The latest Ferrari 488 GTB and its Spider counterpart may be empirically better in every way, but the previous 458 will likely be remembered as the last great naturally aspirated, eight-cylinder, mid-engined Ferrari. Especially the 458 Speciale – and for open-top driving enthusiasts, all the more so the 458 Speciale Aperta.
Arguably the ultimate expression of the breed, the Aperta was the Spider version of the 458 Speciale. It packed a 4.5-liter atmospheric V8 rated at 597 horsepower and 398 lb-ft of torque for a three-second 0-62 time and a top speed just shy of 200 miles per hour – all with the wind in your hair, should you be so fortunate to find yourself in either seat, really.
The factory in Maranello only produced 499 examples of the Speciale A before switching over to the turbocharged 488. And you can bet they all sold out at a suitably quick pace. Fortunately there are still some to be had on the second-hand market – five, in fact, listed on JamesEdition alone. But they don’t come cheap.
Of those five, two brand-new examples are listed (it should come as no great surprise) in Dubai: one in metallic red with black stripes for $950k, and another (pictured) in bright red with blue stripes at a price unlisted. There’s another red one in Munich with only delivery mileage for $688k, a yellow one in Cannes with 3,418 miles for $736k, and one in LA with 3,206 miles for $730k.
Whichever way you look at it, you’re not going to find one on the cheap. In fact you could get two or three new 488 Spiders for what these 458s are listing for. But where the 488 is force-fed and will sure to be thick on the ground in some parts of the world (and on the second-hand market), the 458 Speciale A will remain a rare tribute to the free-revving eight in all its glory.
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