Imagine the reaction at Maranello when Novitec first N-Largo’d a Ferrari. The years spent crafting and honing a design to perfectly balance aero requirements, safety, history and style, only to find that wasn’t enough. Some customers wanted to stand out even more than a showroom-spec Ferrari would allow them. It must have been quite a shock. But demand continues for the widebody; we’ve seen 812s, F8s and even McLarens in recent years, and with the 296 N-Largo Coupe revealed by Novitec last year, there’s now an equivalent GTS.
This is the one, then. A mid-engined, carbon widebodied Ferrari must rank pretty highly in the league table of attention-getters. This N-Largo car is fully 12cm wider than factory specification, at 208cm, so any city centre showing off will have to avoid any width restrictors. The bodykit is the work of Vittorio Strosek, who has been responsible for quite a few N-Largo overhauls but also, interestingly, the doors on the Mercedes-McLaren SLR, so he knows a thing or two about making people look at cars.
Every single bit of the new ‘thrilling designer outfit’ is carbon, so it’ll be tremendously expensive, although there will be no mistaking it for any kind of other 296 GTS. As well as looking a whole lot meaner, the new front end is said to reduce lift further; the dramatically slatted front wings are three centimetres wider than standard. Interestingly, Novitec suggests that the ducted carbon bonnet also benefits downforce and stability. And don’t fret, this all still works with the nose lift.
Which is handy, because this N-Largo Ferrari is a lot lower than usual, the ride height said to be dropped around 35mm on new springs. That combined with the enormous flared rear arches would probably have been enough to lose the factory wheels, so this 296 comes with special arch liners for the huge wheel wells and a set of unique Vossen wheels - they’re 255/30 ZR 21 at the front, 335/25 ZR 22 at the rear. A 25-profile is basically unheard of, and does mean that there’s a totally different look to the wheel and tyre combo. Be prepared to wait for a replacement, too.
With all that, plus the width, plus a swept-up spoiler like this is a 296 CSL, it’ll be clear to all that this isn’t the average modified Ferrari GTS. Which will be just what Novitec was aiming for. But that’s not all, because more horsepower is also available; new turbo inlets, cats and a high-performance exhaust have yielded another 38hp, for 868hp in total. The 296 was already more than potent enough to cash the sort of cheques written by this aesthetic, but Novitec just wanted to make absolutely sure. And add some more noise.
Typically Novitec makes 15 N-Largo versions of the mid-engined berlinettas, certainly if the 296 GTB and F8 Tributos are anything to go by. As for price, a basically new - 350km - N-Largo 296 Coupe has been listed in Germany for €580,000, or just over £480,000. An F8 Spider equivalent is more than €700k, so having everyone stare won’t come cheap. But then look at a plain old GTS by comparison - pretty tame, right?
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