Ferrari’s latest one-off creation, the SC40, has been unveiled at Maranello – a “pure, uncompromising berlinetta” built under the Special Projects programme for a single client with, presumably, a healthy appreciation of the 1987 F40 and an even healthier bank balance.
The SC40 sits on the 296 GTB’s architecture, with the same 830 cv hybrid V6 drivetrain, but every visible panel is new. Designed under Flavio Manzoni, Ferrari’s design boss, it’s said to take “inspiration from industrial design” – which in this case means lots of sharp edges, black mesh, and more visible ducting than a Dyson factory tour.
An homage, not a remake
Ferrari insists the SC40 isn’t a reinterpretation of the F40, but a car with its own “distinct personality.” Fair enough, though it’s clearly been to the same tailor.
There’s a high fixed rear wing painted in a bespoke “SC40 White,” smoked Lexan louvres over the engine bay, and taillights lifted straight from the 296 GTB. The central exhaust is 3D-printed from titanium and carbon fibre, because of course it is.
At the front, the design team has stretched the headlights to the corners and carved out twin rectangular ducts, giving the face a sort of aggressive, geometric scowl.
Down the sides, huge NACA-style inlets feed the intercoolers – a “reinterpretation” of classic Ferrari aero trickery, only now outlined with a large carbon-fibre plate the size of a serving tray.
Inside: carbon and Kevlar
Step inside and Ferrari’s nostalgia for the F40 continues. The cabin uses re-engineered carbon-Kevlar throughout – in the footwells, on the steering wheel, even behind the seats – paired with charcoal Alcantara and red Jacquard fabric. It’s a clear nod to the stripped-back racer aesthetic, though the quality and finish are likely far from spartan.
A two-year conversation
Ferrari’s Special Projects division builds cars like this to order, usually taking around two years from first sketch to finished article.
The client is involved throughout, approving design details and engineering refinements, until a one-of-one Ferrari emerges – the automotive equivalent of a Savile Row suit, if your tailor also happens to have a Formula One team.
A full-scale styling buck of the SC40 will be displayed at the Ferrari Museum in Maranello from 18 October, for anyone curious to see what several million euros’ worth of “personalisation philosophy” looks like in the carbon flesh.
Beneath all that bespoke bodywork, it’s still a 296 GTB at heart – 0–100 km/h in 2.9 seconds, 330 km/h flat out, and a soundtrack that’ll likely make the world’s last few naturally aspirated Ferraris sound faintly apologetic.
But performance isn’t really the point. The SC40 exists to remind us that in 2025, when most cars are software and subscription services, Ferrari can still be persuaded to build something utterly pointless – and utterly brilliant – just because one person asked nicely.
