A very sweet Ferrari F430 Spider, seen in Beijing in 2015. The speedy Italian was painted in the only proper color for a Ferrari; red with a black convertible top and five double-spoke alloy wheels.
The Ferrari F430 had beautiful ‘F430’ lettering in the mirrors and, as with almost any Ferrari, a Ferrari badge on the front fender. The Ferrari F430 arrived in 2004 and was made until 2009. It was the successor of the Ferrari 360 and was itself succeeded by the Ferrari 458.
The Ferrari F430 Spider was powered by a screaming 4.3 liter V8 with 490 hp and 465nm. The engine was mated to a 6-speed manual or a 6-speed ‘F1’ automated manual.
The F430 was only the second mid-engined car that Ferrari officially sold in China after the 360. In China, the only gearbox option was the automated manual. The top speed was 315 kilometers per hour, and the car accelerated from 0 to 100 in four seconds flat. The price for the 360 Spider was 4.04 million yuan. The Berlinetta coupe was much cheaper, starting at 3.6 million.
The engine in the F430 Spider was a work of art, visible to all under its transparent cover.
The F430 was quite a popular Ferrari in China, but 90% of all cars sold were Berlinetta’s. The Spider version is thus relatively rare. Convertible cars were never hot in China due to the air pollution and noise. That is slowly changing now as the air in many cities is much cleaner today than it was in 2015. May there be more open-top Ferrari supercars on Chinese roads!