Maranello, Italy - These are the first official pictures of the Ferrari 458 Speciale A (as in Aperta, meaning open), due to debut at the Paris motor show on 4 October.
Just 499 of these limited-edition roadsters will be built to celebrate the 458's achievements, including two World Endurance Championships, class wins in classic endurance races such as the Le Mans 24 Hours, the Daytona 24 Hours and 12 Hours of Sebring, as well as a string of international motoring media awards.
It's the hottest spider in Prancing Horse history, boasting the most powerful naturally-aspirated road-going V8 engine yet built by Ferrari - a tweaked version of the standard 4497cc unit that punches out 446kW at 9000 revs and 540Nm at 6000rpm.
And a folding aluminium hard top, which takes only 14 seconds to open or close, has kept its dry weight down to 1340kg, only 50kg more than the Speciale coupé.
That's good enough to get it off the line and up to 100km/h in three seconds flat, then on to 200km/h in 9.5sec.
Thanks to a stiff chassis that incorporates 10 different aluminium alloys, active front and rear aerodynamics (Ferrari says this is its slipperiest spider yet), and electronic side-slip angle control, it set a benchmark lap of 1m23.5s around the Fiorano test circuit, across the road from the factory.
The 458 Speciale A will premier in Paris in the one-off triple-layer yellow livery you see here, with central blue and white go-fast stripes, and five-spoked forged rims finished in dark grey.
The cockpit has a distinctly racy look, with lightweight materials throughout; the dashboard trim, moulded door-panels, centre console and tread plats are finished in carbon-fibre made with a special translucent blue gelcoat.
Everything else is trimmed in dark blue alcantara synthetic suede with yellow contrast stitching, including the newly-designed sports seats, which also have centre panels in textured yellow fabric.