Ferrari’s Awe-Inspiring 660-Horsepower 488 Spider Drops Its Top And Our Jaws

I’m not going to lie, a tiny tear welled up in the corner of my eye when I saw the first renders of Ferrari’s new 488 Spider. Don’t get me wrong, the “garden variety” 488 GTB coupe is a gorgeous vehicle with more than enough sexy curves to fill a Victoria’s Secret catalog; but the 488 Spider is on a completely different level of beauty (even in the non-flattering shade of blue).

Make no mistake, the 488 Spider looks damn good with its top up, but it’s when the top is stowed that the it really cranks up the hotness factor. Like the model that preceded it, the 458 Spider, the 488 Spider features a retractable hardtop (RHT) instead of a “bad toupee” fabric soft-top. The top can be raised or lowered in a swift 14 seconds, so that you can easily impress your co-pilot, whoever he or she may be., with the car’s open-air antics.

Ferrari has spent countless hours in the wind tunnel to ensure that the 488 Spider is its most aerodynamic drop-top ever. The Italian carmaker has even managed to strengthen the 488 Spider’s aluminum-intensive chassis, yielding 23 percent greater torsional rigidity and beam stiffness than its predecessor. Even more impressively, the 488 Spider now manages to match its 488 GTB counterpart in the same metrics.

As for the 488’s powertrain, everything is carryover from the 488 GTB, which is a good thing. That means that you’ll find the same 660hp/560 lb-ft 3.9-liter twin-turbocharged V8, which is mated to a seven-speed dual-clutch transmission. The only downside is that you can no longer see the beautiful engine under a pane of glass — like the 458 Spider before it, the 488 Spider’s engine is unfortunately covered by an aluminum panel.

That being said, you likely won’t carry about the missing glass when the 488 Spider can still hit 60 mph in 3 seconds flat, touch 124 mph in just 8.7 seconds and reach a top speed of 203 mph.

Ferrari isn’t revealing any details on U.S. pricing or availability at this point, but you can expect for the 488 Spider to be priced well north of the 488 GTB (which still isn’t yet available in the U.S. at this time). But for comparison, the 458 Italia has an MSRP of $243,000 while the 458 Spider is priced from $264,000.