"Azzurra" - State of the Art Ferrari by Lapo Elkann, R-M The Code
The Ferrari GTC4 Azzurra by Lapo Elkann is a one-off customisation of the Ferrari GTC4 Lusso developed by Garage Italia, the Milan-based creative hub founded by Lapo Elkann. Unveiled in January 2018, it is built around a specific shade of blue, "Azzurro Lapo", created exclusively by R-M paints as part of their "The Code" bespoke colour programme. The Azzurra is a convergence of automotive design, fashion-industry materials, and fine art: a fully personal statement on a production supercar from Maranello.
What Is the Azzurro Lapo Colour and Where Did It Come From?
R-M developed the Azzurro Lapo shade, a particular tonality of light blue, specifically for Lapo Elkann within their bespoke colour project called The Code. The colour runs along the front bumper and continues as a racing-inspired stripe across the hood, roof, and trunk, creating a two-tone contrast against the deeper blue of the body. The same Azzurro Lapo appears on the lateral gills, the wheel spokes, and the interior rim finish. Brembo brake calipers are painted to match and branded with the Garage Italia logo. The livery references the Italian tricolore and Elkann's personal attachment to the colours of the Azzurri, Italy's national sports teams.
The Interior: Fashion Industry Materials and Daytona-Inspired Seating
Inside, Garage Italia brought in Foglizzo Leather to create a hand-woven upholstery using genuine leather and Scabal Solaro fabric inserts. The seats carry the Daytona pattern, a classic motorsport seat design with rectangular segments and circular cut-outs, with the Italian flag reproduced inside three of those circles on the driver's seat. A vertical division runs along the seat centres and the steering wheel, reinforcing the two-tone theme throughout the cabin.
The project was handled personally by Lapo Elkann for material selection and interior design. In his own words, blue and light blue are "ethereal colors associated to the sea and to the sky, symbols of the infinite", and the Ferrari GTC4 Azzurra was his vehicle for expressing that connection between Italian identity, fashion, art, and the supercar world.
Ferrari GTC4 Lusso: The Foundation
The GTC4 Lusso is Ferrari's four-seat, all-wheel-drive grand tourer, a direct descendant of a lineage of four-seater Ferraris reaching back to the 1948 166 Inter. The V12 engine version chosen for this project is among the most refined and powerful GT cars the Maranello factory has ever produced. Lapo Elkann acquired a 1982 Ferrari 400i for his personal collection in 2016 before commissioning the GTC4 Azzurra in 2018, connecting the historic and modern strands of Ferrari's GT tradition through a single collector.
SuisseMotorSport published a detailed account of the project's design philosophy, and Garage Italia has documented the collaboration as one of their most personal and ambitious builds to date.
A Continuing Legacy of Ferrari Art and Design
The GTC4 Azzurra is one example of the intersection between Ferrari engineering and the art world that TheArsenale explores across its collection. TheArsenale carries several Ferrari-related objects for the serious collector, including the Ferrari Daytona chair, the Ferrari 488 Challenge engine coffee table, and the Ferrari table. Explore the full TheArsenale selected cars collection for more extraordinary automotive art and vehicles.
