February 6, 1967, will forever be a date in Ferrari’s history that nobody could ever forget, it’s the first round of the 1967 International World Sports Car Championship, the legendary 24 Hours of Daytona, right at the heart of Ford’s racing team, Ferrari takes all three leading positions, a 330 P3/4 took home the victory, second place was secured by a 330 P4 while the third position was secured by a 412 P … the Prancing horse obliterated the competition during a time that is now considered as being the golden era of closed wheel endurance racing, those cars would become a reference for the next generation of engineers and designers.
In 2018 Ferrari created the first of their Icona series to pay tribute to this amazing feat in 1967, to celebrate the 1-2-3 finish these were called the Monza SP1 and SP2, but today, November 20, 2021, Ferrari unveiled the Daytona SP3, a limited-edition Targa model that was presented on the famous Mugello Circuit during the 2021 Ferrari Finali Mondiali.
The new Daytona SP3 design is clearly inspired by the legendary 330 P4 racers, while the Targa hardtop was taken from the sports prototype world, as an homage to cars from the sixties, the choice of using a naturally-aspirated V12 was obvious, mid-rear mounted, this beauty comes with 840 cv and a torque number of 679 Nm at 9,500 rpm, this is the most powerful engine Ferrari ever made for a road car.
And while the new Daytona SP3 has no active aero, they created the design in such a way this is the most aerodynamically efficient car ever made at Maranello, the chassis is completely made from composite material taken from Formula One technology, unseen since the LaFerrari, to keep the weight down as much as possible, the seats are an integral part of the chassis on this new limited-edition beauty, and she’s fast too, 2.85 seconds to reach 100 km/h from a standstill, just 7.4 seconds before 200 km/h flies by.
The engine chosen for the Daytona SP3 comes from the magnificent 812 Competizione, but for this model, the V12 was moved to the mid-rear position, at a 6.5-liter capacity this new engine is called the F140C and puts her power through a 7-speed transmission and comes with a host of improvements over the F140B unit in the 812 Competizione, polluting emissions and particulate formation have been reduced by 30% (WLTC cycle) compared to the 812 Superfast.
The Ferrari Icona series was launched in 2018 with the Ferrari Monza SP1 and SP2, inspired by the competition barchettas of the 1950s while the Daytona SP3 takes inspiration from the endurance car from the 1960s, the Icona series celebrates Ferrari history by reinterpreting the timeless styling of the marque’s most iconic cars into the 21st century, these all boast exclusive solutions not seen in the rest of the range and are aimed solely at Ferrari’s top clients and collectors, proud ambassadors for the Prancing Horse marque.
