Lid Lifted On Ferrari's F430

Following on from the first official pictures of Ferrari's new F430 sports car in last week's magazine, Auto Express can exclusively reveal plans for another model.

Auto Express Car Reviews

By Chris Thorp

02nd September 2004

The current issue of the mag features an exclusive first sight of the open-top Spider version, which is expected to go on sale in the UK early in 2006. Similar to the outgoing 360 Spider, the new drop-top loses none of the visual drama of the F430, and will come with a fabric hood which folds electrically into a compartment in front of the mid-mounted engine.

Roll hoops behind the seats will protect the driver and passenger in the event of an accident, and there's a wind deflector screen between them to keep buffeting to a minimum.

The F430 Spider will have the same 490bhp, 4.3-litre V8 engine as the hard-top, which will help it hit 60mph from rest in less than four seconds. As with the coup΃©, the Spider features a cutting-edge electronic differential called E-Diff, and will come with an array of steering wheel-mounted switches.

These controls will give the driver the ability to adjust the car's dynamic set-up while on the move, a feature which has been taken directly from the company's Formula One racer. The new Spider will cost slightly more than the current 360 version, which is ΂£112,195.