There are many reasons one might buy a Ferrari 458: the looks, the sound, the performance, the feeling – or perhaps a combination of them all. The need for low-key transportation, however, probably isn’t one of them. And should you choose to modify your 458, then you’ve gone even further and thrown away any inkling of staying under the radar.
But if one of Liberty Walk’s radical wide body conversions is in your plans, well, you’ve committed to yourself to making a scene any place you go.
So it must be impossible then to use the word ‘understated’ to describe any Liberty Walk-equipped 458, right? Well, this black machine most certainly won’t be sneaking up on anyone, and will still break necks on the street. But as far as Italian exotics with Japanese wide body parts go, it’s actually a rather subtle creation.
The car is owned by Rob from Crooks & Castles – the same guy who owns the Mercedes-Benz wagon we featured at last year’s Offset Kings Long Beach show. For this year’s OK LB event however, he decided to bring out his freshly made-over 458.
The Ferrari had a massive swarm of people around it all day long – and for good reason. It’s absolutely sinister looking.
But unlike most of the Liberty Walk exotics we’ve seen, this one was devoid of any overt wrapping or logos, with Rob choosing to let the car’s aggressive lines and radical stance do the talking.
The wheel setup on this car is equally to important to its simple vibe – 20-inch BBS LMs all around with a serious amount of dish in the rear to fill out the Liberty Walk over-fenders. Don’t get me wrong, it’s still crazy, but crazy in a more sensible way – if that makes any sense?
While I doubt this unique take on the Liberty Walk look will win over any of those who think all exotics should be used to their full performance potential at all times, at the very least it helps shine a new light on things.
While I’ve always dug the boldness that comes with Liberty Walk cars, I’ve also felt they’re a bit too over the top to drive on the street regularly – but that just might be my introverted side speaking. This though, I can get behind 100 per cent.
What say you?
Mike Garrett
Instagram: speedhunters_mike
mike@speedhunters.com
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With this guy, anything is possible...
Those wheels are phenomenal. Smooth in the flares and it'll be perfect.
I'm crossing my fingers hoping it's on a static suspension. Looks great either way.
Better... But if you're going to be dropping a quarter of a million on a supercar that you want to widebody. Surely you'd want fully bespoke quarter panels and fenders to replace the originals, instead of some tacky looking plastic add-ons.
At least that's what I'd want if I had that much dosh to swing around
@Kenny i dont agree. if you mold it in and stuff it looks waaaay worse. those flares are the way to go imo.
The factory 458 body work is fine with me, but if I had one of these, I'm pretty sure I'd have it apart in my garage, trying to 'manualize" it.
And put a big wing on it. A car this sleek looks naked without a big wing.
Essentially, I'd be trying to make this thing as much like a McLaren F1 LM as I could.
I want to see it with the old HRE wheels and stenciled Nitto tires with the LB kit. Now that would be awesome. But I can't deny it still looks good like this.
that cover pic is so perfect.
blasphemy.
this isn't a Datsun
458s are common enough that doing this is just about as offensive as modifying a BMW M3. Now if he did this to a 458 Speciale that would be a different story...
With modern automotive engineering as advanced as it is, any modifications to a car comes with compromises; especially to a car designed for such high performance as the Ferrari is already.
To each their own I suppose...
@Frozenstar
Just as well it isn't a Datsun! Not sure why "purists" get all cranky about ppl doing this to a 458 which is not exactly rare.
I didn't know you could make a 458 ugly...well at least I learned something today.
remind me of lifted truck..with stickon fender..oh well..i am poor..never afford 458
Never again will run as a real Ferrari.
To all those haters out there. show me your 458s or just keep quiet in my opinion. this is a blend of old and new, while still keeping true to the factory lines. not to mention the extra width on the contact patch of the tyres so it will prob handle a f load better than factory.
I wish they would cover those stupid rivets to make all the panels smooth with the existing ones.
Ferrari spent thousands of hours in wind tunnel testing and in his private track. As she never thought of simply putting more contact area with the ground? Would save millions of dollars is not it?
@Austin That's kind of the style - like or not.
paulo2 The vast majority Ferraris are never driven anywhere near their full potential so I don't see what the big issue is.
carmaniac Last part is key.
wild and over the top !.. Got to love Japan for that different style.
The lines of the liberty walk kit compliment the 458 so well. A bit odd and out of place on the likes of the Aventador, which is hardly in need of additional width anyway, but on the 458 it suits the lines of the car so perfectly.
As for function, the car does what the owner wants it to do, so it functions absolutely perfectly.
I'm diggin it. At least it doesn't have some horrible camber on the rears, lovin the wheel choice and fitment.
Needs limo tint.
That kind of style has been around for ages. 1977 Holden Torana A9X. Factory car for Australian touring cars back then. Peter Brock at Bathurst ran in one of these, won by 6 laps AND set the lap record on the last lap of a 1000km 161 lap race. Tough is an understatement.
The wheels, their size and finish are to die for. I really like this one and it gives the 458 some nice curves, or at least a silhouette that looks great. The flares really add some character to an otherwise anonymous "supercar", imho which we could use a break from
I never liked the LB R35...it's too Japanese Samurai-skirt-ish. At least with the LB 458 in this color it doesn't look cartoon-ish.
I can't say I've ever encountered a company that f's up cars any worse the LW
Even in black the aggressive stylings of LW clash with the lines of the 458. Their style meshes best with the angular, masculine likes of the GTR and Lamborghini, works juxtaposed to the bulbous curves of a 911 in a cheeky way, but on the subtle, feminine, sleekness of the 458 it just seems like an afterthought.
WhyNot65 Mansory
Contrary to popular belief, fender flares do not make you cooler.
kevintk Very true. But sometimes they make the car cooler lol.
I don't think you can take in the full presence of the body kit unless you see it in person. Fingers crossed i get to someday! Fender badge is a nice touch.
Ugh, these guys. The diffuser and chin spoiler are nice, but the flares, just, no.
Major props on the captures. I tried so hard but the sun was so hard on this thing.
gwhisky WhyNot65 Had never heard of Mansory before. Googled it. WTF? @gwhiskey... you speak the truth. That was some hideous google image results.
What a wonderful way of making lemonade from lemons when the dude at SEMA or whatever knocked off his spoiler! I'm not crazy, right? There was an LBwalk 458 that got its spoiler knocked off? Kinda high might've missed it in the article.
EXSVGS Comments like this really get under my skin.
I mean really, "loads better than factory"? It's almost like engineers don't spend countless hours finicking over minute details of suspension design such as roll centers, scrub radius', Ackermann geometry, etc. But no. All any car needs to handle better is wider tires and more lows.
Personally I drive the piss out of my car and wouldn't do something like this to make it slower. His ride, his mods, and honestly a car modified like this wasn't going to be driven quickly either way. It doesn't bother me, it looks good in fact. But people telling me to not have an opinion on something I can't afford, that just reeks of elitism with nothing to be elitist about.
So much yes! I'm a fan of this
Perfect!
eejjkk gwhisky WhyNot65 check out FAB Design.......... horrible...
The most unique LB Works ever! No stickers, just bold Ferrari lines!
@Frozenstar currently there are 109 458's on auto trader (uk)
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/used-cars/ferrari/458
while there is only one Datsun, by numbers available for a long term investment id go with the Datsun... maybe a Z432.
EXSVGS It's easy to make a typical car handle a little better than factory by throwing some extra rubber on it. However, a dude in a little shop doesn't have the resources to out engineer the Ferrari team. The 458 is considered one of the best handling cars in the world. It didn't need more tire...if it did Ferrari would have put more tire on it. It's not like they were agonizing over controlling costs.
As for opinions, you don't need to own a 458 to have an opinion on this one, which is lucky because you have an opinion and I highly doubt you own one. That would be the same as saying you can't have an opinion on a Picaso unless you own one...
Very stylish and from the owner of a stylish clothing company one should expect nothing less.
Everything is relative - I'd hardly call a Ferrari with bolt-on overfenders and 20" LMs "subtle"
I don't get what's such a big deal about the clothing though; it's standard items like t-shirts and baseball caps printed and/or embroidered with a design or a logo - there are a million "cool" companies that are doing this and you talk to any rich millenial these days then they will tell you about their/their friend's "clothing line" which is much the same thing :/
I'm not hating, I just don't get how it can become big enough to pay for a $200,000+ car. Did the brand get prominence on Jersey Shore or something? Lol.
EXSVGS "it will prob handle a f load better than factory" sigh...
I'd say yes. Still aggressive and different from other ferraris, but it is subtle.
I remember seeing that video. Jeep rear ended it. The 458 was blue tho... Could still be the same car.
Mike Garrett paulo2 That's a pretty sad fact right there. And this car is just another reminder of that.
la di da, sorry but this is truly getting old, the style i mean. Maybe if someone filled out a lb kit with some thick sidewalls on race wheels? Thatd be unique... this is just a hyped up status symbol at this point imo, kindof like von dutch for cars.
Verdigrie Your last paragraph functions very well.
gwhisky EXSVGS I think the truth is somewhere in between. Yes, Ferrari engineers know what they are doing better than hellaflush fanboys. BUT suspension design, tyre spec etc on a stock, street-going Ferrari is not optimised for performance; it's optimised for a compromise between performance and daily street-driving liveability (and note, Italian roads are not always… roads…).
So there may - in some cases - be tangible benefits to be had from such simple things as "more rubber". And if you doubt that, have a look at the tyre width, widened bodywork, lowered ride-height etc on a GT3 spec 458… and then ask yourself where the "look" for wide-bodied, lowered cars comes from in the first place.
Gianluca FairladyZ eejjkk gwhisky WhyNot65 Although to be fair, it's not super hard to make a Bugatti Veyron ugly.
Second thoughts, maybe it IS quite hard to make one uglyER.
tenpennyjimmy gwhisky EXSVGS Sorry I do not think the truth is not in between. If you put more grip on a car, you need to stiffen the suspension to keep it handling well... oh but you are not talking about improving on a Civic here, now you need to think very carefully about angles etc... Do it wrong, and the car will not handle as good as factory. The Speciale has only slightly larger tyres than a stock 458 and it took hours of track testing to sort it.
btw ironically the reason why Ferraris are not set up for the track might be the road quality of California, which used to be their largest market for years. While some roads in Italy are terrible, the roads around the Appenini where Ferraris are tested are much smoother than anything in the California freeway system.
prazzi Nah, that was Kato-San's car.
Sleepin T5 why the fuck would you put the wing on backwards... I know it's fake anyway but that's pretty lol worthy.
the car was very good
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