KEY POINTS:
The car Ferrari claims is its fastest-ever convertible will be unveiled at the Los Angeles motor show tomorrow morning (NZ time).
The long-rumoured Scuderia Spider 16M is a limited-edition model built to honour Ferrari's Formula One record as a manufacturer.
The exclusive badge 16M tells the story. It stands for "16th manufacturer's" world title and will be set into the rear grille of each of the 499 cars Ferrari will make.
The Scuderia Spider 16M is based on the Ferrari 430 Scuderia launched last year and is aimed at the company's most loyal customers. No word on price yet.
The interior gets exclusive touches, too, including a silver "limited series" plaque just above the air vents at the centre of the dashboard. Other exclusive features include a roll-bar with carbon-fibre outer shell.
The Scuderia Spider 16M is powered by a 4.3-litre V8 engine producing 380kW (510bhp) at 8500rpm and 470Nm of torque at 5250rpm, driving the rear wheels via a six-speed sequential gearbox.
The driver has all sorts of electronic Manettino gizmos mounted on the steering wheel to help keep the car on the straight and narrow.
The Formula One-inspired Manettino dials allow the driver to quickly tune the car's chassis to suit the road, alter suspension settings, traction control, electronic differential, and the gearbox's shift speeds.
Ferrari claims a top speed of 315km/h and a zero to 100km/h sprint time of 3.7 seconds.
Kerb weight is 1440kg, distributed 43 per cent front, 57 per cent rear. The fuel tank capacity is 95 litres.
The carmaker claims town and around fuel consumption of 15.7 litres/100km (18mpg) and exhaust emissions of 360g/km.
The Scuderia Spider 16M is available in three exterior colours: red, yellow and grey, with distinctive stripes on the bonnet. Inside, it comes in black with grey trim. A tri-colour livery is also available as part of the company's personalisation programme.
