When you have customers that will pre-order anything that you make, and when you can set your own pricing and know that the customers will queue up to pay, then you can give your design department free-range to enjoy themselves.

So it is with Ferrari and the new SA Aperta. A limited production run of only 80 cars world-wide, all pre-sold at an undisclosed price and all to celebrate Pininfarina's 80th anniversary.

The car is based upon the 599 and is a true V12 roadster.  The engine produces 670bhp and falls into the fairly standard Ferrari territory of 0-62mph in 3.6 seconds with a top speed just over 200 mph.

The interesting decision is to have no roof at all. Unlike the 575 SuperAmerica with its innovative rotating glass roof, the Aperta follows the style of the 550 Barchetta Pininfarina and is effectively roofless.

To be more specific, the Barchetta did have a manual soft-top (canvas roof) that looked like a dog's breakfast and limited the top-speed to about 30mph. The transition of the Barchetta's stunningly beautiful lines to a tent on wheels was always something to behold.

Even Ferrari recognise that the roofless Aperta may not suit everyone. They describe its completely open-top setting, and comment that it has "just a light soft top designed to be resorted to only if the weather gets particularly bad".

In reality, none of this matters, the Aperta is beautifully designed, superbly engineered and increasing in value as each day goes by. 

Since their formation in1929, Ferrari have built less than 1,900 V12 roadsters. They are all rare and highly desirable. The 2006 SuperAmerica of which just 599 were produced is already increasing in value as a collectors' investment. It also has the advantage of having a roof and being completely usable in any weather !!

For the 80 lucky owners of the Aperta, and in the world of the super-rich, never a drop of rain shall fall.