Ferrari F458 Italia arrives - and leaves

But don't get too excited, because it's leaving again on the weekend.  A single left-hand drive 458, in signature Ferrari red, was airfreighted Down Under this week to tickle interest in Australia and celebrate the opening of a new Ferrari-Maserati headquarters in Sydney.

"It's a customer car. It's only here for four days," says Neville Crichton, head of Ateco – the importer for Ferrari and Maserati.  The 458 is accompanied by the global head of Ferrari, Amedeo Felisa, who talks enthusiastically about the car.

"The 458 helps you understand how we want to position the cars. We have the complete picture of what we see for our lineup of cars," Felisa says before ripping the covers off the car at Ferrari HQ in Sydney.

But the most important thing of all –  the price –  is still a secret.  It's likely to be in the $580,000 range and there is already an 18-month waiting list in Australia, but Felisa is deliberately vague to keep people guessing.  "The car will be in sales in Australia a few months from now," he says.

The facts and figures for the 458 are well known - 420kW, 540Nm, 0-100 in 3.4 seconds - but he is keen to explain the specific output of the new-generation V8 motor.

"The other numbers are not important. It is 27 horsepower/litre, the best on the market. And 120 Newton-metres per litre. You never find engines that, in the same moment, have the same specific power and torque."

He says the design of the 458 is totally new, with a simple brief.  "Nothing has to recall the old car. And the style comes down to the technology."

The first 85 458s were delivered to customers in Europe before Christmas and one of those is Fernando Alonso, who has bought - two Ferraris for his garage - with his own money (although Felisa will not reveal the price he got).  "The first time he came we sold a California. Then we sold a 458," he laughs.