Luxury Lifestyle Magazine For The Affluent
AUTOMOBILES
The Stunning Ferrari Daytona SP3, Ferrari’s Latest Icona
Ferrari conjures up the spirit of racing back in the 1960s and transforms it into its new Icona, the new Ferrari Daytona SP3.
◙ By Phil Foo
Ferrari has been one of the biggest names in racing. Its rich racing history has given birth to some of the most iconic cars the world has ever seen. One of the most spectacular feats that Ferrari pulled off in its history of racing was back on 6th February 1967, during the Daytona 24 Hours race; the first round of the 1967 International World Sports Car Championship.
It was in this race that Ferrari showed Ford who’s boss by beating them (Ford) in their own home turf. Ferrari did not just beat Ford but did so in spectacular fashion. Three Ferraris took the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd finish, representing the pinnacle of development of the Ferrari 330 P3, a model that chief engineer Mauro Forghieri had significantly improved in each of the three racing car fundamentals: engine, chassis and aerodynamics; while the 330 P3.4 perfectly encapsulated the spirit of the sports prototypes of the 1960s, the golden era of closed wheel racing. The three winning Ferraris were:
First: Ferrari 330 P3/4
Drivers: Bandini / Amon
Team Entrant: Ferrari s.p.a
Second: Ferrari 330 P
Drivers: Parkes / Scarfiotti
Team Entrant: Ferrari s.p.a
Third: Ferrari 412 P
Drivers: Rodriguez / Guichet
Team Entrant: North American Racing Team
The Daytona 24 Hours back in 1967, with three winning Ferraris.
So, what has the latest Icona got to do with that era of racing? The name of the new Icona evokes that legendary 1-2-3 finish and pays homage to the Ferrari sports prototypes that helped earn the marque its unparalleled motor sport status. The Daytona SP3, presented at the Mugello Circuit during the 2021 Ferrari Finali Mondiali, is a limited edition masterpiece that joins the Icona series which debuted in 2018 with the Ferrari Monza SP1 and SP2.
Advertisement
The Ferrari Daytona SP3 designed by Chief Design Officer Flavio Manzoni and his Styling Centre team is a stunning looker with design cues inspired by the stylistic language of 1960s racing cars. The Daytona SP3 is clothed in very sexy original, modern forms, with sharper lines. The focus of the design is on achieving maximum efficiency purely using passive aero solutions.
Team Squadra Ferrari with their cars.
Awesome looking cars – Ferrari 330 P3
The front of the Daytona SP3 looks like the face of an android snake from sci-fi movie. Flanked with sexy looking double-crested front wings that brings to mind the earlier the 512 S, 712 Can-Am and 312 P; the sculptural elegance celebrates Ferrari’s sports prototype designs in the past. The shape of the wheel arches efficiently connotes the geometry of the flanks. At the front, they are structural, and creates a powerful link between wheel and wheel well by not completely following the circular profile of the tyre.
The stunning Ferrari Daytona SP3, the new Icona.
The headlights are designed in a way that gives the Daytona SP3 a fast and futuristic look. They come with upper mobile panels that moves upwards when the car is started and on the go, showing more of the headlights; somewhat like the opening of eyelids. This brings us back to the time of pop up headlights that were used with Ferraris and supercars back in the day.
Next is the cabin that looks like an aerodynamic sporty dome, inspired by historic Ferraris such as the 330 P3/4, the 312 P and the 350 Can-Am. Inside the cabin, the windscreen wraps around the driver. The seats are integrated into the carbon fibre tub with low siting positions, in an ergonomic wraparound design typical of high-performance cars. Driver position adjustments are done with the adjustable paddle box, similar to the one in the LaFerrari.
The seats of the Ferrari Daytona SP3. Notice that the removable roof has been removed.
The Daytona SP3’s dashboard is slender, beautifully curved, and seems almost afloat within the upholstery. It houses a 16 inch display behind the newly styled Ferrari steering wheel with touch controls around the wheel. On the centre console is Ferrari’s newly introduced control module clutch gearbox that brings to mind the gated gearbox covers that gives the image of raw power in Ferraris of old.
The beautiful dashboard of the Ferrari Daytona SP3.
Another key element are the butterfly doors that are integrated with an air box in them to channel air to the side mounted radiators. This gives the doors a pronounced shoulder housing the air intake that is visually linked to the vertical cut of the windscreen. Door handles are placed at the lower section of the door and are somewhat hidden from view, giving it a smooth look.
There’s more to the doors. As with the Ferrari P sports prototype such as the 512s, the surface of the doors with their leading edge making up the rear of the front wheel arch helps manage airflow that emerges from the front wheels. Placement of the wing mirrors has been tweaked to enhance aerodynamics. They are placed ahead of the doors, at the top of the front wings just like in the sports prototypes of the 1960s. Doing so not only betters visibility, but also ensures an uninterrupted flow to the intakes.
The Ferrari 512 M.
Rear of the Ferrari 512 S
Another design inspired by the sports prototype world is the bold choice of a ‘Targa’ body with removable hard top. This design transports anyone driving the Daytona SP3 back to the days where the Ferrari 512 S ate up tarmac faster than many other cars, an experience that many drivers will want to enjoy.
The sexiness continues to the rear where the flank swells out from the sylph-like waist, giving rise to a powerful and muscular, sharp and sporty stance. The flank wraps around the front of the wheels, then tapers back towards the tail, lending a powerful dynamism to the three-quarter view.
Apart from body design, architecture, etc., the use of unprecedented features such as chimneys that extract low-pressure air from the underbody, all help make the Daytona SP3 the most aerodynamically efficient car ever built by Ferrari without resorting to active aero devices.
The Ferrari Daytona SP3 – side view.
To reduce weight to the lowest possible, the chassis of the Daytona SP3 is built entirely from composite materials using Formula 1 technology. This not only reduces weight but also provides for awesome handling. A chassis of such has not been seen in a road car since the Ferrari LaFerrari, the last supercar out of Maranello.
The Ferrari Daytona SP3 – awesome design; sporty, muscular, and aerodynamic.
The Powertrain
The Daytona SP3 is powered by a mid-rear-mounted, naturally aspirated 6.5 litre V12, 840 hp engine called the F140HC; effectively the engine from the Ferrari Competizioni 812. The mid-rear engine position optimises the intake and exhaust layout as well as fluid-dynamic efficiency. The engine has been redeveloped using an F1 dual clutch 7-speed gearbox with limited-slip differential.
The power plant pushes out 697 Nm of torque, with maximum revs hitting 9500 rpm. The car accelerates from zero to 100km/h in 2.85s and from zero to 200km/h in just 7.4s. Top speed exceeds 340 km/h (211 mph). To date, the F140HC is the most powerful internal combustion engine ever built by Ferrari.
The futuristic rear of the Ferrari Daytona SP3, a design that visually broadens the car.
Ferrari paid particular attention on reducing the engine’s weight and inertia by using titanium con rods that are some 40% lighter than the usual steel ones. The pistons too are made of different materials with new piston pins that have a Diamond Like Carbon treatment (DLC), which reduces the coefficient of friction to improve performance and fuel consumption. The crankshaft has been rebalanced and is now 3% lighter.
Another area where the Daytona SP3 has been radically redesigned is its intake system. The manifold and the plenum are now more compact to reduce the overall length of the tracts and deliver power at high revs, while the torque curve is optimised at all engine speeds by a system of variable geometry inlet tracts. Enhancements to the intake system resulted in a feeling of continuous, rapid acceleration, culminating in astonishing power at maximum revs.
Click Here for Ferrari Daytona SP3 Technical Specifications
The Ferrari 512 S during a race back in the day.
Like previous Icona models, the Monza SP1 and Monza SP2; the Ferrari Daytona SP3 will see a limited run of only 599 units, with each priced at €2 million (2 million Euros). Tax numbers will be dependent on the taxation policies of individual countries. It has been reported that 499 Daytona SP3s have already been purchased by all 499 owners of the earlier Monzas, with 100 units going to a select group of Ferrari collectors.
*Photos courtesy of Ferrari S.p.A
Luxury Lifestyle Magazine For The Affluent