This is the engine from a Ferrari 488 GTB Pista Spider, it’s currently for sale on eBay out of Germany with 9,375 miles on it, and no word what happened to the car it was originally fitted to.
The Ferrari 488 Pista was unveiled in 2018 as a more powerful version of the 488, with a series of track-focused upgrades and a version of the same 3.9 liter V8 that had been tuned to produce 710 bhp, up from the 661 bhp in the original 488.
The Ferrari 488 GTB Pista Spider is the convertible version of the track-focussed Pista. Interestingly, it’s the first production Ferrari convertible that is lighter than its hard top counterpart. Image courtesy of Ferrari.
The Ferrari 488 GTB (GTB standing for Gran Turismo Berlinetta in standard Ferrari tradition), debuted at the 2015 Geneva Motor Show as the successor to the earlier Ferrari 458. It was powered by a 3.9 liter twin-turbocharged V8, a significant shift as Ferrari reintroduced turbocharging to their mid-engined model lineup, last seen in the legendary F40.
The 488 featured several technological developments, including a sophisticated aerodynamic package that integrated active aerodynamic elements to reduce drag while increasing downforce. The Side Slip Control system, now in its second generation, was also refined to improve the vehicle’s handling.
In 2018, Ferrari introduced the 488 Pista, which arrived at the Geneva Motor Show. “Pista,” meaning “track” in Italian, reflects the focus on track performance. The Pista was lighter and more powerful than the standard 488 GTB, with its engine tuned to deliver almost 50 more bhp. Weight reduction was achieved through the extensive use of carbon fiber and lightweight materials, making the Pista approximately 90 kgs lighter than the GTB.
The engine in this article came from the Pista Spider variant, the convertible version of the model, and interestingly it’s the first production Ferrari convertible that is lighter than its hard top counterpart.
This engine is now being offered for sale, as noted up top it’s listed on eBay with a Buy It Now price of $29,388 USD out of Hamm, Germany. It seems likely that the car it was fitted to may have been in an accident or suffered some other incident that left it unfixable, but still with a working engine.
The engine is a 3902cc 90º V8 with an alloy block and heads, double overhead cams, four valves per cylinder, and twin-turbochargers.
The engine will most likely be bought by a current 488 Pista Spider owner who wants a spare, or perhaps to a Ferrari workshop who can use it for parts. There is a small chance it’ll sell to a person who wants to stick it into an unusual vehicle and do something wild with it however.
Articles that Ben has written have been covered on CNN, Popular Mechanics, Smithsonian Magazine, Road & Track Magazine, the official Pinterest blog, the official eBay Motors blog, BuzzFeed, Autoweek Magazine, Wired Magazine, Autoblog, Gear Patrol, Jalopnik, The Verge, and many more.
Silodrome was founded by Ben back in 2010, in the years since the site has grown to become a world leader in the alternative and vintage motoring sector, with well over a million monthly readers from around the world and many hundreds of thousands of followers on social media.
