Ferraris are special vehicles, of that there’s no doubt, but then there are limited-run Ferraris, the cars you’d be lucky to get an allocation for even if you had the money to buy one. But then, beyond that, there’s the realm of the Ferrari universe that’s beyond belief, the cars most people could only dream of getting behind the wheel of. Yes, it’s the ultra-exclusive world of one-off Ferraris, and at the 2023 Festival of Speed we had one running up the Hill, the KC23.
One of Ferrari’s most distinguished collectors asked the company’s Special Projects division for a unique, future-inspired machine, but asked for it to based upon the Ferrari 488 GT3. It isn’t road legal, therefore, but does that matter in the slightest? Inspiration for the design came from both the Ferrari Vision Gran Turismo you’ll find in Gran Turismo 7 and the 499P that won the Le Mans 24 Hours just a few weeks ago.
The KC23 features scissor doors, a removable rear wing and a mechanised air intake, where the intakes are closed off and hidden then the car is running cool, and then open up to varying degrees to allow just the right amount of air in when the car gets hot. Why have a removable rear wing? Well, aside from the fact you can, it means you can enjoy a clean design when you have the car in your garage but benefit from a decent quantity of downforce when you’re on your private track day.
Ferrari says performance hasn’t been compromised when compared to the race car, but also that the KC23’s design gives a "tantalising glimpse" of cars to come from Maranello. We doubt the F8 Tributo’s eventual replacement will have scissor doors, but if a future road car looks not too dissimilar to this we won’t be disappointed.
Make sure you take a good, hard look at this car, both in the paddocks and on the Hill, because there’s a chance we may never see it again.
Photography by Jochen van Cauwenberge.
FOS
Festival of Speed
Ferrari
KC23
Festival of Speed
Festival of Speed
Festival of Speed