10 Ferraris That Everyone Forgot Existed

Another product of Ferrari’s Special Projects program, the SP12 EC was designed and commissioned by musician Eric Clapton. The car reportedly cost $5 million in total, and it was based on the 458 Italia, with a unique, Pininfarina-penned design. It was inspired by the 512 BB of the ’80s, with its unique two-tone body panels built to reflect that car’s striking appearance. Built between 1976 and 1984, the 512 featured a 360-horsepower flat-12 engine, which was in turn derived from the Ferrari’s Daytona’s V12.

The SP12 EC used a V8 rather than a V12, namely the 458 Italia’s standard 570 horsepower, 4.5L V8 engine. Not much is known about any mechanical changes that were made between the 458 Italia and the SP12 EC, but the one-off is thought to have been fairly identical underneath. The “12” in the name refers to the car’s sequential number in Ferrari’s Special Projects program, although it’s actually the 11th model made, rather than the 12th. However, Autocar reports that because Clapton was superstitious and liked the number three, the “11” name was skipped and replaced with “12” (one plus two). Clapton took delivery of the car in 2011, but delayed registering the car until 2012 so that he could get a UK license plate that read, “SP12 EPC.”