Ferrari Just Teased One Of The Prettiest GT3 Cars In Recent Memory
The 296 GT3 channels Maranello's most storied endurance racers, and the result is shaping up to be a masterpiece.
GT race cars are the best race cars. They're derived from vehicles you might actually see on the road, which establishes a relatability factor, but they're also amped up for competition in ways that make them look even better and serve a functional purpose. That's an important balance to walk, because the fastest race cars aren't always the most attractive: Just look at Mercedes' sidepod-less F1 car.
I say this because with the artist renderings Ferrari's just teased of its next-generation GT challenger, the 296 GT3, it's not only penned one of the most beautiful competition sports cars in recent years; it's given us one of the most beautiful race cars, period.
The 296 GT3 sort of picks up where the gorgeous Ford GT race car of a few years back left off in that it looks half GT, half prototype. Look at those pronounced haunches and louvers atop the front fenders; the bubble of the rear arch that gracefully trails off into a ducktail, like the 330 P4 and 250 LM of legend; and the deep, compact greenhouse that sits in that valley so unobtrusively, it almost feels like an afterthought. But in a good way.
Surely some will read this and say, "well, it's a Ferrari — what did you expect?" Not this! Sure, many of history's most elegant motorized vehicles have carried the Prancing Horse badge, but these days, Ferrari designs either makes you swoon or wince. This is the company that makes the Roma but unfortunately also the 812 Superfast, somehow. There is no middle ground. Thank heavens the 296 GT3 slots in firmly on the good side of that spectrum. And even if the real-life, corporeal version doesn't look exactly like this idealist rendering — surely that low-profile rubber won't be track-feasible — the end result should still look great.
Oreca has been tasked with assembling the 296 GT3, and Ferrari says we can expect to see it in action in 2023. That'll be the same year in which Maranello plans to debut its Le Mans Hypercar, meaning we'll be seeing all-new machinery from the brand at next year's endurance races across the board. Unlike the Hypercar and the road variant of the 296, the GT3 car will miss out on hybrid power to keep within FIA class regulations. Looking at the pictures, I guess I can live with that.