Ferrari P80/C one-off pays tribute to 330 P3/P4, Dino 206 S
The track-only car is based on the 488 GT3 racer.
If you've got enough money, Ferrari will build you a one-off car designed to your exact requirements. The latest example of that business is this P80/C, a track-only car that Ferrari revealed Monday. It was built for, the company says, "a great connoisseur of the Ferrari world," based on a simple design brief: Build a modern-day car inspired by the look of the 330 P3/P4 and 1966 Dino 206 S.
Ferrari calls this its "most extreme one-off design ever."
Of course, while the mission statement was simple, executing it was anything but. Ferrari began work on the P80/C in 2015, making it the most time-consuming of the company's one-off creations to date. As it's intended to be a track-day machine only and not street-legal, the new model is based on the 488 GT3 race car, rather than the road-going 488 GTB.
The P80/C thus looks radically different from other Ferraris, thanks primarily to its wraparound windshield and the manner in which the side windows lead into the huge air intakes. The car's nose is low and wide, jutting out ahead of the rest of the car. Because it's a track-day special, gone are standard headlights, replaced only by super-skinny light elements designed to recall the 330 P3/P4's air inlets.
From behind, the P80/C's defining styling attribute is its flying buttress-style C-pillars, which descend from the roofline and over the back of the engine bay. As with the nose, the car's tail stands proud from the rest of the body, with an integrated spoiler shape. The lower rear fascia is deliberately left exposed to show off parts of the car's running gear.
The exhausts, diffusers and other components are easily visible from behind.
Because the P80/C did not need to be homologated for any racing series' rules, Ferrari's aerodynamicists were able to retune the aero package significantly compared with the standard 488 GT3. All of the exterior aerodynamic bits are unique to the one-off car, and Ferrari says overall it's 5 percent more "efficient," while still providing plentiful downforce to keep the car pinned to the road.
However, the Ferrari P80/C won't always show off its racy extras. At the client's request, the car was designed with two different configurations. It can be equipped with 18-inch center-lock wheels and massive carbon-fiber rear wing for racing use, or with 21-inch wheels and fewer aero appendages for what the company terms "an exhibition package."
Inside the cabin, the P80/C closely resembles the look of the regular Ferrari 488 GT3 racer, with a roll cage, carbon-fiber door cards, bucket seats and an assortment of safety gear. Given all the work that apparently went into perfecting the car's aerodynamic balance, we're hoping the new one-off will see just as much time on the track as it does being shown off in the owner's collection.
