dreamed of designing sports cars,” Walson explains, “and when I saw this film the decision came of its own accord: one day I would have ‘my’ Ferrari.”
In accordance with the Special Project’s approach to producing such individual oneoffs, the P540 Superfast Aperta respects all existing international safety and homologation requirements and is thus road legal. The car was designed by Pininfarina and built in Maranello, and the client was directly involved in each stage of its development. As the 599 GTB Fiorano donor car is a coupé, considerable effort went into strengthening the chassis by using finite element analysis in development and the increase in weight was kept down to just 20 kg by employing carbon-fibre extensively. From the initial sketches to the final, road-legal car took just 14 months.
As the client took delivery of the car at Fiorano his excitement was understandable: “This is the most special Christmas present of my life.”

Technical data:


Technical specifications
Length 4731 mm
Width 1954 mm
Height 1300 mm
Wheelbase 2750 mm
Front track 1690 mm
Rear track 1620 mm
Engine
65° V12
Displacement 5999 cc
Maximum power 456 kW (620 CV) at 7600 rpm
Maximum torque 608 Nm (62 kgm) at 5600 rpm
Transmission
F1 6-speed gearbox
Tyres
Front 245/35 20”
Rear 305/35 20”
Fuel consumption
Combined cycle 17.9 l/100 km
CO2 emissions
Combined cycle 415 g/km

I was expecting a heavier car.

[dydzi]

as to the weight and roof cutting: it is likely that the car handles worse than the coupe, it's more of a sculpture than a sports car ;) but i may be wrong...

[LeonOfTheDead]

as to the weight and roof cutting: it is likely that the car handles worse than the coupe, it's more of a sculpture than a sports car ;) but i may be wrong...

Extent use of carbon fiber could have helped.
AFAIK the 599 isn't easy to work with without the roof if you have to do that with decent production costs and techniques.
As a small production run my mate told me they could have surely done it, as a one-off even more I'd assume.

I want to see that tail!

[roosterjuicer]

I love it! I think its gorgeous!