FERRARI has announced its fastest road car.

The new 220 mph two-seater, which arrives in the UK later this year, embodies the spirit, the looks and much of the technology developed by Ferrari for its Formula One cars.

In celebration of its continuing domination of Formula 1 and in memory of the company founder, the new model is called the Enzo Ferrari. It is the ultimate modern day embodiment of the marque’s passion for performance, technology and dramatic style.

“Formula 1 has never offered our company such a genuine laboratory for advanced research as it has in recent years,” comments Ferrari President, Luca di Montezemolo. “To combine our success on the track with the fundamental role of race car technology, I decided that this new car, as the pinnacle of our technological achievement, should be dedicated to our founder, Enzo Ferrari, who always felt that racing cars should lay the foundations of road car designs.”

The first Ferrari, built in 1947, was a 12-cylinder racing car, and from those early days the racetrack has always been the testing ground for advanced technological research that has later gone into Ferrari road cars.

The nose section of the Enzo is heavily influenced by Formula 1 and the entire body is shaped to ensure optimum airflow for cooling the engine and brakes, while generating unprecedented levels of grip-enhancing downforce with minimal aerodynamic drag.

The Enzo is powered by a new, ultra-light, 6.0-litre V12 engine, which has a number of unique technical features. The performance goals for the engine were very high power - 110 bhp per litre. More than 383 lb ft of torque is generated at 3,000 rpm and variable inlet and exhaust valves, together with electronic management for each row of cylinders and a drive-by-wire throttle, ensures that the engine is extremely responsive.

Like an F1 car, the gearbox in the Enzo is coupled directly to the rear of the engine by a casting that doubles as the engine oil tank.