Spied -- 458 Italia Spider hits the US

For those of you who have been ogling the stock or magazine-oriented photos of the 458 Italia Spider, here are a few shots of one fresh off the boat from Italy, spotted in the United States (which apparently is ahead of schedule, according to the source who provided the photos).

The Spider is the drop-top version of the hardtop 458 - one of the latest stallion's in Ferrari's stable, pushing 562 horses from a 4.5L V8 engine.

The Spider is entirely aluminum with a retractable hardtop and the same powerplant as its hardtop counterpart, making it that much easier to get that "happily wind-blown" look.

That said, take a peek and let us know what you think!


SPIED: Ferrari 458 Italia Spider
Location: Gas station in the Midwest United States

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7264/6876446038_6d103c8506.jpg http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7115/7022548025_26ab76f7d5.jpg


http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7103/7022548369_347ab13651.jpg http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7121/6876446148_9bc22c4157.jpg


http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7125/6876446436_3b476ca58a.jpg


Enjoy the photos and let us know what you think of this new drop-top beauty!

Very nice spotting! Awesome looking car, and I love the color!

According to people on Ferrarichat, the reason they are a bit earlier than expected is because Ferrari is giving their first US Spider customers a freebie; they're getting their cars air-freighted vs. a container ship that takes weeks to get to the port in NJ. Normally a customer will pay the extra ~$11K for air freight vs. the traditional route when they don't want to wait so long for their car to arrive.

Ferrari had a black 458 Spider on display at Amelia Island on March 10th & 11th, and the following week they started the previews at dealerships.

http://images40.fotki.com/v776/photos/8/10258/10465639/IMG_0159-vi.jpg
http://images55.fotki.com/v648/photos/8/10258/10465639/IMG_0156-vi.jpg
http://images51.fotki.com/v103/photos/8/10258/10465639/IMG_0157-vi.jpg

Okay, so who's producing the scale version that I NEED to have in my collection?!