One to Buy: 1 of 6 and unique in Azzurro Lolo 2014 Ferrari 458 Speciale Aperta Pininfarina Sergio
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In terms of his road car division, one of Enzo Ferrari’s best decisions was made over the winter of 1952-1953 when il Commendatore signed an ongoing cooperation agreement with what was then Pinin Farina that would see the Turin coachbuilder handle design and body production for all Ferrari’s regular offerings.
The net result was that, thanks to an approach that generally favoured style and beauty over that latest fads, Ferraris have stood the test of time far better than many rival products.
Unfortunately, following the establishment of Ferrari Centro Stile in 2010, the Maranello firm elected to bring design in-house and, ever since then, the aesthetic quality of the cars that bear the Cavallino Rampante has predictably nosedived.
One of the last collaborations between Ferrari and Pininfarina was the 458, the latest in an esteemed line of two-seat junior models that began with the Dino-badged 206 GT back in 1968.
Unveiled in Berlinetta trim at the 2009 Frankfurt Motor Show, a Spider version arrived two years later followed by the high performance 458 Speciale another two years after that. Twelve months later, Ferrari presented an open version of its hot V8, dubbed the Speciale Aperta, which was limited to a run of 499 units.
18 months prior to the Speciale Aperta’s debut, Pininfarina had displayed a stunning 458 Spider-based design concept at the 2013 Geneva Motor Show. Dubbed Sergio in honour of Sergio Pininfarina who had passed away nine months prior, the gorgeous little Speedster clearly took many of its cues from Pininfarina’s original 1965 Dino 206 design concept that had pre-dated Ferrari’s entire junior line.
With Ferrari’s blessing, six Targa-roofed production copies of the Sergio were subsequently assembled using 458 Speciale Apertas as donor cars. Of these, perhaps the most handsomely configured was chassis 205936 which is currently residing at The Barn’s Miami showroom.
Ordered in mono Azzurro Lolo paint over Nero upholstery with Blu highlights, chassis 205936 is only the third Sergio to have made it onto the open market and remains in effectively new condition as evidenced by its Platinum award at Cavallino and Best in Class at the 2022 Amelia Island Concours d'Elegance.
