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| The price of a Ferrari Monza is $1.7 million. |
The Ferrari Monza SP1 and SP2 are all about open-air driving, much like the roofless McLaren Elva. The SP1 is a single-seater, while the SP2 has just enough capacity for a guest to join you. The same normally aspirated 6.5-liter V12 engine powers both cars, producing 809 horsepower and 530 pound-feet of torque. Unfortunately for buyers in the United States, neither of these models is street legal. However, if you can afford the car's $1.75 million price tag, getting into a racetrack shouldn't be a problem.
The new Ferrari Monza SP1 and SP2 were introduced at the factory in Maranello on the occasion of the company's Capital Markets Day. The first in a new segment named 'Icone,' these limited-edition special-series cars are inspired by the most evocative Ferraris of the 1950s and utilize the most modern sports car technology available today.
The Monza SP1 and SP2 are aimed at loyal clientele and collectors and pay homage to historic Ferrari racing barchettas from the past, including the 1948 166 MM, which created the word 'barchetta,' as well as the 750 Monza and 860 Monza. These demanding cars, designed with the express purpose of winning, contributed to the Ferrari mythology in the 1950s by producing a slew of victories in the World Sports Car Championship.
The Ferrari Monza SP1 was created as a no-compromise single-seat road car that provides a genuinely unique driving experience. The second configuration, the Monza SP2, is a two-seater that eliminates the tonneau cover and adds a second protective screen and a second roll-bar, allowing the passenger to have the same driving sensations as the driver.
The Monza SP1 and SP2 have a distinctive look, the best weight-to-power ratio of any barchetta thanks to substantial use of carbon-fibre in construction, and unusual elements such as head-and taillights, wheels, and interior that add to the cars' exclusivity. They can race from 0-100 km/h in 2.9 seconds and 0-200 km/h in 7.9 seconds, thanks to the most powerful engine Maranello has ever manufactured, an 810 cv V12.
The architecture of the two automobiles is built on a monolithic shape with an aerodynamic wing profile, with the designers being able to develop unique proportions that would not have been achievable on a regular spider due to the lack of a roof and windscreen.
The result is a sensation of scorching speed generally reserved for Formula One drivers, thanks to the concept of a cockpit cut out of the car's volume that wraps around the driver.
To transmit a concept of ageless elegance, simple form, and polished detail, the Ferrari Design Centre attempted to develop a very pure design, as if born of a single pencil stroke. Visually complicated solutions, such as those found on current racing cars, have been shunned in favor of a more formal design language that is more subtle. Never before has a model exuded such narrative force, emphasizing its appeal as a driver's car in which the man-machine relationship becomes symbiotic.
The small upward-opening doors of the automobiles were designed in a new way. The all-carbon-fibre one-piece bonnet-wing assembly, which is hinged at the front and opens to reveal the enormous V12 engine, is also significant.
Both cars' bodyshells are composed completely of lightweight carbon-fibre, just like racing models. To add to the sporty feel of the design, the entire inside is trimmed in the same material with a natural finish. Weight savings and the 'barchetta' configuration ensure unrivaled vehicle dynamics: flawlessly balanced with no roll for pure, uncompromising sports-car driving.
One of the most difficult aspects of designing these "en plein air" sports cars was regulating the aerodynamic fluxes inside the cockpit in the lack of a windscreen. The unique "Virtual Wind Shield," which has been built into the fairing ahead of the instrument panel and steering wheel, was the solution. To ensure driving comfort, the "Virtual Wind Shield" deviates a portion of the air flow.
Ferrari has designed elegant gentlemen-driver-inspired gear and accessories in partnership with two top luxury brands, Loro Piana and Berluti, just for Monza SP1 and SP2 owners. Racing overalls, jerseys, helmets, gloves, scarves, and driving shoes are among the driver's options. These have a number of technical features that offer a secure fit and freedom of movement when driving.
Ferrari has produced a wonderful piece of work. Welcome to the first of Maranello's new 'Icona' automobiles, which are limited editions inspired by Ferrari's famous past. The Monza is the first of these, a roofless, windowless rollerskate based on the 812 Superfast. Only 499 will be made, as you could have anticipated. They're all sold out, with each one costing £1.4 million plus tax.
The spectacular exterior is inspired by the mid-1950s 750 Monza and 860 Monza racing cars, with luscious front wing curves, sharp rear buttresses, and a variety of seating options.
Ferrari produced two body types for the Monza: the hedonistic single-seat SP1 and the more convivial two-seat SP2. Ferrari won't say how the commissions for SP1 and SP2 were split, but rumor on the street is that each Ferrari-approved customer could only choose one. You don't have any matching pairings in your collection.
All of the beautiful coachwork is made of carbon fiber, and it's all incredibly pricey. Even the LED light units – a skinny lightbar instead of quad round-lenses at the back – and the turbine-spoke wheels are new, never having been used on another Ferrari.
The Monza's foundations, of course, are more known, but far from common. The 6.5-litre naturally aspirated V12 engine from Ferrari's crazy super-GT, the 812 Superfast, is installed in the front mid-section. It slides in beneath the new front-hinged clamshell bonnet, assaulting the normal seven-speed twin-clutch gearbox with a total of 799bhp and 530lb ft after receiving a paltry 10bhp and 1lb ft power rise. There's no hybrid boost like the SF90, and it's all-wheel drive. Gulp.
While the Monza lacks any sort of weather protection, it's far from being a light-weight Caterham that's taken some opera lessons. The SP1 is 1,500 kilograms dry, whereas the SP2 is 1,520 kilograms. It'll be banging on the door of 1.7 tonnes, ready to roll with gasoline, fluids, and a driver strapped inside.
However, you get the impression that this is a rare thing in Ferrariland: a supercar that isn't concerned with the statistics. There are no outlandish claims about downforce. Ferrari has chosen not to publish a Fiorano lap time. Officially, the top speed is stated to be "above 186 mph." They're daring you to find out, while also implying that the Monza is all about the experience, not the statistics. And what an adventure it has been.
Is the Monza, perhaps, the most meaningless Ferrari of all time? It lacks a smidgeon of practicality, and you can't wring it out even on the desolate road of your dreams for fear of becoming a permanent fixture of the countryside you're speeding past.
The Monza appears to be a rebuttal to those who argue that supercars are now too livable, too easy to drive, and not dangerous or stupid enough. Here's a Ferrari that you can only drive on sunny days, and even if you have an F1 circuit to yourself, if you look at the throttle pedal weird, it'll spit you out into the kitten litter.
We can't make a rational case for it because it's a wild, unsanitized, absolutely insane technology. Of course, the money would be better spent on an 812 GTS for listening to the engine, a 355 Spider for Sunday morning thrashes, and a million pounds in gas and tyres.
But that isn't how the ultra-wealthy think. The majority of the pleasure in owning a Monza will come from merely owning something that only a few hundred Ferrari enthusiasts were chosen for. It's a trinket, but don't treat it like one.
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