This year marks the 20th year Ferrari has been selling cars in China, and the company is celebrating in the only way it knows how: a limited small batch of special edition Ferrari 458 Italia models.
The car doesn’t have a name yet, but it will be painted a bright shade of Marco Polo Red, and furnished with some extra flair. Ferrari will paint gold and black stripes down the length of the car, and put a soaring dragon on top of them. Why a dragon? Ferrari reminds us that the dragon is the Chinese symbol of passion and success, while its Prancing Horse (which remains on the car’s hood badge and front air intake) is a symbol of “Italian cultural identity and unrivalled achievements.”
The car sits atop the same five-spoke wheels as before, but this time they’re painted gold. On the inside, the center console is trimmed with red carbon trim, gold contrast stitching, black leather, and a black and gold special edition badge. The engine start button is even printed with the Chinese characters for the word start.
Underneath, it’s still the same 458 that we’ve come to know: and love. The car is powered by a 4.5-liter direct-injected V-8 engine that cranks out 562 horsepower and 398 pound-feet of torque, and that power is sent through a paddle-shifted seven-speed dual-clutch transmission.
Ferrari will only make 20 of the cars, and will sell all 20 exclusively in the Chinese market. Ferrari hasn’t announced how much the car will cost, but expect it to be very, very expensive: the Italia reportedly starts at $613,000 in China.
