Men's Journal

With liquid bodywork and retro signifiers like jutting side pipes, you’d assume the Sport Speciale is a million-dollar barn find, a lost Ferrari revived. It only looks the part. The Modena-esque model was built by Florida restorers Creative Workshop at the behest of Arizona car collector Barry L. Smith. He wanted a 1959 Ferrari Testa Rossa 259 he could drive every day, so Creative Workshop built to his whims from scratch, combining original parts with a modern engine. They’ll build you one too, if you’ve got a blank check. [$600,000; creativeworkshop.com]

Interview with Jason Wenig, Owner of Creative Workshop
How did the Sport Speciale come to life?
Barry Smith said, “I want a reproduction of the TR 259.” I told him I wouldn’t do that — to make a reproduction and put a Ferrari badge on it is sacrilegious. “But if you want the feeling of that car,” I said, “I’ll get you close.” I looked at the cars racing back then — the Ferrari, Maserati’s 450S, Aston Martin’s DBR1 — and took my favorite elements from them.

What was the build process like?
The car was built the way the Italian coach-builders used to do it. We hollowed out wood stumps to shape aluminum panels. Certain details are original, too. The switches are all original Magnetti-morelli, sourced from all over the world and rebuilt. The steering wheel is an original Nardi wheel. The Borrani wire wheels were made in the factory in Italy on the original molds. The factory recently took out the molds that they used to make the Ferrari Record wheels, and are remaking them on an extremely limited basis. The gas filler cap is an original Anots filler cap that cost $1,200 and comes from the Netherlands.

How do you classify a car this unique?
I don’t know. I just want people to enjoy it. It’s an ode to the past. It’s something people don’t have the time or the balls to do.