If there’s anything “wrong” with the Ferrari 599 GTO, it’s that they’re only building 599 of them. Which in turn guarantees that it will end up being more of a “my oil well’s proven reserves are bigger than yours” trophy than the road warrior it’s allegedly supposed to be. Otherwise it’s just 670 HP of 208 MPH, heritage-named goodness. A regular 599 starts at around $335,000 new, provided you’ve already bought a used Fezza and given Luca DiMontezemolo a sensual massage within the last six months… any guesses what the GTO’s premium will run? It’s looking like it could hit $100k, which is mighty healthy for a .35 second improvement in 0-60 time.

As Ferrari leaves its traditional elegance aside in favor of expeditions to the limits of geek-gauche, few efforts by the Modena firm are as dismaying as its Special Projects one-offs. Jimmy Glickenhaus’s million-dollar Enzo-upgrade, the Pininfarina P4/5 set the pattern: one-off Ferraris must clearly signal that their owners have far more money than taste. Following in that bold tradition is this, the P540 Superfast Aperta, based on the 599 GTB. Though it looks like the buyer, Edward Walson, simply asked for a gold, targa-topped 599 with 250 GTO styling cues, the Aperta was actually inspired by the gold Fezza from Fellini’s Toby Dammit. Not that the pedigree keeps the Aperta from looking like a 1970s oil-sheik special. And considering this dismal re-working does such disservice to Ferrari’s best-looking car (plus the targa-top adds 50 lbs), it’s hard to see why they were so certain the project was “in keeping with the brand’s ideals,” as Autocar puts it. On the plus side, Walson gets the 540′s tooling to ensure uniqueness. Here’s hoping it stays as “unique” as it is “special.”.