You could have a Sergio - for R37m

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Sergio concept pays homage to the barchetta of the 1950s.

Pininfarina boss Silvio Angori is looking at building “five or six” street-legal customer versions of the breathtakingly gorgeous Sergio concept that stopped the show at Geneva a couple of weeks ago.

Angori said in an interview with Automotive News Europe that the cars would sell for about €3 million (R35.7 million).

The concept was built as a tribute to the late Sergio Pininfarina, who died in July 2012 at 85; it recalls the classic barchetta (“little boat” - the Italian description for a roadster) of the 1950s with just two seats, and no windshield - in fact the show car was displayed with a pair of matching full-face motorcycle helmets.

STARTLING PERFORMANCE

It's 4550mm long, 1940mm wide and 1140mm tall, and weighs just 1280kg; given that it has a 4499cc V8 engine and seven-speed gearbox from a Ferrari 458 Italia, performance is likely to be startling - chief designer Fabio Filippini has quoted 0-100km/h in less than 3.4 seconds and an estimated top speed of 320km/h.

Under EU homologation regulations a car without a windscreen can be driven on the public roads provided the occupants wear helmets at all times. Filippini admits that the kind of enthusiast who pays €3 million for a little two-seater wouldn't be happy with having to wear a helmet to cruise the boulevard, so the Sergio could be offered with a windshield.

But there is nothing old-fashioned about the scissor doors and LED lighting.

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Therefore it won't come as a surprise to note, when taking a closer look at the photographs alongside, that the concept has a crease running round the carbon-fibre scuttle panel, at just the right angle to support the base of a windshield.