Ferrari SC40 wins Red Dot Best of the Best: the F40-inspired one-off just became award-winning design
14/05/2026
Ferrari has won another major design prize.
The Ferrari SC40, a one-off berlinetta based on the 296 GTB and inspired by the legendary F40, has received the Red Dot: Best of the Best award in the Product Design 2026 category. More importantly, it is the first One-Off Ferrari ever to receive Red Dot’s highest distinction. Ferrari also received Red Dot awards for the Ferrari Amalfi, 849 Testarossa, 849 Testarossa Spider, 296 Speciale and 296 Speciale A.
A one-off Ferrari with F40 energy, not F40 cosplay
The SC40 was created through Ferrari’s Special Projects programme, the division that allows a very small number of clients to commission a truly unique Ferrari in close collaboration with Maranello’s designers and engineers. It is based on the 296 GTB, but its design language looks back to one of Ferrari’s most emotionally loaded icons: the F40.
It does not try to become a modern F40 replica. Instead, it borrows the spirit: the low stance, the uncompromising berlinetta attitude, the high rear wing, the squared volumes and the sense that the car was drawn with tension rather than softness. It feels sharp, industrial and deliberate.
Why the award matters
Over the past 12 years, Ferrari has won 35 Red Dot Awards, which the brand says is unmatched by any other car manufacturer since the award was first established. Since 2015, Ferrari has also received 13 Red Dot: Best of the Best prizes, including for the FXX-K, 488 GTB, J50, Portofino, Monza SP1, SF90 Stradale, Daytona SP3, Purosangue, Vision GT, Roma Spider, 12Cilindri, F80 and now the SC40.
Ferrari’s modern design era has not always had the easy job of following the Pininfarina mythology. The brand has had to prove that its in-house design studio can create cars that feel unmistakably Ferrari without simply repeating the past. The SC40 is a strong example of that.
The styling buck is now in Maranello
Ferrari is currently showing the SC40 styling buck at the Museo Ferrari in Maranello, giving visitors a rare full-scale look at the design process behind the car.
Most One-Off Ferraris disappear into private collections almost immediately. The wider public gets a few images, maybe a short video, and then the car becomes part of collector folklore. Showing the styling buck allows Ferrari fans to see the proportions, volumes and surface treatment in person, without needing access to the actual client car.
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Ferrari could easily have made something too nostalgic. Instead, the SC40 feels like a design conversation between eras. It remembers the F40’s attitude, but it does not copy its face. It uses the 296 GTB as its technical foundation, but visually it becomes something much more severe, more architectural and more collector-focused.
