Could it be the world's ultimate supercar? Combining the skills of legendary design house, Pininfarina->ke69, with the pace of an Enzo->ke389, this impressive coupe was set to turn the performance car class on its head when it was unveiled in the summer of 2006.

It's the Ferrari->ke252 612 P4/5, a one-off model created especially for film director and stock exchange magnate, James Glickenhaus. The P4/5 started its life as an Enzo, but was transformed because Glickenhaus wanted a car that resembled the styling of Ferrari's 1960's race cars, the P Series. Designing, engineering, and building this special car was left in the hands of none other then Pininfarina. Their mission was to produce a unique vehicle inspired by sport racing cars with extreme vocations. This was not to be just a show-car, but a vehicle to be enjoyed on the road. And taking a close look at the final product, we have to admit they managed to do more than that.

UPDATE 01/06/2011: Check out the latest testing video for the Ferrari P4/5 by Pininfarina after the jump!

Hit the jump to read more about the Ferrari P4/5 by Pininfarina.

Check out the latest testing on the Ferrari P4/5 as recorded by P45MT

Exterior and Interior

Even if the P4/5 started its life as an Enzo there is nothing about this car that reminds about it. Pininfarina has developed more than 200 components through constant interaction between styling and design: from the bixenon lighting clusters specifically designed with an innovative system of yellow and white leds to the alloy wheels – 20-inch aluminum – milled from the block, up to and including the aluminum and special steel in-sight hinges.

The result is a supercar with sleek lines and an impressive aerodynamic. Pininfarina's effort was to reach the highest levels of performance combined with perfect functionality of all the appendices integrated in the body of the vehicle.

The Engine

The Ferrari P4/5 is powered by a 6.0 liter V12 engine that delivers 660 HP at 7800 rpm and 657 NM of torque at 5500. The engine is mated to a 6-speed semi-automatic transmission of the Enzo with black shifting paddles behind the wheel. It has two directional indicator buttons, one mounted on each side of the steering wheel.

It can sprint from 0 to 60 mph in just in 3.0 seconds and can hit a top speed of 233 mph.

The Competition

The Ferrari P4/5 is a one-off model with no competitors on the market. However, considering it started as a Ferrari Enzo, models like the Aston Martin One-77 and the Lamborghini Reventon would fit the bill as worthy challengers.

The One-77 is powered by a naturally aspirated 7.3-liter V12, derived from Aston’s 6.0-liter powerplant. That massive motor will crank out 750 HP with torque checking in at about 533 pound-feet. With this amount of output, the One-77 can sprint from 0 to 60 mph in 3.5 seconds and can hit a top speed of 220 mph.

Limited to only 20 units, the Reventon is powered by 6.5 liter engine. For this car and none other, Lamborghini guarantees a 12 cylinder engine that delivers 650 HP at 8,000 rpm and 660 Nm of torque. It can sprint from 0 to 60 mph in 3.4 seconds, with a maximum speed over 211 mph.

Prices

Being since this is a one-off model, no-one will actually get the chance to purchase one. That is, of course, unless your name is James Glickenhaus in which case you paid around $3,000,000 for this unique model.

Press release

Called the 612 P4/5, the two-seater has the Enzo's V12 engine and is based on a modified version of that car's carbon chassis. It will debut on 20 August at the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elégance. The car is a one-off commissioned by James Glickenhaus, the American collector with a yen for the legendary racing cars of the Sixties.

“This project - comments Andrea Pininfarina, Pininfarina S.p.A. Chairman and CEO - represents an exciting challenge, i.e. trying to meet the Customer's requests in the best way possible without deteriorating the company's approach based on stylishness and innovation”.

Officially, the car is a one-off, but our Pininfarina source admitted that it's much more than simply a concept, as it has been cre-ated to explore the wilder side of the design firm's creativity, as well as Ferrari's future. To do that properly, it was essential to ensure the machine would be road legal.

Design and Features

The car has been designed, engineered and built entirely by Pininfarina, bringing to life something that, just a few months earlier, was just a dream and creating a sort of symbiosis between the customer and Pininfarina along the path leading to definition of this astonishing model. Starting from a Ferrari Enzo, the aim was to produce a sole vehicle inspired by sport racing cars with extreme vocations: not just a show-car but a vehicle to be enjoyed on the road. After freezing styling with various touch-ups to the initial sketches, the surfaces were defined using CAS modeling, then moving on to actual construction and assembly.

More than 200 components were specifically developed through constant interaction between styling and design: from the bixenon lighting clusters specifically designed with an innovative system of yellow and white leds to the alloy wheels - 20-inch aluminum - milled from the block up to and including the aluminum and special steel in-sight hinges.

An Enzo chassis is wrapped in the carbon bodywork, which incorporates a full roll cage. From behind the wheel, the windscreen, roof and rear of the cabin are all see-through. As a result, there's incredible visibility, and a fantastic sense of space.

The nose is shorter and more aggressive than the Enzo's, while echoes of the classic P4 racer run from nose to tail. At the rear, underbody aerodynamics are clearly visible, and are designed to maintain stability at the predicted top speed of more than 220mph.

The sleek lines of the vehicle, characterized by a soft muscular touch, took shape on the body - made entirely of carbon fiber. The tapered profile of the nose highlights both its aerodynamic function and the car's new look; the central body is dominated by the single-shell windscreen, while the car is accessed via two butterfly type doors. The rear features powerful sides with the embedded teardrop type transparent rear window which also acts as engine cover and from which ceramic-coated exhaust tips peep out, as on racing cars of the Sixties.

Inside, the two-seater has been custom fitted to accommodate even the most demanding owners' needs, and there will be an assortment of hi-tech in-car entertainment for the passenger to play with. Power is kept at the V12 Enzo's original 660bhp, and the six-speed F1-style gearbox also remains unchanged.

Because the curvy new body is said to perform better than the Enzo's in the wind tunnel, the P4/5's acceleration is claimed to be an improvement. What's more, the prototype weighs less than the Enzo's 3009 lbs, so the custom-built machine is set to be one of the fastest cars on the planet.

“The entire vehicle - stresses Ken Okuyama, Director of Pininfarina Styling - expresses elegance and fluidity with the clear-cut, uncluttered lines that are typical of Pininfarina's style. Considerable attention has been dedicated to aerodynamics with continuous testing at the Pininfarina Aerodynamic and Aeroacoustic Research Center of Grugliasco (Turin, Italy) in an effort to reach the highest levels of performance combined with perfect functionality of all the appendices integrated in the body of the vehicle.

It is important to stress how re-styling was not restricted only to the outside of the car but continued also when defining the interior, completely redesigned according to the customer's indications.

“Pininfarina has been a strong stakeholder on the automotive scene for many years, as confirmed by the five new productions launched between the end of 2005 and 2006: Alfa Romeo Spider, Mitsubishi Colt CZC and Ford Focus CC for which we also followed up design and development, and Alfa Romeo Brera and Volvo C70 which we also engineered.

The Ferrari P4/5 by Pininfarina and the Ferrari 612 Scaglietti “K” by Pininfarina - built for Mr. Kalikow and presented in April at Villa d'Este Concours d'Elegance - give us a chance to demonstrate our excellent creativity, making our know-how available to special customers in order to provide a real personal experience that goes well beyond simply the possibility of designing their own car” concludes Andrea Pininfarina.