Open-top Ferrari 599 confirmed

By David Johns

09th June 2010

Ferrari has opened up about its future! In a private press gathering in Central London, Luca di Montezemolo talked about Ferrari past, present and future - confirming in the process that an 'open 599' would be shown at the Pebble Beach Concours in August.

He also added: "The roadster will have a very romantic name," hinting that it could follow in the mould of the 2005 575 Superamerica. The limited run car featured a electric roof section that flipped back over the rear windscreen, plus 25bhp extra power to account for the extra weight.

But there was bad news too for fans of more focused Ferraris: "We will continue to produce one new model each year – but there will not be a 458 Scuderia," revealed di Montezemolo.

A seperate spokesman for the brand explained: "The more hardcore editions have been a huge success for us over the last few years, so that's certainly the plan with the 458 too. But unless we can present pioneering and innovative technology there's no point in making a 458 Scuderia regardless. At the moment it's hard to see how we could move the game forward significantly enough from the standard 458."

Regarding the firm's hybrid future di Montezemolo said: "The future for Ferrari is hybrid for the 12 and new [turbocharged] technology for the 8. Within 3-4 years we will be ready with a 12 cylinder hybrid based on the HY-KERS concept."

This means the Enzo replacement, plus the next generation of V12 cars including the next 599 and Scaglietti, will all benefit from the V12 hybrid technology. However, the next generation of V8s will not receive the hybrid tech, instead using turbo technology to meet performance and CO2 emissions targets.