Imagine spending three years and a huge (but undisclosed) amount of money on having a one-off Ferrari built just for you, and not being able to drive it on the road. That's the predicament that one long-standing Ferrari customer was in, having commissioned the unique KC23, which made its public debut at the 2023 Goodwood Festival of Speed. Based on a 488 GT3 from 2020, the KC23 was created for non-competitive track driving only, although the number of public appearances that it made before it was squirrelled away in a vault somewhere, was on the low side of tiny.
At the time Ferrari said: "From the very earliest days of the project, and in agreement with the client, the Ferrari Styling Centre focused on creating a radical one-off car completely free of homologation constraints and clothed in the kind of timeless lines that would make an instant classic, while also providing a tantalising glimpse of the future of supercars. That challenging goal demanded that every single one of the 488 GT3 Evo 2020’s lines be redesigned, glass surfaces and light clusters included."
As the most successful track car in Maranello’s 76-year history, racking up over 530 victories and 119 championship wins, the 488 GT3 was an obvious start point for the KC23. The car's design was the work of Ferrari’s Centro Stile, led by Flavio Manzoni, with the KC23 providing an insight into the future styling of Ferrari's road-going tipos. The multi-layered front end was redolent of the Daytona SP3, as were the pinched sills and flared rear haunches, but generally the KC23 headed in an entirely new direction.
The bonnet was heavily sculpted with vents to direct air over the top of the car, where there was an expansive glass area with no visible A-pillars; the structure was essentially the same as the 488 GT3 with an integrated roll cage. The side incorporated a movable panel that popped out to feed air to the 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8 in the middle, and while a set of 21-inch front and 22-inch rear wheels were fitted for static display purposes, 18-inch rims were used when the car was driven on track.
The Centro Stile team worked hard to retain the 488 GT3’s aero characteristics, hence the inclusion of an enormous removable rear wing. This worked in tandem with a spoiler-like rear lighting strip and underbody diffuser to generate huge downforce, with movable aero devices behind the front wheels helping to achieve the optimum aero balance. The GT3’s fully adjustable suspension set-up remained, but Ferrari didn’t disclose whether the donor car's engine was carried over without changes. With the KC23 unencumbered by any road or race regulations, more horses could easily be coaxed from its V8, bearing in mind that GT3 cars were restricted by Balance of Performance regulations.
The interior – accessed through butterfly doors – was largely carried over from the racer, with a digital motorsport dash set behind an F1-style steering wheel. A bank of bespoke switchgear was angled towards the driver to be easily accessible while harnessed in, while the KC23’s seats were bespoke Alcantara items. To reduce drag and contribute to the car’s minimalist design, the door mirrors were been replaced with cameras that relayed a live feed to a display inside the cabin.
