SP1 - first official custom Ferrari

Companies like Pininfarina have been doing it for decades. There are multiple examples of Ferraris with complete custom bodywork for extremely well-off customers (Pininfarina has made some exotic one-of-a-kind car including a wagon based on its own design of Ferrari 456 GT for the Sultan of Brunei.) Now Ferrari wants to get in on some of the mega-bucks by making official custom cars.

The program is called "Portfolio", and Ferrari officially keeps the program somewhat of a secret to everyone but its best customers. The cars are still designed and built by Ferrari’s long established houses such as Zagato, Fioravanti and Pininfarina, but now with Ferrari’s blessing and possible hand in their pocket.

The first customer to benefit from it is June Chiro Hiramatsu, a Japanese customer who is already known for an impressive Ferrari collection. His car, the Ferrari SP1 (Special Projects 1) is based on the Ferrari F430 and is a design by Leonardo Fioravanti. The bodywork is mostly new - only the A-pillars, windshield and doors are the same to the factory model. The 490 hp 4.3-liter V8 engine went unchanged.