2019 Ferrari 488 Pista Spider revealed at Pebble Beach

Ferrari has pulled the covers off its latest model, the 2019 Ferrari 488 Pista Spider.

It’s the 50th drop-top Ferrari has built in its seven-decade history, and the second model to utilise Ferrari’s most powerful V8 ever, after its roofed sibling.

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The 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8 still produces 530kW/770Nm, which Ferrari says lets the Spider hit 100km/h in 2.85 seconds (identical to Porsche’s claim for the GT2 RS, oddly enough) and 200km/h in 8 seconds flat.

This is possible thanks to plenty of weight-saving, Ferrari says, which has resulted in a dry weight of just 1380kg.

Carbon fibre and Alcantara are present throughout the interior particularly, but elements such as door pulls and carpets have been replaced with lighter alternatives, in this case pull-straps and aluminium foot plates respectively.

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On its design, Ferrari states the Pista Spider had to be more than just a 488 Pista coupe without a roof.

The wheels are also designed with eight-saving in mind, Ferrari says the optional 20-inch carbon wheels are 20 per cent lighter than the standard alloys.

“The Ferrari 488 Pista Spider represents the natural development of the defining design of the coupé version,” the company says in a release.

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“The Ferrari designers’ primary objective was to maintain unaltered the perfect marriage of aerodynamic efficiency, purity of form and racing spirit.

“This concept is underlined by the characteristic central livery which runs the whole length of the car, expanding towards the rear where it finishes at the end of the rear wing next to the spoiler.

“This continual expansion of the stripe recalls the movement of the airflow and exalts the lines of the car.”

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Ferrari says the reveal of its latest open-top in the US was timely, given America’s particularly strong penchant for drop-top Ferraris.

Australian availability and pricing is yet to be confirmed.