Even among Ferraris, some are more rare than others. Like this one that popped up at the Chantilly Arts & Elegance concours this past weekend in northern France.
Can’t wrap your head around what you’re looking at? We couldn’t at first either, but the rare beast seen here is the Tornado, a one-of-a-kind creation (for better or worse) from the unhinged mind of Franco Sbarro.
The Tornado debuted at the 2005 Geneva Motor Show, based on a 1992 Ferrari 456 GT. It kept the 5.5-liter V12 but ditched the 2+2 body style in favor of a two-seat open cockpit.
Its front end looks to us more like a Panoz racing prototype, but with a chopped-down, wrap-around windshield and other elements thrown in ostensibly to pay tribute, as it were, to late-’50s roadsters – like the one that won the Best of Show award in the post-war category.
The honor went to a 250 Testa Rossa that won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1958 at the hands of Phil Hill and Olivier Gendebien. It was one of 28 horses that pranced in for the fourth annual event at the Château Chantilly in celebration of the marque’s 70th anniversary.
Robson Walton and Peter Mullin‘s 1936 Bugatti Atlantic (one of four Type 57s at the event) won the pre-war prize, while top honors were shared by the Renault Trezor and Citroën CXperience concepts, which beat out the Aston Martin Vanquish Zagato Volante, McLaren 720S, and the French president’s DS7 Crossback.
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