Not since the Pininfarina-built Ferrari Sergio concept from 2013 has there been a prancing horse in the full barchetta style (without any windshield)—and certainly not a regular production Ferrari meant for the road. Unlike in the 1948 166MM or the 750 and 860 Monza racers from the 1950s, from which the new Monza draws direct inspiration, the driver doesn’t even get a sliver of glass. Instead, Ferrari created a Virtual Wind Shield that collects air through the hood, packs it into a tight chamber, and ejects the stream through a slot ahead of the instrument cluster. The faster you go, Ferrari says, the less the wind (and anything else, like stones) will pummel your cheeks. That kind of reasoning will attract the billionaires who strap into the car’s included race suit, driving gloves and shoes, leather-covered carbon-fiber helmet, and goggles like a period Mille Miglia driver.

The romance is simpler to understand. Ferrari design chief Flavio Manzoni points to the Monza’s “two waves”—its flowing, arched fenders when viewed from the side—connected with the most minimal surface detailing. The mission, says Manzoni, was to “re-create the myth of a Ferrari barchetta” but “without giving it the feel of an old car.” Based on the 812 Superfast, the Monza shares only its aluminum chassis, powertrain, and 183.3-inch length. The car sits 4.8 inches lower and an inch wider. Laced with the same Kevlar-woven carbon fiber used by Ferrari Formula 1 cars for the hood and other panels, the Monza seals the driver from the car’s body in a separate, oval-shaped cockpit. That’s if you order the Monza SP1. The Monza SP2 opens the passenger covering and places a second seat on the SP1’s bare floor. To brush mosquitoes away from the passenger’s mouth, the SP2 includes a teensy wind deflector for the passenger and a second humped roll bar. Ferrari estimates the Monza SP2, dry without any fluids, weighs 11 pounds less than the Superfast (the SP1 drops another 44 pounds).

On the silver car shown at the factory debut in Maranello, Ferrari draped the driver’s seat in a sheeny, crackly leather that could have been stripped off an old horse saddle. Aside from an arched center stack (there’s a radio!) and leather pull straps for the half-size, swing-up doors, the Monza’s minimal instrumentation is readily familiar from other Ferrari models. Gaping body-panel gaps along the car’s sides are a purposeful link to the wide LED taillight strip. Up front, LED headlights split on two levels should announce the Monza’s presence among lesser Ferraris packed in Monte Carlo.

Ferrari’s rageaholic 6.5-liter V-12, thanks to its trick variable-length intake runners, cranks out 799 horsepower at 8500 rpm (up 10 from the 812 Superfast) and an equal 530 lb-ft at 7000 rpm without any forced compression. Ferrari’s stated performance figures are roughly the same as its claims for the 812, with zero to 62 mph coming in 2.9 seconds, zero to 124 mph in 7.9 seconds, and a top speed of more than 186 mph (the Superfast is good for a 211-mph top end).

The Ferrari Monza SP2 Rent in Dubai is the first in a new line of highly limited models it calls Icona, which sit below Ferrari hypercars but above the Special Series models such as the 488 Pista Spider. Ferrari says it will build fewer than 500 examples total, with none homologated for the U.S. market at this time. One Ferrari representative estimates the Monza will cost the equivalent of about $1.75 million when Ferrari’s most loyal repeat customers receive their copies starting next year; naturally, the cars are already sold out. As the most memorable V-12 Ferrari in modern times, the Monza should be an instant classic.