The new Moderna is a 1960s Ferrari greatest hits album

The Moderna is GTO Engineering’s follow-up to the new-build run of 250 SWB Revival models announced in the summer. It stands to reason if you have a SWB in your catalogue you should also have a GTO – the world’s most famous homologation special shared the SWB’s chassis after all, something GTO Engineering knows only too well since it has worked on these multi-million pound Ferraris since 1991.

There’s never been a GTO quite like this, though. The Moderna lives up to its name with all-round independent suspension (no live rear axle here then) and a body fashioned not from aluminium but carbon-fibre. The doors and bonnet are aluminium to emulate the traditional “clunk” when you shut them, says GTO Engineering.

The weight target is under 1,000kg, so with – what else? – a quad-cam V12 in that long nose the Moderna should have plenty of pace. No engine is so far specified – it is early days still for this project and each car will take up to 18 months to hand-build, the engine alone needing 300 man hours to produce. In the 250 SWB Revival, triple-carburettor “Colombo” V12s in 3.0-, 3.5- and 4.0-litre capacities are available.

Like the 250 SWB Revival, the Moderna will have a tubular steel frame under its voluptuous bodywork, but it gets motorsport-derived aluminium front and rear subframes along with the new suspension. GTO Engineering says the focus with this model was always to use the most modern materials and motorsport-derived components, “to increase driver engagement”, in combination with classic ‘60s Ferrari looks.

So what about the design? We only have the renderings to go on so far, and from those it’s clear it is a convincing homage to 1960s Ferraris, though neither one model nor another. There’s plenty here that’s 250 SWB – the headlights and grille with big spotlights in particular – but there are also obvious 250 GTO styling cues. The trio of D-shaped vents in the nose and the vertical air vent slashes aft of the wheels are signature GTO touches. All the vents are functional, says GTO Engineering.

But there’s no GTO-style Kamm tail here, just the more rounded rump of a SWB, while the “double bubble” roof is surely more Aston DB4 GT Zagato than Ferrari. A pastiche then, but a pretty darned sexy one.

“It’s exciting to finally talk about our new project – a car that we’ve been discussing, sketching, specifying and honing for some time,” says GTO Engineering managing director Mark Lyon.

In the past GTO Engineering has said it has orders for 30 of its recreated 250 SWB models. As with that car, the Moderna will be tailor made to each owner’s specific requirements with trim, suspension and gearbox options. All at a price of course. No prices are confirmed, but like the famous red cars that GTO Engineering’s tribute models seek to honour, it’s probably best if you think on a very grand scale…