Exclusive: LaFerrari Aperta coming to Oz

FERRARI Australasia has confirmed that a number of its well-heeled clients will bring examples of their own ultra-exclusive – and mega-expensive – LaFerrari Aperta hybrid convertible hypercars to Australia for use in promotional activities and even track days.

Despite all examples being produced in left-hand-drive only – just like its LaFerrari coupe sibling – a handful of discerning Australian Ferrari customers will take delivery of their Aperta variants in Europe before bringing them home Down Under.

Speaking exclusively to GoAuto, Ferrari Australasia president and CEO Herbert Appleroth would not confirm the number of LaFerrari Apertas Australia will see, but said the convertible hypercars would make their way from other parts of the world under customer’s arrangements.

“It’s (LaFerrari Aperta) a car which is the pinnacle of technology from Ferrari, it is very, very important for our very best collectors, and we are happy to be able to have a few Australian and New Zealand clients,” he said.

“Of course, it all started with the LaFerrari – the coupe version – and we’ve obviously seen some of those vehicles come back to Australia. Most of those clients – what we call our international clients – they have homes all over the world and they’ve had their cars, or requested their cars, to be delivered in Europe, which obviously suits their lifestyles – and probably also their tax position.

“Obviously with the ridiculous and discriminatory car tax (LCT), it does restrict the number of supercars we can bring to our country, but lucky for us, our customers have cars from all over the world.” Pricing for the drop-top hypercar was never revealed and the RRP will likely remain a secret as the LaFerrari Aperta famously sold-out before its official reveal at the Paris motor show in 2016.

For reference, Ferrari was asking about $A1.3 million apiece for its LaFerrari coupe – a car with a 499 unit production cap – so it is likely one of the 200 Aperta versions would cost well into a seven-figure sum.

Potential customers were chosen by Ferrari and invited to make the purchase, and while the selection criteria has never been fully revealed, Mr Appleroth said the process is about more than the monetary value of a customer.

“It’s like any supercar from Ferrari or any limited edition Ferrari, but especially with a car so hotly contested like this,” he said.

“LaFerrari is not about someone who can afford it, it’s about someone who is an important part of the Ferrari family and they deserve it, and it’s our thank you to them that they get selected.

“Of course, that naturally upsets some of our very, very good customers, but it’ s important for us to repay that loyalty.” Mr Appleroth said Ferrari takes a worldwide view when asking customers to buy its most special cars and that vehicles are not simply allocated by region like other limited-run halo cars.

“I can’t really go into too much detail, however we look at our clients loyalty with Ferrari – not just the number of cars, but how engaged they are with the brand, how important they are as Ferraristi, he said … those wonderful customers get invited directly by our president.” Although not legal to use on Australian roads, the LeFerrari Aperta can be unleashed on racetracks and used for special events.

Sitting behind the two-seat cabin is a stonking 590kW/700Nm 6.3-litre atmo V12 which, when paired with the cutting edge 120kW electric motor, will output a momentous 708kW of power and massive 900Nm of torque.

While Mr Appleroth revealed that customers who owned coupe versions had used them for numerous activities across Australia.

“All I can do is give you feedback on how the cars have been used, and we’ve organised and invited all our LaFerrari customers to bring their car to Australia or to New Zealand and use their cars in official activities,” he said.

“We had one of our clients use their LaFerrari at the Clipsal in 2015, where we had a very special Ferrari display, and that car was also seen at the Australian Grand Prix.

“So these are opportunities that we give to our customers, where we get access to things where they probably couldn’t – which is, you know, to be able to drive on the famous Adelaide street circuit with Jean Eric Vergne who was our test driver at that time, or it was the Australian Grand Prix at Albert Park with our test drivers – we try and invite them to all our official events.

"We had one customer’s car on display at Ferrari Sydney showroom, that customer wanted to bring it to Australia and it was used at a Ferrari Sydney track day.

“We have one customer in Melbourne, who has had their car at our Ferrari owner’ s club national rally in Perth and he transported the car across there and was able to get a special permit from the West Australian government to have a temporary license there, and then the car was sent back to his home in Melbourne and has been on display in our Zagame Ferrari showroom.

Mr Appleroth said similar opportunities would be offered to Aperta owners and invitations had already been mailed for the year’s various events.

However, with customers opting to drive their million dollar-plus hypercars in Australia, technicians and service personnel are also needed to maintain and run diagnostics on the cutting-edge model not officially offered on the local market.

Instead of bringing in service technicians from overseas, Mr Appleroth revealed that all local service technicians are kept up to speed on the latest technologies found across the entire Ferrari range, including the LaFerrari.

“We obviously have some special and very important technology in LaFerrari, obviously being hybrid,” he said. “So our technicians, no matter where our technicians are, no matter where the cars are, whether they’re in Europe or in Australia or New Zealand, all our key technicians, our master techs, have to undertake the training in all these important cars.

“We’re the factory – we are Ferrari – so investment in our people is something we’re proud of. It gives our technical staff access to the latest information, and they should have the best information and technology available, and our training is to suit.

While Ferrari offers its more affordable cars with a three-year factory backed warranty and seven years free servicing, the generous aftersales car package does not extend to its headline-stealing LaFerrari model, revealed Mr Appleroth.