Ferrari 458 Italia Finance

The 458 Italia

Preceeded by the F430, which in turn was preceeded by the 360 Modena, the F355, the 348, the 328 and the 308 GTB of 1975, the 458 Italia was first unveiled at the 2009 Frankfurt motorshow.

Like the 308, 355 and 360 before it, the 458 was an all-new design, but due to the introduction of the entry-level Ferrari California the previous year, the 458 didn’t have to play the ‘junior Ferrari’ role and so it could be more hard-core than its forerunners.

The naturally-aspirated 4.3-litre V8 introduced on the 430 was enlarged to 4.5 litres and, along with direct fuel injection and other engine upgrades, power went up by a whole 100 horsepower to 590PS at a dizzy 9,000rpm. Unlike its predecessors, a traditional gated manual was no longer an option so the only 458 transmission was a 7-speed dual-clutch sequential.

Performance was impressive to say the least: 0-62mph in 3.4 secs, 0-124 in 10.4, the standing ¼-mile in 11.3 and a 202mph top speed.

The 199mph 458 Spider became available in 2012, and like its California sibling it featured a retractible aluminium roof. This was followed in 2013 by the 458 Speciale which sported active aerodynamics and forged wheels along with with a number of tweaks to the exterior and more sophisticated traction control electronics. Power was up too, to 605PS, and with reduced weight this meant the Speciale could hit 62mph in 3.0 secs and 124mph in 9.5.

Then came the limited-edition (499 built) 458 Speciale Aperta – the most powerful street-legal open Ferrari until the LaFerrari Aperta.

The 458 Italia was replaced by the 670PS twin-turbo 488 in 2015.