#6 - The Leaning Tower of Pista
There is something beautifully primitive about the launch of a new Lightweight Track Special (LTS). It deviates from the norm of any other boggo new car model release which focuses on pure, outright performance figures (BHP, 0-60, Top Speed etc, etc), jaw dropping options lists and the even more spell binding prices attached to them. No, with an LTS, the focus shifts away from all of these material factors and onto the real nitty gritty of the car…..where have lightweight materials been used and how much have they knocked off the gross weight, how sticky are the tyres, how much downforce does the car produce and most importantly, what is the net impact of all these changes on how fast it goes round a world renowned race track. Take your pick, the success of a LTS is perfectly correlated with the number of track records it can smash out….and that’s the great thing about them. Driver’s cars for people who like driving.
But the true purpose of the LTS has evolved over the last couple of decades; 15 years ago, the only people who were buying the 996 GT3 RS and 360 Challenge Stradale’s of the world were the ones who actually planned to use them on the track as God intended. A roll cage and built in fire extinguisher weren’t there to make you look all fancy in front of your mates driving down the Kings Road, they were there to save your life when you inevitably binned it going full Paddy Hopkirk round Brands Hatch or Silverstone. However, a few Top Gear reviews later and it didn’t take long for people to started realising that these awesomely bonkers track specials were just as good to drive on the public roads as they were on the track, remarkably usable even with their chewing gum scrapping front splitters and actually held their value a lot better than their more common rail counterparts.
The net result, demand went up and with that the opportunity for manufacturers to take profit from the brand loyalty of their customers…..and that sadly signalled the beginning of the end for the pure LTS models.
You see, when you make a precondition for buying a car that you must have bought at least 5 or 6 previous models from that same manufacturer (and not the cheap stuff….the full fat, top of the range kit), you change the demographic of the client base who is ultimately buying them…..and that’s what we saw happen with the Track Specials. Be it Ferrari, Porsche, McLaren, Lamborghini….. no longer was it the track day enthusiast (who wanted to buy a new car because their current pride and joy had been ploughed into the sand trap for the last time) buying…..no, they were too far down the customer list now. Instead, it was the guy who changed his cars more frequently than his underwear, thought heal toeing was a dance move and “wants them paddles on the steering wheel like that Michael Schumacher fella has”.
Now we are happy to plead guilty in the above to generalising and/or stereotyping but simply put, when you change your customer base, you are ultimately going to be changing the cars you are building for them. And with that, I get onto the Ferrari 488 Pista.
The Pista is the fourth generation of modern Ferrari LTS models behind the 360 Challenge Stradale, 430 Scuderia and 458 Speciale……and in short, its brilliant. Not only is it time warpingly fast but it looks awesome, sounds awesome and ticks pretty much all the boxes that only a proper LTS car can do. 90kg lighter than the boggo 488…tick, many mechanical and aero parts borrowed from the Challenge and GT3 race cars…tick, four point harnesses….tick, much alcantara and carbon fibre…..tick. You get my point, on paper the Pista is the real deal. BUT…..and this is the controversial one, it’s not a true LTS. Allow me to explain why.
711bhp and 568lb ft of torque are absurd figures for a track car…..it’s simply too much. What’s more, I’m very confident Ferrari knows this. Which is why they have gifted it with a smorgasbord of electronic aids to keep it all pointing the right way. Now in principle, as a road car, electronic aids are a brilliant thing. They keep us out of hedges and road survey statistics. But the great thing about track driving is you want to be able to turn them all off and put some elbow grease and sweaty palms into keeping the car going where you want it, not some robot doing the heavy lifting for you. And that’s the problem….as a mere mortal (of which I would attribute 99% of the driving population to being), the second you turn off the electronic aids on a Pista, you will end up pointing the wrong way, in a pool of your own urine and potentially with a chunky repair bill to handle.
With the Pista, Ferrari made a rocket ship….and a monumentally brilliant one. But in doing so, they lost touch with what a true LTS is really about. They could have given it 200bhp less, ditched the need for electronic aids, kept it naturally aspirated and actually achieved a more potent and more importantly, enjoyable track weapon. But they didn’t because they realised that a large proportion of the customers taking delivery of them are more likely to use the 711bhp to blow up skirts and impress the G&T connoisseurs of the Sloany Pony than they are to brave the wet and wind as they fly around Anglesey.
So if you own a Pista…congrats. You are up nearly £100k over list price, have everyone chomping at the bit to buy it off you and have a monumentally capable car in your possession. Personally, I would sell it and go buy a couple of 430 Scuderia’s. You get a sensational naturally aspirated V8, a usable amount of power and a bunch of spare parts for when you inevitable bin it…..you also have our good friend appreciation working its magic as they transition into true cult hero status.
Happy Motoring,
CC’s Investment Team