Ferrari today unveiled the latest
addition to its One-Off series, the Ferrari KC23. The latest in the marque’s
Special Projects programme, it was commissioned by one of the Prancing Horse’s
leading collectors. The KC23 one-off is a bold and extreme vision of what the
closed wheel racing of the future may look like.
Designed by the Ferrari Styling Centre
led by Flavio Manzoni, the KC23 is based on the 488 GT3 Evo 2020 platform from
which it inherits its layout, chassis and engine. The base for the project was
very special indeed: the 488 GT3 has been racing since 2016 and to date, it has
triumphed in the world’s most prestigious endurance races, racking up over 530
victories and winning more than 119 championships, making it the most
successful racing Ferrari in history.
The result is that the car has a
monolithic beauty, as if it were sculpted from a single block of metal. The
design also hides several of the car’s technical functions, particularly the
side air intakes, which open automatically when the mid-rear V8 twin turbo is
turned on.
The KC23’s butterfly doors open
vertically on single front hinges, an architectural solution it shares with
another iconic supercar, the LaFerrari. No changes were required to the
greenhouse or the car structurally to incorporate this feature.
Another distinctive feature is the
KC23’s Gold Mercury livery, courtesy of a specially-developed, four-layer
aluminium paint. The liquid metal in the paint gives it an astonishingly
luminous gleam in sunlight and the colour itself seems to change constantly
depending on the type and angle of the light striking it, giving an
extraordinarily captivating effect.
SPECIAL PROJECTS
The Special Projects programme is
aimed at creating unique Ferraris (the so-called “One-Offs”) characterised by
an exclusive design crafted to the requirements of the client, who thus becomes
the owner of a one-of-a-kind model. Each project originates from an idea put forward
by the client and is developed hand-in-glove with a team of designers from
Ferrari’s Styling Centre. Once the car’s proportion and forms have been
defined, detailed design blueprints and a styling buck are produced before the
manufacturing process for the new One-Off begins. The entire process takes
around two years on average, during which time the client is closely involved
in assessing the design and verification phases. The result? A unique Ferrari
sporting the Prancing Horse logo and engineered to the same standards of
excellence that characterise all of Maranello’s cars.