Inspired by the Le Mans-winning Ferrari 499P, the Piloti Ferrari specification is only available to Ferrari 296 Speciale customers who like to go racing.
It's always a fun joke. How do you know someone is a race driver? They'll tell you...
Now though, with the ultra-exclusive Piloti Ferrari 296 Speciale, they don't need to tell you, as the car itself says it all. This special configuration is only available to Ferrari customers who indulge in the Italian brand's official motorsport activities.
Based on the 'standard' Ferrari 296 Speciale, the Piloti Ferrari specification adds a unique exterior livery with a customisable number, Alcantara seats, fire-proof seat inserts, carbon-fibre representation of the customer's racing number on the seats and door sills, and a unique build plaque in even more carbon-fibre.
The car is presented as part of the brand's 'Tailor Made' bespoke specification program, where budgets and boundaries are extended to create highly unique vehicles.
The livery, inspired by the Ferrari 499P racers that won the overall 2023, 2024 and 2025 24 Hours of Le Mans race in the WEC (World Endurance Championship) hypercar category, is hand-painted in Giallo Modena (yellow) on to one of four of Ferrari's most famous racing colours; Rosso Scuderia (bright red), Blu Tour De France (dark blue), Nero Daytona (black) or Argento Nurburgring (silver).
The number 51 represented on the car is the same number as the 2023 Le Mans-winning Ferrari 499P racer.
An Italian tri-coloured flag motif is added to the lower front valance too.
Unlike a regular 296 Speciale, the Piloti Ferrari specification is only available to Ferrari customers who are involved with the brand's official motorsport and racing activities, both competitive and non-competitive.
The Ferrari 296 Speciale is powered by a 2.9-litre twin-turbo V6 with 515kW and 755Nm output, paired with a 113kW hybrid system, for a combined maximum power delivery of 648kW, 38kW more than a standard Ferrari 296 GTB. The hybrid battery is rated for up to 25 kilometres of electric-only driving.
It weighs 1410kg, a significant 214kg less than a standard 296 GTB, giving the Speciale a staggering 460kW/t power-to-weight ratio. Not bad for a car that can still be road registered.
The Ferrari 296 Speciale is the second of the brand's two-seat mid-engined sports coupes to wear the Speciale name, the final naturally-aspirated V8 Ferrari 458 Speciale is the other. It marks a return to 'performance' inspired variants being offered for the mainstay mid-engine models, a practice which started in earnest with the 1993 Ferrari 348 Competizione.
| 1967 | Ferrari Dino 246 GT | 2.4L V6 | 143kW / 226Nm | - |
| 1975 | Ferrari 308 GTB | 2.9L V8 | 188kW / 285Nm | - |
| 1985 | Ferrari 328 GTB | 3.2L V8 | 199kW / 304Nm | - |
| 1993 | Ferrari 348 Competizione | 3.4L V8 | 235kW / 324Nm | 50 |
| 1999 | Ferrari 355 Spider Fiorano | 3.5L V8 | 279kW / 363Nm | 104 |
| 2003 | Ferrari 360 Challenge Stradale | 3.6L V8 | 313kW / 373Nm | 1288 |
| 2007 | Ferrari F430 Scuderia | 4.3L V8 | 375kW / 471Nm | 2000 (est) |
| 2013 | Ferrari 458 Speciale | 4.5L V8 | 445kW / 540Nm | 2000 (est) |
| 2018 | Ferrari 488 Pista | 3.9L TT V8 | 530kW / 770Nm | 3500 (est) |
| 2019 | Ferrari F8 Tributo | 3.9L TT V8 | 530kW / 770Nm | - |
| 2025 | Ferrari 296 Speciale | 2.9L TT V6 Hyb | 648kW / 755Nm | TBC |
In 2017, the Ferrari 488 Pista was also offered as a 'racer exclusive' 488 Pista Piloti Ferrari specification in the same manner as the new 296 Speciale Piloti.
With over 20 years of experience in digital publishing, James Ward has worked within the automotive landscape since 2007 and brings experience from the publishing, manufacturer and lifestyle side of the industry together to spearhead Drive's multi-media content direction.
