Ferrari's 296 GT Modificata outguns the race car it is based on
Ferrari has built a 296 that is more powerful and faster than the 296 GT3 Evo it is based on, for one simple reason: it never has to pass a race scrutineer.
Ferrari has unveiled the 296 GT Modificata, a track-only special built in very limited numbers for its Club Competizioni GT customer programme. Shown digitally at Ferrari Racing Days in Budapest, it takes the 296 GT3 Evo race car and removes the one thing that holds a GT3 car back: the rulebook. Free of any technical or Balance of Performance limits, its 2,992 cc V6 produces 730 hp (537 kW), a full 130 hp more than the GT3, and Ferrari says it can lap its Fiorano test track three seconds faster.
It is the latest in Ferrari's “Modificata” line, cars stripped of regulations and built purely to go as fast as possible.
More power than the rules allow
The headline figure is the whole point. The GT3 racer is pegged back by Balance of Performance, the system that equalises GT3 cars so no single manufacturer runs away with a championship. The Modificata answers to nobody. Its rear-mid-mounted 120-degree V6 keeps the GT3's architecture but reworks the cranktrain, camshafts, intake, intercoolers and turbochargers, some of it drawn from the 499P Modificata, to reach 730 hp at 7,500 rpm and 800 Nm. That works out at 244 hp per litre, a figure Ferrari calls a new benchmark. A six-speed sequential gearbox with a carbon clutch gets new ratios to match.
Aero and brakes from the racing playbook
The bodywork is reworked front and rear. Up front there is a new “slotted splitter”, a redesigned bonnet with a larger vent to shed the extra heat and additional brake-cooling intakes. At the rear sits an all-new wing with a single centre pylon, a 5 mm Gurney flap and structural endplates lifted from the Le Mans-winning 499P. Braking gets new, better-ventilated 400 mm steel front discs and an extra front-bumper air intake, with an ABS system calibrated to keep the car approachable for drivers of any level.
A track car built to be shared
Here is the twist that sets it apart from a stripped-out racer: it has two seats. Ferrari reworked the roll bar to fit a passenger seat, complete with its own footrest and an intercom, so owners can bring a coach along during timed sessions or simply share the experience. It also arrives loaded with kit that costs extra on the GT3 racer: a full data-acquisition system with pitot tubes and brake-temperature sensors, a video system for reviewing your driving, tyre monitoring and professional harnesses. Options run to a rear radar and any colour from the Ferrari Design Studio.
What “Modificata” means, and where you can drive it
Modificata is a badge with history. It began with the 512 M in 1970 and runs through the 488 GT Modificata of 2020 and the 499P Modificata of 2023, the customer version of the prototype that has won the last three editions of the Le Mans 24 Hours. This 296 continues that track-only lineage. Buying one includes two years, or twelve rounds, of the Club Competizioni GT programme, the same customer racing world where Ferrari drivers recently made headlines for the right reasons. The 2027 calendar spans seven circuits, and Belgian owners will be glad to see Spa-Francorchamps on the list, alongside Jerez, Misano, Fuji, Indianapolis, Paul Ricard and the Finali Mondiali.
AutoNext Take
The 296 GT Modificata is a lovely idea executed with typical Ferrari thoroughness: a GT3 car set free from the rules that blunt it, then made friendlier with a second seat and a suite of coaching tools. For the handful of customers who can buy one, it is arguably a more satisfying thing to own than the racer, because it is quicker, better equipped and does not need a championship entry to justify itself.
The catch, as ever, is that almost nobody will get near it. This is a very limited car for an invitation-only club, sold with its own private race calendar. It is a wonderful toy for Ferrari's most valued customers, and a quiet reminder that the most extreme version of a Ferrari race car is now something the rest of us experience on a screen, not from a grandstand.
