The evolution of Ferrari race spec street cars.
By Mark Process

In 1993 the American economy was again going through another recession and the sales of high end sport scars were slumping. What was worse for Ferrari was their latest offering the 348GTB was taking a beating in the automotive press and was being outclassed by lesser priced Corvettes and the new Acura NSX.  Maranello understood that it needed to build a positive image for the 348 so a new concept was created, a single marquee racing series called the Ferrari Challenge.  As a platform for the Challenge cars a new version of the 348 was developed called the Series Speciale which boasted more horsepower, a race tuned suspension and a stripped down lighter body. The experiment was a huge success, the Challenge series garnered tremendous enthusiasm in the press and the limited number of 100 Speciales immediately sold out.

The success of the Challenge racing series put Ferrari GT cars back on top and with the introduction of the F355 the platform became more potent. In keeping with the same marketing strategy as the Series Speciale, Maranello built the final 104 examples of the F355 with carbon fiber interior trimmings, a new F1 transmission and sportier suspension calling it the Fiorano Sypder. Five years later the tradition would continue with the 360 Challenge Stradale. This time public demand required the factory to build 378 units of this street car that looked every bit a true racing machine with performance to match. When the F430 was introduced in 2005, the faithful only needed to wait three years for its Challenge worthy successor, the 430 Scuderia and the 16M Spyder, to continue the tradition of the limited production high performance GT Speciales.

To document the evolution of these special and important GT cars, FCA member Mike Sage commissioned the creation of this poster featuring all four examples of the GT speciales spanning 16 years of Ferrari history. Designed by photographer Alan Scott Greene, this limited production art piece is a must have for any Ferrari V8 owner with the proceeds going to support the “Padres” Parents Against Cancer foundation.