Ferrari 458 Speciale

Three incredible cars, the likes of which, sadly, we’re unlikely to ever see again. The 458 Speciale is Ferrari at the absolute peak of its powers; we would not be at all surprised if it joins the Daytona, F40 et al as a marker in the company’s illustrious history of what it could achieve at its best. If nothing else, it’s a fitting end to the Montezemolo era.

The 458’s turbocharged successor, due later this year, will undoubtedly be faster and more capable, as absurd as that seems having driven the Speciale. But we’d bet the house it won’t be as intimately connected. We hope we’re wrong, we hope the new 458 is like the Speciale turned up to 11. Lord knows, on current form, if anyone can achieve the impossible with turbos, it’s Ferrari.

What’s certain is that we’ll never see another car like the LFA. You’re more likely to see Great Wall on the F1 grid in 2017 than a major car manufacturer sink 10 years and hundreds of millions of dollars into what is essentially an engineer’s wet dream.

That Toyota was the one to build it only makes it more remarkable. It’s the ultimate advertisement for what makes natural aspiration great. The noise, the response, the feeling, the ability to play the engine as you would a musical instrument. Should you be lucky enough to drive an LFA 10, 20, 30 years from now, it will feel just as special as it does today. Not because it’s perfect, but because, like all cars revered as classics today, it perfectly encapsulates a particular time in history.

Which leaves us with the Aventador. Thankfully, it’s likely to be with us a while yet. Big Lambos typically have a shelf life of around 10 years, so we should be enjoying 12 atmosphere gulping cylinders, with ever more impressive power figures, until 2020.

Even better, mention turbocharging to a Lambo powertrain engineer and they practically break down in tears at the thought of sullying their magnificent creations with such a device. Whether they can overcome ever stricter emissions and noise regulations remains to be seen, but they’ll have our support every step of the way. 

Ferrari 458 Speciale

Lexus LFA

Lamborghini Aventador