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Ferrari builds true blue classic

TRUE BLUE: This is Ferrari’s gorgeous Superamerica 45. Goes to show what the company’s designers can do when left to their own devices.
TRUE BLUE: This is Ferrari’s gorgeous Superamerica 45. Goes to show what the company’s designers can do when left to their own devices.
Each year the world’s most (disgustingly) wealthy car collectors gather In Italy for the Villa d'Este Concorso d'Eleganza, an ostentatious weekend of rare-car ogling in uniquely Italian style.

Brands such as Ferrari always make an effort to produce something rather special for display and at the 2011 event (opening on May 20) the Maranello subsidiary of Fiat has a built a rather striking one-off targa for a rather special Ferrari customer.

Mr. KALIKOW, YOUR CAR IS READY...

To celebrate 45 years of his good patronage, New York real estate mogul Peter Kalikow will take ownership of the Superamerica 45. He already has a vast collection of Ferraris and this latest addition has been procured to pair with his 1961 Superamerica cabriolet.

Lucky man.

Kalikow’s 45 is finished in a magnificent Blu Antille lacquer (not traditional Ferrari red) and was designed, engineered and assembled completely in-house by Ferrari, not its traditional coachwork partner, Pininfarina.

The contrasting brushed aluminium A pillars and side-mirrors (there’s a chromed grille too) add perfectly to the styling balance; although those blue-hued alloy-wheel spokes are slightly less desirable as part of the overall design aesthetic.

Featuring a composite hardtop (incorporating a rear windscreen), which swivels to retract, and stows in the 45’s specially designed boot when removed, this Superamerica is as good as open-top supercar motoring gets.

CLASSIC FERRARI

Tracing its styling heritage from Ferrari’s SA APERTA (the soft-top 599 shown at the 2010 Paris auto show), the 45’s roof is more sophisticated and practical (in any weather ) than the APERTA’s fabric set-up.

For the rest it’s classic front-engined Ferrari fare with, in the finest Italian supercar tradition,  a 456kW, six-litre V12 driving the rear wheels.

Peter Kalikow is sure to be one very content man when he parks this Superamerica 45 next to its 1961 forebear in his garage...
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