Ferrari To Roll Out Special Edition Sports Car In Paris

Italian sports car maker Ferrari says it will show a new special-edition model called the SA Aperta at this month’s Paris Motor Show. The car is a convertible version of the current 599 Fiorano,a 12-cylinder coupe, or berlinetta, that has been on the market for a few years.

The SA Aperta is meant to mark the 80th anniversary of the Pininfarina design firm that has been responsible for many of Ferrari’s most successful models. Ferrari says the “SA” stands for the designers Sergio and Andrea Pininfarina.

The company says it limited production run to 80 cars, all of which are already sold. Typically when a new Ferrari comes along, particularly a special edition model, the company gives its longtime customers the first shot at buying them. For those willing to wait, the cars usually wind up selling at a discount within a few years.

To really save a few bucks you could settle for a 550 Barchetta, the open-top special edition car Ferrari rolled out a decade ago to mark — you guessed it — Pininfarina’s 70th anniversary. They originally sold out quickly at the list price of about $258,000 and shortly thereafter began changing hands at nearly $500,000. Today you can get one for less than $200,000. Of course they are not as rare as the SA Aperta, as Ferrari built 448 Barchettas. So the new car probably will suffer less from depreciation.

The company says the SA Aperta is a true roadster, meaning it is meant for open-top driving and has a cloth roof essentially designed for use only in emergencies like a sudden downpour. Its chassis was designed to make it about as strong and stiff as a car with a roof without adding too much weight. Converting an existing coupe to a convertible almost always adds weight because of the need to add reinforcing structures to make up for the loss of the roof.