Is Ferrari's lighter, more powerful 296 Speciale a hit or a miss?

Vijay Pattni: “The turbo V6 is now even more powerful”

Piero Ferrari – son of Enzo – once spoke about being mindful of the responsibility that comes with the family name. Which means this new 296 carries the whole weight of Maranello on its shoulders. Speciale. Just sounds... proper.

Should sound proper too, because the turbocharged V6 – nicknamed ‘piccolo V12’ – is now even more powerful. Not that anyone ever asked for more power from the 296, but it’s got a big name to fill – 880bhp should do it. As should the lightweighting.

If it’s anything like that glorious 458, this should be molto Speciale indeed.

Jack Rix: “I was beside myself with admiration for Ferrari”

A few months back I heard a rumour. I shan’t disclose which little birdie told me, but the news was off the scale exciting.

The forthcoming lighter, faster, more speciale 296 would ditch the hybrid system and rely solely on its twin turbo V6 to bring genuine, unfiltered supercar thrills to the fore. It would have less power than the standard model, but be lighter and so quicker and nimbler – I was beside myself with admiration for Ferrari for taking such a drastic approach to weight loss.

Sadly, my birdie is a baddie and the formula is crushingly familiar. It will be sensational to drive, I have no doubt, but I’ll always be pining for the entirely made up 296 extra speciale that never was.