Although Enzo Ferrari founded the company in 1939 as Auto Avio Construzioni, Ferrari wasn't recognized as a full-fledged automaker until 1947. Maranello is getting ready to celebrate its 70th anniversary next year and the celebration began at the 2016 Paris Motor Show, where the Italian brand announced the introduction of 70 special liveries that pay tribute to iconic Ferraris from the past.

Five models were selected for the livery feast: the F12beriletta, 488 GTB, 488 Spider, GTC4Lusso, and California T. Each sports car is available with any of the 70 liveries, but there's a catch. Ferrari will only build one of each model in that livery, meaning there's won't be two identical cars with the same paint scheme. For instance, once someone orders a F12berlinetta in livery, that same livery won't be offered on the same car again. However, it will be available on any of the remaining models (as long as they haven't been ordered already, that is!).

As a result, Ferrari will build only 350 cars with the special, 70th anniversary liveries.

At the Paris Motor Show, Ferrari showed off four of its new liveries. There was an F12berlinetta inspired by Stirling Moss' 250 GT SWB race car, a brown California T painted like Steve McQueen's 250 Lusso, a 488 GTB that pays tribute to Michael Schumacher's 2003 Formula One racer, and a Ferrari 488 Spider inspired by the 365 P2 that won the Nine Hours of Kyalami in 1965. The latter features the race car's atypical metallic green paint.

The remaining 66 liveries also include several iconic paint schemes from the company's past. There's a red, No. 56 livery paying tribute to the first Ferrari race car from 1947, a red paint with yellow and blue accents on the nose based on Juan Manuel Fangio's F1 car, as well as liveries inspired by the many Ferraris raced at Le Mans in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Ferrari offers Can-Am- and Sunoco-inspired liveries, as well as paint schemes based on car built for celebrities back in the day.

Each livery comes with its very own name, and some of them are quite interesting. Customers can order "The Heartthrob," "The Patriarch," "Gran Turismo Perfection," "The Lucybelle", "California Dreaming," "The Lauda," "The Wedding Gift," or "The Pro."

There's no word on pricing, but expect these models to be significantly more expensive than their standard counterparts since they will be unique. Also expect them to sell out quickly, as Ferrari has already received inquiries about matching sets of five cars in one livery.

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Why it matters

Offering 70 different liveries for five models is a great and original way to celebrate 70 years on the market. While other companies simply launch a special edition model, Ferrari took things up a notch by transforming its most iconic road and track models in liveries that its modern vehicles can proudly wear. There's no better way to celebrate being in business for so many decades and customers will most likely appreciate the number of options that comes with this 70th Anniversary collection.