Car enthusiasts have always come to expect something special from Ferrari at the annual Goodwood Festival of Speed. Once again, their expectations were rewarded, as Ferrari brought some very enticing treats.The Prancing Horse stole the limelight when it presented to the public — for the first time — the P80/C and the SP3JC, the Maranello marque’s latest Special Project cars. Both beauties dazzled fans with their performance in the Supercar Runs up the famed Goodwood hill climb.
Commissioned by Hong Kong entrepreneur TK Mak, the P80/C - based on a Ferrari 488 GT3 - had the longest development time of any Ferrari one-off made to date. The 488 GT3 chassis was chosen as a basis not only for its performance, but also for its longer wheelbase (+50 mm compared to the 488 GTB) which allowed more creative freedom. The SP3JC, commissioned by Talacrest owner John Collins, is based on the chassis and the running gear of a Ferrari F12tdf. The sole one-off car to be commissioned on this limited-series special, the SP3JC is the maximum expression of open-air motoring, harking back to Ferrari’s epic V12-engined spiders of the 1950s and ’60s.
Goodwood fans enjoyed an additional Ferrari first with the dynamic debut of the Monza SP2. Part of the new ‘Icona’ range, the Monza is inspired by barchettas of the 1950s — cars driven to victory in international motor sport not just by official Scuderia drivers, but also by gentlemen drivers who, in those years, frequently found themselves wheel to wheel with legendary professional drivers of the era. For lovers of classic cars, there was eye candy a plenty. Among the “golden oldies” in attendance were racing beauties including a 166 MM Barchetta (from 1950), a 250 MM (1953), a 250 GT SWB/C (1961) and a 250 GTO (1962). Every decade was represented at Goodwood, with at least one model, including a 308 GTB Group B (from 1978), a 126 C2B (1985) and a 412 T2 (1995).
Seven Ferrari F1 cars made appearances at Goodwood in the "Michael Schumachercar 50" tribute session, out of 13 cars in this group, along with 4 other Ferrari F1 cars in other sessions. Aside from the one-offs and the Formula One racers, the Prancing Horse also brought other models to Goodwood, including the FXX-K Evo and models from the current road car range. As a special treat to UK fans, a 488 Challenge car — the same as those being used in the new Ferrari Challenge UK series — also participated.