Skip to main content

Speculatively sexy: Cavalino Design renders the Ferrari 488 GTB Speciale

Ferrari 488 GTB Speciale rendering
Cavalino Design/The Automobilist
Any time a new Ferrari is released, our insatiable minds wander to the potential of the range-topping Speciale.

Last week, with the unveiling of the bedroom poster known as the Ferrari 488 GTB, we were halfway there. Now, Cavalino Design has gotten us a bit closer with the speculative rendering of the 488 GTB Speciale.

Recommended Videos

Based off the sculpted styling of the 488 (which itself is an evolution of the 458), the digital imagining wears a tweaked front fascia with added venting and the iconic Speciale stripe. Aggressive side skirts and a rear lip spoiler adorn the car’s rear, as do the quad exhaust setup and modified diffuser out back.

Other additions include painted wheels and color-matched brake calipers.

If you missed the 488’s unveiling last week, let’s catch you up on the important figures. Despite its numerical moniker, the GTB is powered by a 3.9-liter V8 that houses two twin-scroll turbos. Total output is a whopping 660 horsepower and 560 pound-feet, which bests the outgoing 458 Speciale by 63 hp and 162 torques.

That massive power grants a 3.0-second sprint to 60 mph, while 0 to 124 mph takes just 8.3 seconds. Hardcore Ferrari fans will be interested to know that the GTB lapped the automaker’s private Fiorano test track in just 1:23, only 3.0 seconds slower than LaFerrari and 1.9-seconds quicker than the famed Enzo.

The additional twin-turbo thrust obviously deserves a lot of credit for this, but the 488’s bodywork reportedly creates 50 percent more downforce than the 458 as well.

As for the Speciale? If and when it comes to fruition, it will undoubtedly be even more impressive.

The 488 GTB makes its in-the-metal debut at the Geneva Motor Show in March.

Andrew Hard
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Andrew first started writing in middle school and hasn't put the pen down since. Whether it's technology, music, sports, or…
Never mind slowing sales, 57% of drivers will likely have an EV in 10 years

Sales of electric vehicles (EVs) have slowed globally over the past few years. But should EV makers cater more to the mainstream, it’s likely that 57% of drivers will have an EV in 10 years, consulting firm Accenture says.

Last year, nearly 14 million EVs were sold globally, representing a 35% year-on-year increase. But it was much slower than the 55% sales growth recorded in 2022 and the 121% growth in 2021.

Read more
I spent a week with an EV and it completely changed my mind about them
The Cupra Born VZ seen from the front.

After spending a week with an electric car as my main vehicle, opinions I’d formed about them prior to spending so much time with one have changed — and some quite dramatically.

I learned that while I now know I could easily live with one, which I wasn’t sure was the case before, I also found out that I still wouldn’t want to, but for a very different reason than I expected.
Quiet and effortless

Read more
Trade group says EV tax incentive helps U.S. industry compete versus China
ev group support tax incentive 201 seer credit eligibility

The Zero Emission Transportation Association (ZETA), a trade group with members including the likes of Tesla, Waymo, Rivian, and Uber, is coming out in support of tax incentives for both the production and sale of electric vehicles (EVs).

Domestic manufacturers of EVs and their components, such as batteries, have received tax incentives that have driven job opportunities in states like Ohio, Kentucky, Michigan, and Georgia, the group says.

Read more