Ferrari 296 VS – grandson to the 458 Speciale will arrive very soon
With over 850bhp the extreme Ferrari 296 will be one of 2025’s most exciting new cars
Joining the all electric Ferrari that’s set to debut this year will be a more traditional Ferrari, the 296 Versione Speciale, its latest mid-engined hardcore special. Based on the hybrid 296 GTB, the car that could be known as 296 Speciale, Pista, Scuderia or even Challenge Stradale (if Ferrari decides to finally to nail down a naming convention) will pick up where the 488 Pista and 458 Speciale left off, as a no-compromise, focused driver’s supercar.
What can we expect from the hardcore Ferrari 296? Well, it’ll wear a lot more aggressive, sculpted, scalloped bodywork, designed to channel airflow to increase downforce. It’ll take inspiration, loosely at least, from Ferrari’s successful 296 GT3 racer and perhaps, as the 458 Speciale did from the LaFerrari, some inspiration from Ferrari’s latest hypercar, the F80.
Judging by the extent of the latest hard camouflage (taking the place of the fabric covers we’ve seen before), this will be no GTB with an engorged gurney flap. Rather a totally overhauled and extreme-looking supercar, with more aero (possibly even a wing, a-la F80, judging by that cladding) than we’ve ever seen on one of these track-focused Ferraris. We see an F80-esque exhaust outlet at the back, though that’s likely a disguise.
The cladding makes the overhangs look enormous, which is more of a suggestion that there’s a lot to hide, rather than a suggestion the 296 VS will get aggressively extended bodywork at both ends. Ferrari 296 LongTailAndNose doesn’t have much of a nice ring to it. CodaLunga sounds nice, though.
Not that it needs it but it’ll also likely pack more power than the 296 GTB. Whatever power it has, we can be sure it’ll use a revised version of the existing 296 GTB powertrain, which consists of a 2992cc, 120-degree twin-turbo V6 and an electric motor. The engine alone produces 654bhp and can rev to 8500rpm, working together with the electrical elements for an 819bhp total.
If the 488 Pista’s jump to 711bhp from the 488 GTB’s 661bhp is any indication, the hardcore 296 could take a 50bhp leap to 869bhp in total. An educated, perfectly feasible guess, given we already know the version of this engine that’ll serve in the upcoming Ferrari F80 hypercar (along with hybrid gubbins for a 1184bhp total) produces 888bhp on its own and can rev to 9200rpm.
Like with the F80, near-undisquised prototypes will need to start venturing out of the factory gates before too long. So expect the full reveal to come much sooner, rather than later, so that final real world testing can begin. Surely, it’s one of the cars we’re most excited to see in 2025.
