Timpo
11-01-2013, 10:15 PM
:fuckyea: http://www.speedhunters.com/2013/11/not-afraid-to-shock-liberty-walk-458/
When I was last out at Liberty Walk a couple months ago shooting its Ferrari F50 and BMW M3, I asked Kato-san about his upcoming Ferrari 458 project. He seemed extremely excited about it, taking me out to his garage and showing me a pair of brand new Italias that would eventually – after the first prototype built for the SEMA Show – be getting the same treatment. When it comes to making a statement, this is a man that doesn’t hesitate an ounce; he sets his mind to something and within a very short period of time the finished result is in the public eye for all to see.
And that’s exactly how the 458 project came to light. After Miura-san at TRA Kyoto had completed the very first LB☆WORKS wide body kit, it was shipped off to LT Motorwerks in El Monte, California, where the build was carried out.
Kato-san and his crew followed, and along with the LTMW guys, have dedicated many sleepless nights converting the stock 458 into something no one has ever attempted with the platform.
Call it a JDM approach to Italian exotica. It’s the equivalent of double middle finger salute to all the purists out there who cringe at the mere thought of a Ferrari being fettled in any way, shape or form.
But it’s the way in which LB☆WORKS cars shock that has made them so well known.
With Larry having immortalized the car just a few hours ago, we had to share his images with you as quickly as humanly possible. Ladies and gentleman, I present you the car that’s about to melt the interwebs.
So what to make of it all? The 458 as a base was definitely a difficult car to work with. Ferrari pushed the boundaries of styling when it came to penning its new best-selling, mid-engined car, and even attempting to mess with those almost-organic lines seems like pure madness.
But if there’s one person out there that knows how to integrate an additional wallop of badass-ism into a car, it’s Miura-san. His work with the Rocket Bunny FR-S last year was almost unprecedented. It literally made the hachiroku more popular than it already was, and well and truly put TRA Kyoto on the map.
Kato-san observed, and in his head a series of ideas followed. Ideas that shortly after materialized into the LB☆WORKS Murcielago, the LB☆WORKS Aventador and eventually the LB☆WORKS M3.
Following a somewhat simple recipe of ‘wider is better’ and ‘lower is cooler’, the aero package that transforms the 458 is based around the rawness…
… of screwed-on overfenders that have been styled to blend in with the Ferrari’s wheel arch lines, but purposely stick out like a sore thumb. In a good way of course. You can see Miura-san integrating the tucked-in fender portion behind the wheel – a detail that he developed with the BenSopra 380RS at the beginning of the year.
http://www.speedhunters.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Larry_Chen_Speedhunters_Liberty_walk_Ferrari_458-3.jpg
http://www.speedhunters.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Larry_Chen_Speedhunters_Liberty_walk_Ferrari_458-4.jpg
http://www.speedhunters.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Larry_Chen_Speedhunters_Liberty_walk_Ferrari_458-1.jpg
http://www.speedhunters.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Larry_Chen_Speedhunters_Liberty_walk_Ferrari_458-2.jpg
http://www.speedhunters.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Larry_Chen_Speedhunters_Liberty_walk_Ferrari_458-5.jpg
http://www.speedhunters.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Larry_Chen_Speedhunters_Liberty_walk_Ferrari_458-19.jpg
http://www.speedhunters.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Larry_Chen_Speedhunters_Liberty_walk_Ferrari_458-7.jpg
http://www.speedhunters.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Larry_Chen_Speedhunters_Liberty_walk_Ferrari_458-17.jpg
http://www.speedhunters.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Larry_Chen_Speedhunters_Liberty_walk_Ferrari_458-9.jpg
When I was last out at Liberty Walk a couple months ago shooting its Ferrari F50 and BMW M3, I asked Kato-san about his upcoming Ferrari 458 project. He seemed extremely excited about it, taking me out to his garage and showing me a pair of brand new Italias that would eventually – after the first prototype built for the SEMA Show – be getting the same treatment. When it comes to making a statement, this is a man that doesn’t hesitate an ounce; he sets his mind to something and within a very short period of time the finished result is in the public eye for all to see.
And that’s exactly how the 458 project came to light. After Miura-san at TRA Kyoto had completed the very first LB☆WORKS wide body kit, it was shipped off to LT Motorwerks in El Monte, California, where the build was carried out.
Kato-san and his crew followed, and along with the LTMW guys, have dedicated many sleepless nights converting the stock 458 into something no one has ever attempted with the platform.
Call it a JDM approach to Italian exotica. It’s the equivalent of double middle finger salute to all the purists out there who cringe at the mere thought of a Ferrari being fettled in any way, shape or form.
But it’s the way in which LB☆WORKS cars shock that has made them so well known.
With Larry having immortalized the car just a few hours ago, we had to share his images with you as quickly as humanly possible. Ladies and gentleman, I present you the car that’s about to melt the interwebs.
So what to make of it all? The 458 as a base was definitely a difficult car to work with. Ferrari pushed the boundaries of styling when it came to penning its new best-selling, mid-engined car, and even attempting to mess with those almost-organic lines seems like pure madness.
But if there’s one person out there that knows how to integrate an additional wallop of badass-ism into a car, it’s Miura-san. His work with the Rocket Bunny FR-S last year was almost unprecedented. It literally made the hachiroku more popular than it already was, and well and truly put TRA Kyoto on the map.
Kato-san observed, and in his head a series of ideas followed. Ideas that shortly after materialized into the LB☆WORKS Murcielago, the LB☆WORKS Aventador and eventually the LB☆WORKS M3.
Following a somewhat simple recipe of ‘wider is better’ and ‘lower is cooler’, the aero package that transforms the 458 is based around the rawness…
… of screwed-on overfenders that have been styled to blend in with the Ferrari’s wheel arch lines, but purposely stick out like a sore thumb. In a good way of course. You can see Miura-san integrating the tucked-in fender portion behind the wheel – a detail that he developed with the BenSopra 380RS at the beginning of the year.
http://www.speedhunters.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Larry_Chen_Speedhunters_Liberty_walk_Ferrari_458-3.jpg
http://www.speedhunters.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Larry_Chen_Speedhunters_Liberty_walk_Ferrari_458-4.jpg
http://www.speedhunters.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Larry_Chen_Speedhunters_Liberty_walk_Ferrari_458-1.jpg
http://www.speedhunters.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Larry_Chen_Speedhunters_Liberty_walk_Ferrari_458-2.jpg
http://www.speedhunters.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Larry_Chen_Speedhunters_Liberty_walk_Ferrari_458-5.jpg
http://www.speedhunters.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Larry_Chen_Speedhunters_Liberty_walk_Ferrari_458-19.jpg
http://www.speedhunters.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Larry_Chen_Speedhunters_Liberty_walk_Ferrari_458-7.jpg
http://www.speedhunters.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Larry_Chen_Speedhunters_Liberty_walk_Ferrari_458-17.jpg
http://www.speedhunters.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Larry_Chen_Speedhunters_Liberty_walk_Ferrari_458-9.jpg