Quella che è presentata è una versione commemorativa della Ferrari 550 che ha vinto a Le Mans nella classe GTS nel 2003; di seguito l'articolo di topgear con tutte le modifiche apportate.

Le più interessanti:

- motore potenziato di 52 bhp, per un totale di 537, con contemporaneo aumento della coppia motrice;

- ampio uso di pannelli in fibra di C e di kevlar, il tutto per avere un contenimento di peso di 300 kg rispetto alla versione standard;

- Sospensioni irrigidite e diversi freni;

- altro che non ho ben capito e che evito di scrivere ;

Costo delle modifiche £ 90.000; sono in programma 50 esemplari per l'Europa e 50 per gli USA: sono in fase di valutazione altri 50 esemplari per il resto del mondo

There's a point when you're spectating at Le Mans at which - about 15 hours in - you stop fantasising about being a Le Mans driver. The cars are still screaming apocalyptically down the Mulsanne, flaring blue and yellow shocks of flame into the night, most sporting a flesh wound of some kind and enough dead flies to warrant Rentokil sponsorship. They've been doing it all day, most of the night and they still have a good portion left to run; at some point, you will ask yourself why they can't just shut up for a bit. The naked truth is that interest wanes the more sleep you lose. But what if at the end of the race you could drive home in that 550 Le Mans car? What if, after all the blood, sweat and gears, you could jump into that be-winged 550 GTS racer and pootle home? Well, no more 'what if's, because now you can. Almost.

Care Racing Development (the people that brought you the Care Racing/Prodrive Ferrari 550 Maranello that won the GTS class at Le Mans in 2003) have teamed up with ES Motorsport (the people who import the Pagani Zonda) to build a commemorative car to celebrate the Le Mans 550's win. That car is the one you see before you; the ultimate street-legal 550.

This is not some jumped-up tuner car. Corners have not been cut, margins have not been widened to accommodate a nicely fat fee. Unlike most attempts to make a car 'better', the LM does not rely on a simple increase in horsepower. There are no strap-on superchargers or turbos, no instant-fix nitrous-oxide injection. It does have some 52bhp more than the standard car's 485bhp, as well as a slight increase in torque from 420lb ft to 443lb ft, but mainly as a by-product of a tweaked ECU, improved breathing and an exhaust that's less inclined to pass noise regulations. By that, we mean noise regulations in France, if you drive it in London. Note, the LM has adopted the national obsession and been on a diet. The as-yet-unpatented, can't-buy-an-accompanying-book carbon-fibre diet.

In this case, you pay more for much less but get a whole raft of serious modifications that make the less that you get more satisfying. The LM is the car equivalent of wasabi paste; there's less of it, but that has absolutely nothing to do with the relative effectiveness. Carbon fibre is the key ingredient here, meaning that all the body panels except for the roof, boot and outer door skins are replaced with a mix of carbon weave and Kevlar (the stuff bulletproof vests are made of), including that enormous Le Mans rear wing and front splitter. The dash, parcel shelf, rear non-load-bearing bulkhead and door panels are all also carbon. Bare carbon makes an appearance everywhere, used as a design detail rather than simply a function of weight saving. There might not be anything left over to make pencils at this rate.

Even the rims are special, light-weight OZ 18-inchers with Michelin tyres liquoriced around the outside. Inside, the components are lightened with liberal use of carbon, the centre console is carbon, the seats anaemic carbon Ferrari buckets. The leather re-trim is black with black alcantara, presumably to match the, um, black carbon. The result is a car that weighs over 300kg less than standard. That's enough weight loss to make slimmer of the year look like a Krispy Kreme doughnut freak.

There are some simple physical arguments to strengthen the LM's case. A standard Ferrari 550 Maranello actually weighs 1,716kg (the later 575M 14kg more than that), organised around the concept of being a sporting GT, including all the accoutrements that you would expect from a car designed to meet that brief. The 550 LM does away with that need to cosset and strips the 550 bare, leaving a car that is as close to the Le Mans winner as it's possible to get and still have a spine when you've finished driving. To put the car into perspective, the LM will be only marginally less powerful and only 100kg heavier than Pagani's Zonda C12S, meaning fairly similar performance statistics - for less than half the price. And I've never heard anyone say that the Zonda was limp-wristed.

The suspension is also fettled with upgraded springs and the brakes are replaced by beefier AP calipers and discs front and rear. The brake lines and ducting are improved to suit the LM's more specific needs and the steering wheel incorporates a shift light for when you're making progress that requires your full attention. The four-point harnesses help keep you in place and there's even a data-logger to help you shave that last 10th off the work journey time. The Le Mans roof vent, by the way, does nothing except look cool.

There are some concessions to real life - this is a car that you're meant to be able to drive on the road, don't forget - and they include satnav, a personal Alpinestars luggage set and a race team jacket so that you look the part at Tesco. But with all that light and rattle-tastic carbon, we're not sure how far you would want to tour in it.

One of the other reasons to buy one is the fact that this will be a strictly limited edition, so you're unlikely to be flashing your lights self-consciously at another owner coming the other way. At the moment, there are only 50 cars planned for Europe, 50 for North America and a further 50 are under discussion for the 'rest of the world' should the demand prove hectic enough.

As you might expect, costs are truly in the premium sector. ES Motorsport will source you a base 550 Maranello with a black interior (which saves re-ordering from Ferrari for black interior bits) and perform the conversion. The conversion itself costs £90,000, plus the cost of a decent 550 in the first place, say £70k at the top end. That means that the 550LM you see before you costs roughly £160,000. But think about this; if you're going to re-enact your Le Mans fantasy you'll want to get as close to the action as possible. The 550 LM is about as close as it gets.

Tom Ford

stupenda!!!