What happens when you cross a prancing black stallion with a fire breathing dragon? You get the Ferrari 458 Italia China Limited Edition. The price was just revealed as an outrageous $870,000, which a number of people can afford.
That's $251,000 more than a normal 458 in China, but Ferrari will only build 20 of the dragon emblazoned cars, presumably for a handful of China's most fun-loving captains of industry. Score one for capitalism!
The China Limited Edition's release coincide's with Ferrari's 20th year in the semi-communist country, and the year of the dragon.
Each car will wear a coat of "Marco Polo Red," as well as a decidedly badass dragon tatoo, er, hood decal. Perhaps they could have been painted a shade of "People's Red," but let's face it, the proletariat's plight really isn't Maranello's concern. They've also included gold dragon character embroidery on the seat headrests, as well as gold painted alloy wheels.
When I look at this car's cool dragon hood decal, it makes me wonder if parts of this car were made in China. But then I realize that it's time to divest myself of that Chinese-products-are-lame mentality. Even if there are Chinese-made components on the cars, that's not necessarily a bad thing anymore.
China's in the midst of a boom, and the fact that Ferrari and other luxury marques are doing well there shows it. Maranello produced two other special edition models for the Chinese market — 12 Ferrari 599 GTB China Limited Edition cars and a one-off Ferrari 599 GTB China Limited Edition, Porcelain Edition — and Aston Martin, Dartz, and Rolls-Royce are among others who have gotten in on the dragon decal fun.
The year of the dragon has been good for China, but we're guessing there will be others. Ferrari's 25th anniversary in China will be the year of the Rooster. We can think of a few people who might like a giant cock painted on a supercar's hood.
Photo credit: Autohome