Ferrari's classy front engined, rear wheel drive 550 supercar now gets added punch with a slight capacity hike. Thanks to the adoption of an enlarged V12 engine which takes capacity to 5748cc, the new car features a derived from F1 transmission, the first such on a road-going Ferrari. While the exterior hasn't changed much, there are subtle changes to the size of the air intakes, revised new headlights which now feature xenon lamps for the dipped beam. New design 18-inch alloy wheels are used while much work has gone into incorporating subtle changes to reduce drag and generate more downforce.

The 65-degree, dohc, 48-valve, V12 engine was reworked not only to enhance power but also to spread torque evenly across the rev range. The light alloy V12 now develops 515bhp at 7250rpm while churning out 588.6Nm of torque at 5250rpm. More importantly, the engineers have spread the torque a bit more in the low revs. The 575M features a transaxle at the rear which helps firstly for an optimum 50-50 split between the axles. The transmission is fitted with a new electro-hydraulic F1-type control unit mounted at the rear of the car in order to minimise response time. Performance figures quoted by the manufacturer indicate a claimed 324kmph top speed and a zero to 100kmph time of 4.25 seconds, making it the fastest and quickest front engined car presently in production. The 575M will be unveiled at Geneva early this month and go on sale shortly thereafter.