Mystery Aussie acquires Ferrari’s most sought-after model

Ferrari Australia has confirmed that an example of the most lucrative model in the Prancing Horse line-up has been allocated to a well-connected customer in Australia, where it can’t be driven.

What’s more, the mystery buyer and purchase price isn’t being disclosed on the grounds of privacy.

Unveiled at the Paris motor show in September, the new LaFerrari Aperta is arguably the most exclusive model to come from Ferrari’s factory in Maranello in decades.

Production of the drop-top hypercar has been limited to just 209 vehicles globally -- 200 of those being sold-out customer cars and the rest to be retained by Ferrari and used for “celebrity” promotional purposes.

Suffice to say that getting your hands on the Prancing Horse’s most lucrative model, rumoured to cost about $5 million, is excruciatingly tight.

Usually, Ferrari supercars of the Aperta’s calibre go to the most loyal customers who already own five Ferraris and will agree to sell it back to the factory once they’ve had enough. At least that was the deal with the LaFerrari coupe.

Speaking at the launch of the new GTC4Lusso T in Sydney this week, Ferrari Australasia chief executive Herbert Appleroth revealed to motoring.com.au that the Aperta was indeed bound for Australia.

With global production strictly limited to left-hand drive and restricting it from local roads — and prying public eyes — Appleroth was tight-lipped about who and where the winning bid or bids came from.

“It’s obviously a very small [sales] volume -- even less than the LaFerrari coupe,” he said.

“It was very hotly contested, shall we say. Only the very best of our customers were invited … a personal invitation from our president.”

The LaFerrari Aperta employs the same 6.3-litre naturally-aspirated V12 engine as the coupe combined with a 120kW electric motor in a Formula 1-style HY-KERS configuration.

Combined, the total petrol-electric system produces 708kW and 700Nm in coupe guise, a factor which will lend the Aperta a 0-200km/h acceleration time of less than seven seconds.

The distinguishing difference between the coupe and convertible is a carbon-fibre roof panel which is said to enable the same level of torsional rigidity as the regular LaFerrari (which ended production in 2015). Ferrari will offer the Aperta with a soft-top roof or a removable hard-top made of carbon-fibre.

There is at least one Australian example of the LaFerrari coupe first released in 2013. It was last seen at Tony Denny’s lavish Gosford Car Museum on the NSW Central Coast.