Ferrari 458

When Ferrari unveiled the 458 Italia, it quietly drew a line under an era. Named for the displacement of its engine and for its country of origin, the mid-engined berlinetta arrived in 2009 as the successor to the F430 and remained in production through 2015. Its importance is clearest in hindsight: this was the last naturally aspirated V8 to sit behind the cabin of a series-production Ferrari before the company turned to forced induction. The high-revving engine defined the car's character as much as its sharply creased Pininfarina bodywork and its blade-thin cabin.

Behind the rear glass sat a 4.5-litre V8 fed by direct fuel injection, producing 570 PS (562 hp) as it spun toward 9,000 rpm. Ferrari offered it exclusively with a seven-speed dual-clutch transmission; the 458 was the first mainstream model in the company's history sold without any manual option, a break with tradition that signalled where fast cars were heading. Controls for the launch, damping and traction systems were consolidated on the steering wheel itself, borrowing logic from Ferrari's Formula One programme.

An open 458 Spider followed, and the track-focused 458 Speciale later lifted output to 605 PS (597 hp), the most potent form of the naturally aspirated engine. When the twin-turbocharged 488 replaced it in 2015, the 458 came to mark the end of a chapter: the final Ferrari V8 road car to make its power the old way, through revs and displacement rather than boost.