Touring Superleggera’s Manual Ferrari 550 Proves Everything Wrong With Modern Supercars

In an era when Ferrari refuses to build a manual anything, Touring Superleggera just proved that someone still gives a damn. The Veloce12 Aperta takes a 1990s Ferrari 550 and rebuilds it into something that makes every modern supercar look like a corporate compromise. Naturally aspirated V12? Check. Six-speed manual? Check. Targa top with removable panels? Absolutely.

This isn’t some off-the-cuff one-off. Touring Superleggera has spent the last two years developing the Veloce12 across three distinct variants. First came the Coupe in August 2024, then the Barchetta last year, and now this Aperta. Each one is a statement that the best cars don’t always need turbochargers, nine-speed automatics, and enough software to require a firmware update.

A 550 That Actually Improves On The Original

The donor car is one of the great front-engined grand tourers ever built, but Touring hasn’t merely restored it—they’ve reimagined it. Every exterior panel has been reworked or replaced. The front end carries visual cues from the original late-1990s design but with modern aggression: new blacked-out grille, carbon-fiber splitter, and functional air intakes that suggest this thing actually breathes hard.

The real magic happens out back. Touring stripped away the fixed roof and installed a Porsche 911-inspired targa setup with two removable panels that stow in the trunk. Add new LED taillights, a leather-trimmed storage area under a fresh rear window, and fresh door skins along the flanks, and suddenly this car doesn’t just look better than a stock 550—it looks better than anything Ferrari is building right now.

The Engine That Shames Modern Turbos

Here’s where Touring gets genuinely bold: the 5.5-liter naturally aspirated V12 produces around 500 horsepower, channels it through a six-speed manual transmission, and completes a 0–62 sprint in 4.4 seconds. That’s not fast on paper. A $200,000 turbocharged crossover probably edges it on a dyno. But 4.4 seconds in a manual, naturally aspirated Ferrari feels like an entirely different kind of experience.

Modern Ferrari buyers get turbo V8s with dual-clutch automatics that sound like a vacuum cleaner tuned in a computer lab. Touring’s customers get analog connection, natural induction, and the physical act of rowing through a true six-speed gate. The backing performance includes upgraded Brembo brakes and adaptive TracTive suspension—enough hardware to keep things planted without making it feel like a video game.

Why This Matters More Than The Specs Suggest

The Veloce12 Aperta represents something increasingly rare: a built-to-order car that rejects the industry’s default settings. In the era of electric motors, turbo downsizing, and automated everything, Touring Superleggera is proving that the simplest engineering solutions are often the best ones.

This is what modern Ferrari won’t build. The company’s current lineup—the SF90 Stradale, the Roma, even the new 12Cilindri—comes exclusively with forced induction and automatic transmissions. Ferrari’s official stance is that turbocharged V12s and V8s are the future. Maybe they’re right from a corporate efficiency standpoint. But they’re wrong about what makes a car worth wanting.

The fact that Touring Superleggera had to resurrect a 1990s Ferrari to prove this point is damning. It says that the boutique coachbuilder can outthink the brand’s entire engineering department. It says that nostalgia for analog engagement isn’t some retrograde position—it’s the only honest answer to a question Ferrari stopped asking decades ago.

The Price Tag You’ll Never Know

Production will be strictly limited, which means Touring is targeting the kind of collector who doesn’t ask “how much?” before ordering. Expect six figures. Probably a lot of them. The Coupe and Barchetta variants likely command similar pricing, which puts this in the same stratosphere as a new Ferrari 296 GTB, except with a tenth of the technological complexity and infinitely more character.

That’s the real story here. Touring Superleggera didn’t need to build something faster or more advanced than a modern Ferrari. They just needed to build something better—and they did it by going backwards. The Veloce12 Aperta is proof that the best way to compete with corporate mediocrity isn’t to out-engineer it. It’s to remember why engines and cars were worth building in the first place.

Sources: Carscoops