2022 represents an important year for Ferrari considering the Purosangue will finally be unveiled as the company’s very first SUV. If you're not into high-riding prancing horses, the 296 GTS is also going to be unveiled within the next 11 months. As evidenced in a new spy video, there's still some testing that needs to be taken care of before taking the wraps off the 296 GTB's convertible equivalent.
Shot by YouTuber Varryx, the 296 GTS was seen near the Maranello factory still covered in full camo attire as the Italian brand wants to keep the vehicle’s design a secret. While the front half will be virtually carried over from the coupe, significant changes will be made at the back to accommodate the electrically folding hardtop.
You can easily tell we’re dealing with the GTS and not the regular GTB by the placement of the third brake light, which has been repositioned on the roof. In addition, the rear glass is smaller compared to the coupe's and we're fairly sure the rear deck has gone through substantial changes to accommodate the roof when it's folded.
Switching from a fixed roof to a folding one will add some weight since Ferrari's engineers will have to strengthen the chassis and add extra hardware for the top's mechanism. To get an idea about the weight penalty, the 812 GTS is 165 pounds (75 kilograms) heavier than the 812 coupe. That rear windscreen we mentioned can be electrically lowered on the 812, but it remains to be seen whether that will be the case with the 296 GTS as well.
The plug-in convertible will inherit the twin-turbo 3.0-liter V6 and electric motor from the coupe, good for 818 hp (610 kW) and 740 Nm (546 lb-ft) of torque. A future adversary for a highly likely Spider version of the delayed McLaren Artura, the 296 GTS won't be substantially slower than the coupe. We'll remind you the GTB does 0 to 62 mph (100 km/h) in 2.9 seconds, 0 to 124 mph (200 km/h) in 7.3 seconds, and tops out at 205 mph (330 km/h).
The world premiere could take place in the coming months, before the hotly anticipated Purosangue's big debut.
