Ferrari's Masterpiece

The legendary Italian brand marks 70 years with its greatest supercar ever, the $2.2 million Aperta.

- Nicolas Stecher

The picturesque northern Italian town of Maranello is the birthplace of arguably the finest performance marque in automotive history. At the security gate of the secretive factory, visitors are greeted with a sign, bold and simple: a large rectangle with the word ferrari written in yellow serif font. Nearby, three flags snap in the breeze: the tricolors of Italy; the navy blue and gold stars of the EU; and the cavallino rampante (the “prancing horse”), its front legs kicking in the air triumphantly, defiantly. Inside the sprawling campus, workers wear matching red uniforms, not unlike those found on the famed Formula 1 pit crew. The particular hue is so iconic, it’s known everywhere from the Arctic to the Amazon as “Ferrari red.”

This is home to the world’s most successful F1 team, holding the most Constructors Championships (16) and F1 Champions (15). Not surprisingly, many workers here pop their collars with an unmistakable Italian flair. They push carts carrying pristine engine blocks, crankshafts, and bits of gleaming machinery. Visitors’ phones are confiscated upon arrival to prevent any images of prototypes—Ferrari’s next generation of championship automobiles—from escaping the facility.

This year Ferrari S.p.A. celebrates its 7oth anniversary, and to mark seven decades of creating the most valuable vehicles on earth, Ferrari will begin delivering from this factory its greatest hypercar ever: the $2.2 million LaFerrari Aperta. Not only is it one of the modern era’s most technologically advanced vehicles, it is also the most coveted: Like all 499 LaFerraris built, all 200 Apertas sold before the first unit was even finished. (The company also built nine additional vehicles for promotional activities.)