Ferrari->ke252 only recently introduced the 488 GTB,->ke5071 the new turbocharged replacement for the 458 Italia,->ke3479 but its inevitable variants are already beginning to come into focus, including a drop-top->ke144 spider and a hardcore successor to the Stradale, Scuderia and Speciale.

Corroborating other reports, Netherlands outlet Autovisie says the spider will be called the 488 GTS and is slated to be unveiled at the Frankfurt Motor Show->ke235 in September, 2015. Like the 458 Spider, expect a clever folding hardtop that stores neatly behind the rear bulkhead. The drivetrain will remain unchanged, but it’s hardly lacking to begin with. That means a new twin-turbo, 3.9-liter V-8 producing 659 horsepower at 8,000 rpm and 560 pound-feet of torque at 3,000 rpm. Performance is likely to suffer a bit because of the roof’s additional weight, but it shouldn’t be far off the hardtop 488’s 0-60 time of 3.0 seconds dead.

The hardcore variant should arrive a few years later, towards the end of the 488’s lifespan. Like the road-racer specials that came before it, expect weight savings and more power to be the orders of the day. That means a sparse interior with plenty of carbon fiber and around 700 horsepower. Fiorano lap times will probably be on par with the LaFerrari.->ke4626 Following that, expect a limited run of hardcore convertibles in the spirit of the 458 Speciale A and 430 Scuderia Spider 16M.

Continue reading to learn more about the future Ferrari 488 GTS.

Why it matters

The production cycle for mid-engine V-8 Ferraris has become fairly predictable. It goes something like this: unveil new mid-engine hardtop; wait a few months; unveil new mid-engine spider; wait a few years; unveil lighter, more powerful hardtop; wait a few months; unveil lighter, more powerful spider; wait a few months; rinse and repeat.

The only things that really keep us guessing are the model names (I think Ferrari gets a sort of sick pleasure out of watching journalists come up with arbitrary names for upcoming models, and then pulling the rug out with a completely different name when the model is introduced), but it’s a formula that has served the company well. Just when we think they can’t be improved upon, Ferrari proves us wrong. We’ll have to wait and see how the whole turbocharging thing works out, but I don’t anticipate this trend abating anytime soon.

2016 Ferrari 488 GTS

You can read our speculative review of the 488 GTS here.