Ferrari 296 Speciale: Feel the Drive

It’s technically a version of the 296 GTB – a plug-in hybrid with two seats and a V6 engine in the middle – but the word ‘version’ doesn’t quite cover it. Ferrari has reworked the suspension, gutted the cabin, added more power, and sliced away 60 kilograms of anything that didn’t absolutely need to be there. The result is a car that feels like it’s been stripped for parts and rebuilt by someone who drives on instinct.

The numbers will impress someone: 880 horsepower, 0–100 in 2.8 seconds, some very serious stats about air and grip. But the real headline is how the thing feels. It responds to you like it’s always listening. The steering is light but exact. The throttle delivers what your foot asks for, no more, no less. You corner, and the body barely flinches. The brakes are tuned like they’ve been reading your mind.

There’s a full-electric driving mode, if you’re curious. The car can coast silently for a few dozen kilometres, and it’s all very smooth and clever. But it’s also a little surreal – like seeing a tiger in a housecat costume. You know what’s under there, and it isn’t purring.

Inside, it’s clean and sparse. Not minimalist in the lifestyle-magazine sense – more like someone removed everything that didn’t help you drive. The doors are single slabs of carbon. The console is a narrow spine with a few metallic toggles. The screen isn’t oversized, the buttons aren’t backlit in twelve colours, and the whole space feels like it was built to keep your hands where they belong – on the wheel.

Sound matters here, too. Ferrari didn’t just make it loud. They tuned it. The engine note is channelled into the cockpit through acoustic tubes like it’s a rare instrument. You don’t just hear it – you feel it in your ribs, like a mood change.

On the outside, it’s not flashy. Just… focused. The shape is tighter. The lines cleaner. There are new fins on the back, small aero tweaks up front, and a spoiler that moves on its own depending on what’s happening underneath. But nothing screams for attention. It’s a car that assumes you’re paying attention already.

Most of these won’t end up in traffic. A few will be taken out for early morning drives. A lot will live in quiet garages next to other rare Ferraris, cleaned more often than driven. That’s fine. But if one of them ends up in the hands of someone who actually puts in the miles – someone who doesn’t need launch control to enjoy a good curve – that’s when this thing makes sense.

Because the 296 Speciale isn’t trying to change the world. It’s not even trying to be liked. It’s just here to remind a small group of drivers what it feels like to really drive – no filters, no fluff, and nothing getting in the way.