The Ferrari Conciso, The Unlikeliest Ferrari of All

Concept cars are where carmakers and designers go wild and create the craziest, most unhinged experimental vehicles you can imagine. They often showcase never-before-seen technology and ideas, provide a glimpse into design elements for future production cars, or downright do something outrageous for the sake of being outrageous. Most of these are relegated to a museum or storage facility once the buzz has died down, relegated to a life in anonymity and obscurity. But every so often, a concept car actually makes it into production virtually unchanged, or made road-legal under a single-vehicle registration as they have in the UK. In the case of the Ferrari Conciso, sold by RM Sotheby’s just this week, it’s a bit of a different story! Based on a 1989 Ferrari 328 GTS, the one-of-a-kind Conciso is all kinds of weirdly wonderful! 

If you think of Ferrari and design (ignoring the PR disaster that is the Luce), it’s almost impossible not to think of the likes of Pininfarina, Bertone, Ghia, Vignale and so on. While Pininfarina is arguably the most famous of the bunch, and the most used by the Italian carmaker, Bertone is a close second. Where Pininfarina is known for their sensual, curvaceous designs, Bertone tends to be focused more on straight lines and edges. Outside of the typical design studios Ferrari is associated with, work is done by others as well, although not always commissioned by the company. One of those cars is the Conciso, which was part of RM Sotheby’s Sealed June sales.

Michalak Design was founded by Bernd Michalak and his wife Jutta in 1979. The company has been involved in the automotive industry in numerous ways. For instance, it developed a soft-top cover for the Ferrari 550 Barchetta, and designed and produced the Michalak C7, a kit car based on the Smart ForTwo. Nowadays, things seem to have slowed down, and it’s a bit unclear if they are still in business or not. Nevertheless, they have left an indelible mark on the industry with their Ferrari Conciso, a one-off road-legal Barchetta wedge based on the chassis and drivetrain of the Ferrari 328 GTS that was first shown to the public at the 1993 Frankfurt Motor Show.

The 328 GTS was the successor to the 308 GTS, and although the two look very similar in design, there are subtle yet important differences. The 308 GTS gained fame as Magnum P.I’s vehicular weapon of choice in the TV series of the same name. It was introduced in 1975 and remained in production virtually unchanged for about a decade, when Ferrari replaced it with the 328. Both cars came in GTB and GTS configurations, with the GTB being the fixed-roof Berlinetta and the GTS having a targa-top. The 328 gained a bit more power thanks to an upgraded engine, the final evolution of the 90-degree Dino V8 (up from 2.9 litres to 3.2 litres, and from 255bhp to 270bhp). Externally, the silhouette differs a bit too, with the 308 being the sharper of the two, yet the 328 having better aerodynamic performance. The most notable differences are the black-trimmed bumpers and grille on the 308, with the 328 having body-colour painted bumpers and an integrated grille.

But all that went out the window when Bernd Michalak created the Conciso, really. Being Italian for concise, or compact, Conciso is a pretty fitting name. The 328 GTS it is based on was never a big car, so it comes as no surprise the Conciso has a very modest footprint. Michalak’s vision, however, takes things into a completely new direction. For starters, it has no roof and no doors. The Conciso is a true Barchetta, and you have to step over the side to get into the cabin. And once you’re seated, you’ll notice that the windshield is tucked down so incredibly low, you actually look over it completely despite what the positioning of the headrests suggests! Roll it, and you’ll be missing a couple of inches off the top…

And the minimalistic style doesn’t end there, as the headlights are nestled into the exposed wheel covers, and the horizontal grille sits about as low as it possibly can. Down the side, there’s a distinct ‘cut’ in where normally the door should be, running to the back and providing air for the rear-mounted V8 carried over from the 328 GTS. The body follows pretty much a single sloping line, gradually flat-lining towards the very rear of the car, where a vented black cover sits over the engine. The view from the rear is actually rather simple, with the twin double taillights and twin dual exhaust tips very much in style with the 328 GTS donor car. The entire front and rear body are also constructed as a clamshell, with the rear section flipping up backwards to expose the powertrain, gearbox and rear suspension. As mentioned, the engine is still the 3.2-litre V8 from the original car, with about 270 horsepower. However, due to the extensive use of aluminium (the body is made by Bacchelli & Villa, who are official Ferrari Classiche body specialists) and not needing a heavy roof, door hinges and so on, the Conciso weighs a considerable 330 kilos less!

On the inside, the Conciso features a pair of seats that are more or less moulded into the bodywork, with a full racing harness on either side. Tucked away in the doors, or rather the panel where a door normally is found, there’s space for a helmet. One for the driver, and one for the passenger, and given the car’s unusual low profile and pretty much useless front window, a helmet definitely comes in handy! The dash is pretty basic, wrapped in black and with the gauges and switches from the 328 GTS donor. The rev counter is mounted on the right side of the cluster, and angled towards the driver for a perfect view (although you have to look down and away). The steering wheel is a classic three-spoke design by MOMO, with the famous Cavallino Rampante badge in the centre. And in between the seats, everybody’s favourite Ferrari feature: a gated shifter!

The Ferrari Conciso was offered for sale by RM Sotheby’s, as part of the auction house’s Sealed June sales. That means that, for a three-day period, those interested could put in a sealed bid on the car. For that simple reason, it’s hard to put a number on this as it is a true one-off. There’s simply nothing to compare it to. I’ve seen valuations of EUR 150.000 to EUR 200.000, but I wouldn’t be surprised if the winning bid is considerably higher than that. The last time it came up for sale was in 2018, also through RM Sotheby’s, selling for just under EUR 110.000. With the current state of the vintage car collecting craze, who knows what could have happened this time around…

For more information, please visit RMSothebys.com.

Editorial Note: The information used and images portrayed in this article are sourced from and used with permission of RM Sotheby’s unless stated otherwise.