Ferrari has revealed the P80/C, a one-off track car based on the 488 GT3 that has been created as a new “Hero Car” for one of the Italian brand’s top customers.
Designed at the Ferrari Styling Centre, under the direction of Flavio Manzoni, the car’s exterior, which is made entirely from carbon-fibre, is said to have been inspired by iconic models from Ferrari’s history: the 330 P3/P4 on the one hand and the 1966 Dino 206 S on the other.
“The Ferrari Styling Centre’s goal was to create a resolutely modern car that made no major concessions to the past, apart from attempting to recreate the sensual shape of those iconic models through more muscular wings formed by the intersection of concave and convex surfaces,” says the company.
Kicked off in 2015, the P80/C project has had the longest development time of any Ferrari one-off made to date (it follows two other one-offs revealed by the Prancing Horse within the last year, namely, the SP3JC Roadster and the SP38).
The decision was made to use the 488 GT3 chassis as a basis, not only for its performance, but also for its longer wheelbase (+ 50 mm compared to the 488 GTB), which the designers say gave them more creative freedom.
Aerodynamic development was also based on the experience gained with the 488 GT3, but was not governed by the restrictions imposed by international regulations. Thus the front splitter is specific and, while the expansion curve and vortex generators of the rear diffuser are the same as those used on the GT3, the external surfaces are all unique to the P80/C. The result is a claimed improvement of around 5% in overall efficiency, required to make full use of the unrestricted engine.
Ferrari designers say the objective was to balance the upper bodywork’s downforce evenly over the two axles, making full use of the 488 GT3’s underbody. The configuration of the rear bodywork required the adoption of an aerodynamic profile that sits immediately rear of the trailing edge of the roof to provide a strong recompression of the flow rearwards, reinforcing the downforce generated by the tail and the wing.
Inspired reportedly by the T-wing adopted in Formula 1 in 2017, this aerodynamic profile is designed to reduce the length of the flow over the rear, creating the effect of a very short ‘virtual’ rear windscreen and an extremely limited separation bubble.
The fact that the P80/C is homologated only for track use also meant that it could do without components that would be deemed vital in a road car, and which would also heavily influence its styling.
For example, classic head lights have more or less disappeared. Or rather they have been reduced to mere slits set into niches at the front of the car reminiscent of the air intake housings in the grille of the 330 P3/P4. However, unlike the 330, the housings on the P80/C are not set into an oval grille but look more like two pockets carved out of the front of the car.
The same styling element reappears at the back of the car. The rear spoiler is very wide to meet aerodynamic requirements and incorporates the two signature tail lights in a way that the designers claim make them look like air vents, thereby reflecting the design of the car’s front.
Even the rear fascia, which leaves the running gear fully visible, has a catamaran-type architecture. This has further allowed the inside to be completed devoid of bodywork. In fact, its sole occupant is a grille to help evacuate heat from the engine bay. The space left is occupied by a huge rear diffuser that seems almost to be separate from the rest of the car.
Additional design details include the adoption of a concave rear windscreen and aluminium louvres on the engine cover.
At the client’s request, Ferrari says the car was also created to have a dual nature: a racing set-up, which includes a carbon-fibre wing and 18” single-nut wheels; and an “exhibition package” complete with 21” wheels but devoid of aerodynamic appendages, to highlight “the purity of its forms”.
On the inside, the P80/C’s cabin is pretty much the same as that of the donor car with a roll cage integrated into the bodywork. The side sections of the dashboard have been redesigned from the version seen on the 488 GT3, as have the seat upholstery and door panels – the latter are now carbon-fibre shells that have no impact on the car’s weight.
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