New images of LaFerrari Aperta leaked

Fresh images of Ferrari's fastest ever convertible have surfaced over the weekend after the 708kW LaFerrari drop-top was caught being filmed ahead of its official launch at the Paris motor show late this month.

The filming, thought to have been recorded for promotional footage to be shown at its French unveiling, was captured by a member of the Italian car-maker's owners’ club and posted on Facebook.

The new pics are revealing, not least because it gives us our first glimpse of the LaFerrari roadster with its carbon-fibre roof panel in place but also because they also confirm that instead of using the name 'Spider', the car-maker will call its fastest-ever roadster an 'Aperta' -- Italian for 'open'.

Filmed in downtown Barcelona, the new images also show the hypercar in action.

Heavily based on the LaFerrari coupe that went out of production in 2015, it's possible to see the roadster's prominent roll-over hoop that sits behind the driver and passenger, and the new flying-buttresses rear boot lid design.

It's thought the removable roof panel was the only option for engineers when developing the roadster version of the hybrid hypercar as a folding hard-top like the one used on the California T or 488 Spider would have added weight and compromised the already tight engine bay packaging.

With no place to store the carbon-fibre roof on the move, Ferrari has been forced to also offer owners an emergency fabric roof to protect occupants and the million-dollar vehicle's interior during an unexpected downpour.

Factor in the low weight penalty expected over the coupe, which should also donate its immense torsional rigidity (thanks to the LaFerrari's carbon-fibre monococque) and it's likely the Aperta will be as fast and as good to drive as the coupe.

It will be powered by the same 588kW 6.3-litre naturally-aspirated V12 as the coupe, which combines a 120kW electric motor in a HY-KERS petrol-electric drive system to deliver total output of 708kW/700Nm.

The LaFerrari Aperta is expected to reach 100km/h in less than three seconds and continue to 200km/h in less than seven seconds and 300km/h in less than 15 seconds, before topping out in excess of 350km/h.

Originally, Ferrari announced it would make just 499 LaFerraris, although it recently revealed it had made one final coupe to auction off for charity to aid the Italian earthquake fund.

It's not known how many LaFerrari Apertas will roll off the production line at Maranello but rumours suggest the famous sportscar-maker will make just 200 Apertas.

All are sold out, says Ferrari, despite publicly not publishing any prices.

It's thought each LaFerrari Aperta will set their owners back more than $2 million.

Ferrari is expected to release more information on the LaFerrari spider closer to its Paris motor show reveal on September 29.