Even though it already has a successor out into the wild, the Ferrari F8, there is reason to award a 488 the benefit of tucking it inside your dream supercar garage. Complete with a few subtle mods to make it your own if you can afford them, as well.
Born as the logical replacement for the beloved 458 Italia, the Ferrari 488 – aka Type F142M – mid-engine sports car became the first of its kind to use a turbocharged V8 mill since the iconic F40. Although it has a smaller, 3.9-liter displacement than the naturally-aspirated 458 hoot, this twin-turbo powertrain has more power, along with an exceedingly long list of awards.
Just as a reminder, the F154B and C versions total a roster of 14 accolades won during various editions of the International Engine of the Year competition, and inside the regular 488 models it generates 670 ps/661 horsepower and 760 Nm (561 lb-ft) of torque. Naturally, the OEM performance figures are out of this world, even some years since the 2015 introduction of the first 488 variation.
Those include a sprint to 62 mph (100 kph) in just three seconds, a 124 mph (200 kph) time of 8.3 seconds, a standing quarter mile in 10.45s, and then still enough oomph to reach up to 224 mph (361 kph). And, usually, any normal Tifosi would consider it perfect. But Ferrari itself always wanted to improve on the recipe and over the years subsequently came out with additional variants, such as the 488 Spider, Pista, or Pista Spider, among others.
Photo: RDB LA / Instagram / YouTube
The latter came to our attention not long ago when a pristine, low-mileage (600 miles/966 km) example was acquired following an online auction for no less than $707,500. As it turns out, the owner was none other than Moe Shalizi, the manager of DJ Marshmello (Christopher Comstock) and the CEO/founder of The Shalizi Group and Pick Six Records, plus the co-owner of a real marshmallow brand called Stuffed Puffs.
Known as a big automotive aficionado, the talent manager, record executive, and investor made room in his garage for the modern sports car by offering for grabs his 1970 Plymouth Superbird that is all-original and “signed by Richard Petty himself.”
Well, there is no news about the 440ci, four-speed classic car, but we do know what happened next with the 2020 Ferrari Pista Spider that rode classy on chromed 20 and 21-inch ANRKY wheels, as well as a Novitec Rosso coilover suspension setup.
Photo: RDB LA / Instagram / YouTube
As it turns out, his good friends over at Hollywood, California-based RDB LA already have another YouTube vlog episode out and about featuring the proud Ferrari build. The 488 Pista Spider action kicks off at the 2:08 mark after some BMW X5 talk and wraps at the 5:45 mark with lots of jokes and even some actual work done on builds as varied as a cracked-fender widebody Cullinan, a blue-wrapped Mercedes-Benz SL, or a custom golf cart that is soon going to glow in the dark like a crazy ET’s ride.
Back to the Ferrari Pista Spider, the stunningly rare specification has been altered a little bit as there is a contrasting black-and-orange appearance in place of the red/black one, even more matte carbon fiber, plus an aftermarket switcheroo from those chrome and shiny ANRKY wheels to dark and menacing three-piece, black-as-night Velos ones.
By the way, this is not the end of the Ferrari love story at all, since Vik teases additional modifications that will make it stand out in any sports car crowd even more. Thus, as soon as possible, they will treat the mid-engine sports car to a Ryft exhaust swap, an ECU tune to extract a little bit more power from this lightweight hoot, as well as a nice couple of pairs of orange brake calipers.
Aurel has aimed high all his life (literally, at 16 he was flying gliders all by himself) so in 2006 he switched careers and got hired as a writer at his favorite magazine. Since then, his work has been published both by print and online outlets, most recently right here, on autoevolution. Full profile
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