What's all this about?
It's Concours d'Elegance time at Pebble Beach over in California and, as a result, the high-end manufacturers are falling over themselves to get some show-stopping new metal out there. Here's Ferrari joining in the melee, with the dramatic 488 Pista Spider.
Pista? That's the really fast one, isn't it?
Yes, if you think the 'regular' 205mph 488 GTB isn't fast enough. The new Spider, the 50th open-top car built by Ferrari in its 71-year history and, yes, it is derived from the mad-as-a-hatter Pista coupe. That means a 720hp/770Nm 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8 driving the rear wheels through a seven-speed dual-clutch gearbox, with some scorching performance from the 1,380kg convertible - 0-62mph takes the same 2.85 seconds as the Pista coupe, 0-124mph is dispatched in eight seconds flat and the top speed is in the vicinity of 211mph.
Has the Spider got any specific tricks to keep the weight off?
Nothing that hasn't been seen on the Pista already - so lots of carbon fibre, no carpets in the interior and a strap where the driver's interior door handle should be - but it's still very cool stuff. It also has the Ferrari Dynamics Enhancer (FDE), as seen on the coupe, a set of 20-inch, diamond-finish alloy wheels with a ten-spoke star-effect pattern, longitudinal striped livery and the option to have one-piece carbon-fibre wheels in place of those standard forged alloys; the carbon rims are 20 per cent lighter than the metal ones.
How much will the 488 Pista Spider cost?
No word as yet, as the car has just been unveiled in Pebble Beach. The USA was chosen as the place to announce the 488 Pista Spider because it's a traditionally strong market for Ferrari convertibles.
Matt Robinson - 26 Aug 2018