200 MPH with Wind in your Hair

You have heard of Ferrari and their 18 year old masterpiece, the Ferrari 458 Italia, 570 horsepower of Italian beauty. It was unveiled at the 2009 Geneva International Auto Show. A few variations of this beast have been made and the most recent of them being the Ferrari 458 Speciale Aperta. It also just so happens to be the most expensive of them all. Ferrari have scratched some of the luxury to give this bad boy more of an aggressive air to it, that doesn’t mean that you won’t find a car of Ferrari’s standards.

Behold, the Ferrari 458 Speciale Aperta, a racecar made for the roads. Based off the original, it looks primarily the same, except for these crucial additions that make the car look far more aggressive and menacing. They made parts of the grill stick out instead of making it blend in with the rest of it. Ferrari added some vents over the wheels and next to the headlights, and some more vents to the hood. They also opened up the gap or bend between the lights and the hood. From the frontal view, this really makes the car look like a force to be reckoned with. Looking at it from the side, it is almost identical to the model that started this line of automobiles. The only major difference is on the Aperta there is a little fin that sticks up on the side skirt. The rear is near identical to the Ferrari 458 Spider, everything from the lights to the positioning of the engine vents. The differences worth mentioning are that on the Aperta the mesh goes all the way across the rear whereas in the Spider and the Italia it only comes out a little around the lights and leaves the middle open. The Apetra also has two exhaust compared to the Italia’s three.

Because this is the more hardcore version of the 458 Spider, Ferrari have scraped some of the comforts, but remember this is still a Ferrari so it isn’t like they would make the interior horrible. To save weight they changed quite a few things around. Instead of having the seats move with the push of a button, it’s a manual process. You lift up a lever and slide the comfortable seat back and forth. The backs of the seats are carbon fiber, just another place to shave excess weight. The steering wheel was very comfortable and fits in the hand rather nicely. From there you can change into settings such as sport mode, race mode, wet, you can indicate and also start the engine. The interior as a whole isn’t overly extravagant, just a lot of alcantara and exposed carbon fiber.

Aperta means open in Italian, pretty simple name Ferrari. Just because this is a convertible doesn’t mean that it loses all of its rigidity. It takes about 16 seconds for the roof to go up and down. A 4.5L naturally aspirated V8 with scream out 597 horsepower. It will blast you to 60 mph in 3 seconds and will continue going until you are traveling at 199 mph. Get yours while you still can, although that is become increasingly more difficult. There are only 499 to begin with and prices are continuing to rise. If you can’t get one for yourself just realize that you are already privileged enough to be around in the era of the Ferrari 458 Speciale Aperta.