The Ferrari 812 GTS is an over-the-top V-12 rush

There aren’t that many front-engined super GTs on the market anymore, and while the Aston Martin DBS Superleggera might beat it in torque and driveability, nothing comes close to the power and might of Ferrari’s 812 Superfast. That’s why, due to popular demand, Ferrari decided to dial it up just a notch by adding a retractable hardtop to the package.

Ferrari’s first V-12 spider was 1948’s 166 MM, which ended up winning both the Mille Miglia and the 24 Hours of Le Mans the following year. Yet after twenty years of open-top V-12 fun, Ferrari froze the series with the Daytona Spider, which debuted as the 365 GTS/4 in 1969. Only limited models granted a few with V-12 Spiders since then, like the 550 Barchetta Pininfarina in 2000, the 575 Superamerica in 2005, the 599 GTB-based SA Aperta in 2011 and more recently, F12-based F60 America. Not to mention one-offs like the SP3JC of 2018, built from an F12tdf.

Retractable hardtop or not, the specs remain Superfast for a gran turismo. Namely, 530 lb-ft of torque, a whopping 789 horsepower at 8500 rpm, and a redline remaining at an earsplitting 8900 rpm. With that massive 6.5-liter, naturally-aspirated V-12 up front, the 812 GTS may weigh well over 3500 pounds; but with all that power, it will still rush to 62 mph in under three seconds, and reach 211 mph if so you desire. What’s more, Ferrari says the folding top—which goes up and down in 14 seconds just like the new F8 Spider’s—doesn’t compromise luggage or passenger space. 

To get the most out of the acoustic experience, the electric rear screen acts as a wind-stopper with the roof down and can be left open when the roof’s up, providing a cleaner route to “combustion harmonics” generated right around the 812’s equal-length, 6-in-1 exhaust manifolds. Business as usual.

No word yet on how much will you have to pay for the “not limited,” tonneau-cover 812 experience, but given that we saw coupé test cars with an MSRP of $474,486 last year, we expect the 812 GTS to stay as rare as most Ferrari V-12 customers would prefer it.