Ferrari gave fans a brief glimpse of the latest addition to its ‘One-Off’ series at the Festival of Speed recently and now it had fully unveiled its creation, the Ferrari KC23. Part of the Prancing Horse’s Special Projects programme, it was commissioned by one of Ferrari’s leading collectors, which the Italian marque does for its most loyal customers.

The KC23, which took on a wet run up the famous Hill run at Goodwood, is based on the 488 GT3 Evo 2020, inheriting its layout, chassis and engine but ultimately comes with a few certain differences. Whilst this is elegant at a standstill, the KC23 has aerodynamic features which give it extra speed on the move such as motorised air intake vents and a bold rear wing, which is removable depending on whether the car is being used on the road or track. The inclusion of butterfly doors invokes the spirit of LaFerrari and four layers worth of metallic paintwork, known as Gold Mercury, gives the car a unique shine.

The name of the collector who commissioned the car remains anonymous, but the design was led by the Ferrari Styling Centre and more specifically, the talents of Flavio Manzoni. Working from the base of the 488 GT3 was not a bad place to start, with the car having been racing since 2016 and racking up over 530 victories in the world’s most prestigious endurance races, making it the most successful racing Ferrari in history.

Giving fans a glimpse into the future of Ferrari on an exterior front, both headlights and rear lights have been redesigned, inspired by the Ferrari Vision Gran Turismo and spring to life when the roaring V8 engine is fired up. However, this one-off design was stripped down for non-competitive racing purposes and in its interior, a simple pair of seats, roll cage and Formula One style racing steering wheel are the only things to be found.

Taking over three years to develop, the KC23 joins an exclusive group of bespoke cars built to the specifications of each client. This is the whole ethos behind the Special Projects programme and is aimed at producing these ‘One-Offs’ to the same standards that all Maranello cars possess. We await the upcoming arrivals from Ferrari and if they are to look anything like this, the future looks exciting for the Prancing Horse.

Words: Mike Booth
Pictures: Ferrari North Europe