A crazy, spectacular, super-charged Ferrari

published 8 August 2008

Price: £250,000 Engine: 4,308cc, eight cylinders Power: 707bhp @ 8,350rpm. Top speed: 216mph. 0-60mph: 3.5 secs.

It takes "a special kind of crazy" to take a supercar like a Ferrari or a Lamborghini and tune it as if it were a boy-racer, says Autoblog.com. Fortunately, Novitec Rosso is "just such a breed of crazy". It has already supercharged Ferrari F430s, "which pretty much go like stink". Now, with the introduction of the Novitec Rosso F430 Race, "it would appear that any remaining deodorant has worn off. What's faster than going like stink? Going like stench? So be it. That's what this striped rocketship does."

The car is basically an answer to a problem only the super-rich face, says Nick Hall in The Sunday Times: how to stand out from the crowd when the Joneses already have a stately home and a Ferrari? You need "something spectacular" and that's what the Novitec is. The performance is outrageous, delivering 200bhp more than the standard car, it corners faster and flatter, and the body kit generates extra downforce, giving you increased grip and stability at speed.

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As for the interior, you can have exactly what you want one car was ordered with a lime-green interior and ostrich-skin seats. Novitec is based in Germany and aims to make 25 cars a year, including this model and a similar conversion for the 599.

See www.novitecrosso.com.