Ferrari 296 Speciale: Thinking About A Lamborghini Temerario? Maybe Read This First

There are moments in the motoring calendar that feel less like a product launch and more like a change in the weather. Not a dramatic thunderclap, but something more subtle, a shift in the atmosphere that hints at what’s coming. Such was the feeling earlier this week, when Ferrari quietly, but with the kind of quiet only Ferrari can muster, revealed the 296 Speciale.

Now, before we get carried away, let’s establish a few facts. No one outside of Maranello has driven it. It won’t be in customers’ hands until well into 2026. It is, at present, a beautifully sculpted promise and one made with typical Italian flair and an unapologetic commitment to speed.

The car it’s based on, the 296 GTB, was itself a technological delight. A plug-in hybrid supercar with a V6 - Ferrari’s first road-going six-cylinder since the Dino, if you’re wondering - and a thoroughly modern take on mid-engined mastery. The GTB was quick, clever and remarkably usable. But it was also restrained. Civilised, even. The new 296 Speciale is none of those things. This is Ferrari turning the wick up a tad.

The Speciale makes 880 metric horsepower, or cavalli vapore, if you’re into your Italian engineering nomenclature. That’s 50 more than the GTB and a record output for a rear-wheel-drive Ferrari. It's achieved through the same 120° twin-turbo V6, now breathing more fire thanks to titanium connecting rods, a lightened crankshaft and all manner of clever combustion wizardry lifted straight from Ferrari’s racing arm. The engine alone makes 700 hp, with the remaining 180 coming from an uprated MGU-K electric motor, which, in ‘Qualify’ mode, serves up bursts of extra power on demand.

Ferrari calls this extra boost and in essence, it will be an electric punch in the kidneys. Available only when the eManettino is turned all the way up to mad, it uses clever software (which apparently is lifted from the SF90 XX) to determine the most useful moments on a track to deploy it, ensuring you don’t burn through all your electricity trying to look clever on the straights.

But power is only half the story. The 296 Speciale is also lighter, 60 kg lighter in in fact, than then the GTB thanks to a methodical crusade of weight-shedding that border on the obsessive. Everything that could be made of carbon fibre or titanium has been. Even the crankshaft has been put on a diet. The result is a dry weight of just 1,410 kg, giving it a power-to-weight ratio of 1.6 kg/hp. In other words, it’s properly quick.

The Speciale also brings with it a significantly revised aerodynamic package. Downforce is up by 20% compared to the GTB, thanks to a suite of solutions developed through Ferrari’s motorsport programmes. There’s a new aero damper system at the front, a set of sculpted side wings at the rear and an active spoiler with not one but three positions: Low Drag, Medium Downforce and High Downforce. The last one pops up under hard braking or fast cornering to glue the rear end to the tarmac. Medium Downforce, new for this car, is used during high-speed cruising to add stability without hurting top speed. It's downforce by appointment.

Of course, we can only imagine at this point is the sound. Because this is a Ferrari and if it doesn’t sound like it’s trying to rearrange your ribcage, what’s the point? The 296 Speciale’s V6 has been tuned not only for power but also for timbre. There are now more resonant tubes directing harmonics into the cabin, each one tuned to its own frequency. The result, we’re told, is a more immersive engine note, with extra rasp on upshifts and a deeper howl at full tilt.

Now, some might scoff at a V6 Ferrari, hybrid or not. But those people clearly haven’t looked at the spec sheet. This engine produces an absurd amount of power by any standard. More to the point, it’s mounted in a chassis with a short wheelbase, a new suspension geometry and sticky Michelin Cup 2 tyres developed specifically for the car. Ferrari promises it will not only go quickly, but it will feel quick, with 4% more lateral acceleration, 13% less roll and vastly improved responsiveness.

And then there’s the design. The 296 Speciale is, if you’ll forgive the phrase, a bit of a looker. Where the GTB was elegant, the Speciale is all aggression and intent. The bonnet has sprouted a set of louvres and the rear end is sharper. Plus there’s a new tailpipe design borrowed from the F80 that looks like a jet thruster in waiting. There’s even a new colour — Verde Nürburgring, which is a rather vivid shade of green named, somewhat paradoxically, after a German race circuit.

Inside, it’s all carbon fibre, Alcantara and minimalism. There’s a revised centre console with Ferrari’s now-standard retro-modern shift gate, a new one-piece carbon fibre door card and bare metal fasteners that proudly declares that ‘this is not for comfort’. It’s austere, but maybe in the same way that a fighter jet is austere.

So, what do we make of all this? Ferrari has always treated its ‘Speciale’ models as more than just marketing exercises. The 458 Speciale was arguably the last great naturally aspirated supercar. The 488 Pista redefined what a turbocharged Ferrari could be. Now, the 296 Speciale takes that baton into the hybrid age and frankly, it does not compromise.

We’ll wait to drive it, and when we do, I suspect it’ll feel like a turning point. Not the end of the V12 era, perhaps, but a new standard for what a hybrid supercar can be. Less planet-saving appliance, more red-blooded Ferrari. And for now, that’s more than enough.