As stunning as the Ferrari J50 is to behold in its own right, the special-edition Prancing Horse bears more significance than the ten examples that will be made. In fact, it could prove to foreshadow the Italian supercar manufacturer’s future designs.

How do we know? Because Ferrari said so itself. As our colleagues at Motor Authority rightly point out, the automaker asserted in the debut release that the J50 “heralds a radically futuristic design language.”

“Among the limited edition models it has unveiled to date,” Ferrari further stated upon its unveiling, “this is clearly the one with the most fresh styling and might serve as the blueprint for future Ferrari designs.”

It may not be quite confirmed, then, but the allusion tells us that the J50’s design cues are more likely than not to find their way onto the next generation of supercars to come roaring out of Maranello in the coming years.

It wouldn’t be the first time, after all, that an exotic automaker would use a limited-edition, rebodied version of one of its production models to preview its future design direction. The avant-garde bodywork that adorned the Murcielago-based Reventon, for example, served to foreshadow the Aventador that replaced it. And the design of the McLaren P1 heavily influenced everything the British manufacturer has made since.

So don’t be surprised, in short, if the replacement for the 488 ends up bearing more than a passing resemblance to the J50 – which in turn, we’d add, adopted a certain stylistic flair from the Ferrari Sergio that came before it in the annals of limited-edition roadsters from “the house that Enzo built.”

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