A Ferrari 488 Pista Piloti has just arrived in Malaysia and to one very lucky (and very rich) Ferrari owner, this day couldn’t have come any sooner.
Reputably the only Ferrari 488 Pista Piloti in Malaysia, this blue specimen you see here is ready to tear up the streets of KL.
Built as a tribute to Ferrari’s win in the 2017 World Endurance Championship (WEC) for both the Drivers’ and Manufacturers’ titles, this uprated 488 Pista is born from Ferrari’s Tailor Made Program and is exclusively for Ferrari’s Client Racing Driver. Only drivers who compete in the automaker’s sanctioned racing events like the Prancing Horse’s single marque challenge series are entitled to the opportunity to purchase one of these exclusive Ferraris.
To differentiate itself from any ordinary 488 Pista, the Pista Piloti comes with a matt black S-Duct in the front and a naked carbon fibre ‘dovetail’ suspended spoiler at the rear, reminiscent of the Ferrari 488 GTE race car. The WEC laurel on the hood along with the WEC and PRO script on the nose of the Piloti further trumpets the automaker’s 2017 WEC triumph in the PRO racing class.
However, the most striking exterior feature of the Piloti would be the Italian flag livery found all over this very special Ferrari. It begins with the Italian flag on the 488’s flanks and is continued to the stylised Italian flag motif on the personalised race number of the lucky clients who were invited to order the Piloti. The most striking use of the Tricolore however would be on the main stripe that goes across the Piloti. A closer look at this stripe that dominates the design of this prancing horse shows that the orientation of the Tricolore switches in on the roof. This is such that the green, white, red pattern of the Italian flag is always the right way round, no matter from which angle it is viewed from.
In terms of the powertrain of the Piloti, this Ferrari that is exclusive to select racing drivers retains the same 3.9 litre twin-turbocharged V8 as in the 488 Pista. With only a dry weight of 1280 kg to haul around, this 710 hp supercar easily does the century sprint in 2.85 seconds and onwards to a top speed of 211 mph. The usual Pista technology is also found on this particular prancing horse.
Stepping inside this rare supercar, the eye is immediately drawn to the the personalised carbon fibre sill trims. With the Ferrari Tailor Made logo and the script stating ‘Exclusive for Piloti Ferrari’, it serves as a reminder to occupants that they are stepping into something special. And as if you haven’t been reminded that this car is special, between the black Alcantara bucket seats is a plaque stating ‘Exclusive for Piloti Ferrari. Tribute to 2017 World Endurance Championship’.
As for the rest of the interior, carbon parts normally found on the Pista remains on the Piloti, but now they sport a matt carbon finish to further differentiate it with the plebian Pista. A naked carbon floor and Piloti-exclusive carbon vents further accentuates the racing heritage of the Piloti.
Italian patriotic pride is further continued in the interior with flashes of the Tricolore on the edge of the gearshift paddles, base of the steering wheel and on the floor mats, which themselves Ferrari claim to be made out of a special lightweight technical fabric.
Debuted ahead of the 2018 24 hours of LeMans, the 488 Pista Piloti was available only in four colours. This Malaysian example shown here is resplendent Blu Tour De France, but the other colours were also available. These include Argento Nürburgring, Nero Daytona; and being a Ferrari, the obligatory Rosso Corsa.
Bravo to the owner on taking their delivery of this bespoke multi-million ringgit supercar, who incidentally went all the way to Maranello to sign the dotted line on this Italian stallion. We hope that it will be used as it should so that more petrolheads will be able to feast their eyes on this exquisite exclusive racing Ferrari.
