These Are The First Ever Images Of the LaFerrari Spider

Spy Shots

It's rather hard to get in and out of this one, though.

It's pretty much a known fact that Ferrari's working on a roofless version of the LaFerrari hybrid hypercar. We first reported on such a prospect earlier this year, and Ferrari big man Sergio Marchionne revealed shortly afterwards that the project had been given the go-ahead. The only big unknown about the LaFerrari Spider, in fact, is the styling: or, more specifically, what modifications Ferrari has made to accommodate the removable roof. Until now, that is. Thanks to some sneaky snaps, we now have our best look yet at the drop-top hypercar.

Before you get excited, we need to stress the fact that these aren't actually images of the full-sized LaFerrari Spider. As you can tell from the provided pictures, these photos are instead of the 1:43 scale die-cast model of the car. That being said, we still reckon it's worth paying attention to this model in a world where cars can be leaked via sneaky die-cast spy shots, and this scaled-down replica does hint at some interesting features on the LaFerrari Spider. Namely, how similar the roofless version is to the hardtop original. There aren't any protruding buttresses like you'll find on the 488 Spider, and we still have a glass engine cover to allow any gearhead fortunate enough to be within touching distance of the car to peek at that howling 6.3-liter V12 engine.

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That would have led us to conclude the LaFerrari Spider would adopt a removable hardtop, like you'd find on a Porsche Carrera GT. However, there's an unusual panel between the seat backs and engine cover on the model that, we feel, could be explained as a cover for the folding roof cubby. Adding a retractable roof is certainly an unexpected move from Ferrari if true (how much weight would such a mechanism add to a car that would already, we imagine, be a bit porkier than the hardtop as a result of the extra chassis bracing?), but we can accept the system's benefits at the expense of a few more kilos. When you've nearly 1,000hp of hybrid power on tap, after all, another 50kg or so won't have a huge impact on performance.