With the long mooted Enzo replacement still some time away Ferrari has used the Paris Motor Show to present the complex carbon-fibre tub that will underpin the first hybrid car to wear the prancing horse badge.
For its most powerful car ever, Ferrari shunned industry standard carbon-fibre processing and instead turned to Scuderia Ferrari F1's chief designer (and the man behind 11 of the team's championship titles), Rory Byrne.
What Byrne and his team came up with is a design that uses four different types of carbon-fibre, with a Nomex honeycomb structure sandwiched between. The carbon fibre is hand-laminated before curing in autoclaves, which is said to contribute to the fact that it is 20 per cent lighter than the tub of the Enzo yet 27 per cent stiffer.
A Kevlar layer (yes the stuff use in bullet proof vests) was added to the under-tray to prevent damage from debris thrown up from the road.
While lighter at this stage the new car is expected to tip the scales at around the same 1,365kg as the Enzo due to the weight of the F1-inspired hybrid system that, when combined with the 7.3-litre V12 engine, will produce more than 900hp. This should equate to a 0-62mph time of less than three seconds and a top speed the far side of 220mph.
The as yet unnamed car is expected to take its bow at the Geneva Motor Show next year.
Paul Healy - 1 Oct 2012