Ferrari 296 GTS: Wide body and more hybrid power from Novitec

The open top 296 is twelve centimetres wider and bends at the knees.

Photo by: Novitec

By: Stefan Wagner

Feb 4, 2025 at 4:47am ET

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If you want to attract the beautiful, rich and extroverted of this world, you have to come up with something special. Noble tuner Novitec has known this for a long time and does not shy away from wide-body kits for icons from Lambo, Rolls-Royce or Ferrari. The latest example is Maranello's open hybrid sports car, the 296 GTS.

It too is called the N-Largo, which - you guessed it - means something is growing. In this case the width of the original car. And by 12 (!) centimetres at the most extended point at the rear. The carbon-fibre body is the work of cult designer Vittorio Strosek, who made a name for himself in the 1980s with his sometimes wild widebody Porsches.

According to Novitec, its own 296 GTS is now 2.08 metres wide at the rear axle. Have fun with it in the underground garages. There is a lot to look at: At the front, the slotted wings have been widened by three centimetres. There is also a new front apron with a front lip.

Gallery: Novitec Ferrari 296 GTS

Source: Novitec

Other components of the widebody conversion include a boot lid with integrated air ducts, new side skirts, mega rear wings, a rear diffuser and a choice of spoiler lip or upright rear wing. The tuner promises precision work in the wind tunnel and aerodynamic improvements.

Of course, Novitec can stuff some pretty powerful wheels into the thick cheeks. The forged Vossen wheels measure 9.5x21 inches at the front and 12.5x22 inches at the rear. They are available with different finishes and in 72 different colours. They are fitted with 255/30 ZR21 tyres at the front and 335/25 ZR22 tyres at the rear.

"Sports springs tuned to the standard dampers" force the 296 GTS to kneel by 35 millimetres. At the touch of a button, a front lift system raises the front end by 40 millimetres.

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Photos by: Novitec

Now it's not that a Ferrari 296 is necessarily a powerless lurcher, but of course Novitec couldn't keep its hands off the three-litre biturbo V6. Flow-optimised turbo inlets, 100-cell metal catalytic converters and an exhaust system available in a variety of versions deliver an extra 38 PS. As a result, the six-cylinder now produces 701 PS, while the system output of the complete hybrid drive increases to 868 PS.

If you still have some catching up to do on the inside, Novitec offers countless customisation options for the cockpit, where "Alcantara and leather in any colour are finished with the highest precision".