Pininfarina preps Enzo-based project
Newswheel staff :: 27 March 2006 :: Filed under Mid / rear engine sportscar, Ferrari, Ferrari 612 P4/5,
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Production prospects for spiritual P4 successor? Not likely...
Italian car couture house, Pininfarina, is preparing to wheel out a new Ferrari-badged project at
the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance in So-Cal on 20th August. Cue
rampant speculation, headless chicken impressions and all round
Fezza-fueled, foam-filled, mouth-frothing madness. Problem is, the car
is a one-off commissioned by a private (and, one assumes, hilariously
wealthy) US client. So it goes…
To be known as the Ferrari 612 P4/5, the Pebble Beach car is a mid-engine two seater built on a tweaked carbon-fibre Enzo chassis with styling inspired by the delicious P4 racer of the 1960s. In typical fashion, UK rag AutoExpress breathlessly squawks that this private-client commission is “set to turn the performance car class on its head.”
Yum: An original Ferrari P4
Well, possibly. Whatever, the project sounds like an impressive effort, with soon-to-be proud owner Jim Glickenhaus (a US-based private asset manager) revealing that the green light was given to Pininfarina to develop the car in June last year followed by full wind tunnel testing of the new design over the autumn. The car is fully four inches lower than a standard Enzo and is thought to be more aerodynamically efficient.
Glickenhaus’ minty-fresh Enzo: apparently he resisted removing the packing material before shipping his Enzo off to Pininfarina…
It has also been engineered to meet all current crash and outward vision regulations, as well as being well enough appointed for daily driving and routine servicing. Oh, and the 612 P4/5 will be significantly lighter than an Enzo, too. In short, the idea is a classic coach built car, but one that might just make Henrik Fisker’s recent riff on modern coach-built carriges look more than a little tacky.
AutoExpress’s CG rendering: According to Glickenhaus, it’s exactly what the 612 P4/5 won’t look like
Of course, the $64,000, V12-powered question that everyone wants answered is this: Will the 612 P4/5 form the basis of a series production run of any kind? Only Pininfarina, Glickenhaus and Ferrari really know. But here’s a little food for thought. Glickenhaus will retain the design rights to the car.
This rather prettier rendering, produced by John Mellberg, isn’t it either…
For more information on this rather fabulous sounding project, hop over to the FerrariChat forum and look out for posts by a certain Napolis – the screen name under which Glickenhaus operates.
P.S. One other item to take heed of: the 612 P4/5 project has nothing to do with the much rumoured F60, supposedly an 850bhp development of the FXX project due out in 2007…
Linkage:
FerrariChat discussion of the 612 P4/5
AutoExpress’s rather creative take on the story…
