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Ferrari will unveil a lighter, faster and safer version of the F430 at this autumn’s Frankfurt motor show.
Speaking at the Geneva show Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo announced that the company will unveil ‘an eight-cylinder car that will surprise with its performance, safety and technical innovation’.
The new model taps into Ferrari’s competition expertise and safety research to produce significant reductions in weight without compromising the car’s crash performance.
Although there is some speculation that this car will be a road-going version of the track-oriented F430 Challenge car, Ferrari has previously stated that it would not produce a street-legal Stradale version, as it did with the 360.
Ferrari’s view is that the more dynamic standard F430 can easily be optioned to largely perform that role with lightweight seats and a roll-cage.
More likely, then, is that this new F430 derivative may do without some of the more inconvenient Challenge car features such as sliding Perspex door windows, achieving its performance gain through more fundamental weight-saving measures affecting its bodystructure.
The company had not been expected to make any announcement about new models at Geneva, but Di Montezemolo was doubtless tempted into it by rival Lamborghini’s unveiling of the Gallardo Supperleggera, whose significant performance gain has largely been achieved through weight-paring.
Richard Bremner
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