Ferrari has taken the wraps off the Daytona SP3 a futuristic vision of the past, in its exterior design, inspired by the 1960s 330 P3/4. And the contemporary performance is also firmly rooted in the past, this is not hybridized, it is a distillation of engineering knowledge gained over decades of experience. The Daytona SP3 represents one of a series of special limited-edition models celebrating key motor racing snippets in the company’s prestigious motorsports history. The Daytona SP3 pays tribute to the 1967 24 Hours of Daytona endurance race where the Prancing Horse took the top three places in the first round of that year’s International World Sports Car Championship. The three cars that shot past the chequered flag in that legendary side-by-side finish on Ford’s home turf.

At the heart of the Daytona SP3 is a mid-mounted naturally-aspirated 6.5-litre V12. It is the most powerful engine ever built by Ferrari and delivers 829bhp along with 697 Nm of torque and maximum revs of 9500 rpm. The chassis is built entirely from composite materials using Formula 1 inspired technologies. The seat is an integral part of the chassis to reduce weight exactly as you would find in a competition car.

Particular attention was paid on reducing the engine’s weight and inertia by adopting titanium con rods, which are 40% lighter than steel. The new piston pins have a Diamond Like Carbon treatment (DLC), which reduces the coefficient of friction to improve performance and fuel consumption. The crankshaft has been rebalanced and is now also now 3% lighter.

Passive aero solutions, such as chimneys that extract low-pressure air from the underbody negate the use of active aero devices. Thus it is the most aerodynamically efficient car ever built by Ferrari. As a result, the SP3 car can accelerate from zero to 100km/h in 2.85s and from zero to 200km/h in just 7.4s.

The Daytona SP3 has a wraparound windscreen in which the glass extends all the way to the start of the removable hard top. A nolder is integrated into its upper seal to accurately direct the flow over the header rail when driving without the hard top.

The Ferrari Daytona SP3 is limited to just 599 examples and is likely to cost around $2.5M each.