Ferrari Australia has a strange prediction. The 849 Testarossa Spider —the convertible version—will outsell the hardtop coupe here. It costs more. It weighs more. Logic says the track-focused fixed-roof car should win. Ferrari disagrees.
Price tag pain
Let’s look at the damage. In Australia, the coupe starts at $932,644 before on-road costs. The Spider? You’re looking at $1,015.589. That is an extra $82.9k for a roof that folds away.
Add in personalization, registration, and the inevitable “nice-to-haves” Ferrari pushes at you, and CarExpert thinks you could be dropping $1.3m. Maybe more. Deliveries won’t start until late 2024 for the coupe. The Spider arrives six months later, roughly in early 2026. Wait for it.
“You buy one car, but you have two,” Ferrari says.
It sounds like marketing fluff, but there is a point behind it.
Two different crowds
Ferrari argues that coupe buyers and Spider buyers barely overlap. The coupe owner is a purist. They care about minimum weight. Stiffness. Aerodynamics. They drive alone, take the car to the track, and extract every fraction of capability.
The Spider buyer? Less concerned with the circuit. They want open-air freedom. Comfort. Usability. They often drive with a passenger. It’s less about shaving kilograms, more about enjoying the ride.
The Spider roof retracts in 14 seconds. It works at 45 km/h. Press a button, lose the roof, gain the wind. Put it back, and it seals as tightly as the coupe. That versatility appeals to a wider net, even if the entry fee is steep.
Where the money goes
How people spend their customization money changes too. Coupe owners strip it bare. They buy carbon fiber, lightweight wheels, stuff that shaves grams. It is functional. Cold. Efficient.
Spider buyers spend differently. They want heated seats. Neck warmers. Adaptive cruise control. Premium audio. A suspension lift. CarExpert tested one in Tenerife; it was packed with comfort tech yet still had plenty of carbon bits on the spoiler, diffuser, and interior. But it was set up for the road. Not the lap record.
Ferrari spent the extra cash ensuring the Spider wasn’t just a hacked-together convertible. They developed both cars in parallel. About 90% of the hardware is shared. The other 10%? The roof structure. The rear deck. The aero bits needed to keep the air happy whether the top is up or down.
The 90 kg tax
Why not just buy the cheaper car? Ferrari admits the coupe is better for the track. Lighter. Stiffer. More serious.
But the Spider offers a different kind of utility. You surrender 90 kilos and pay extra. In exchange, you get a car that changes personality on a dime. A convertible that handles like a fixed-roof racer.
Rationality died years ago. These aren’t sensible purchases. But Ferrari thinks Australians will decide that versatility is worth the tax. The question remains, can enough of us afford the tax?
