The Ferrari 250 GT SWB Berlinetta is arguably one of the most beautiful cars in the world. It's also one of the most valuable so you'll need to win the lottery if you ever want to own one. Thankfully, the UK's RML is building a modern-day reproduction of the Ferrari 250 GT SWB that will be more attainable, and it looks sensational.

Significant progress has been made over the last few months, and now the first pre-production prototype is nearly complete before the RML Short Wheelbase enters limited series production. After the construction of the carbon-composite body was finished last month, the pre-production prototype has been fully painted.

This meticulous process requires layers of special carbon primer, regular primer, and a silver base coat that makes its beautiful blue finish shine. Unpainted sections such as around the door shuts are also coated with a clear carbon primer and smoked-carbon lacquer. In another significant milestone, the 5.5-liter V12 engine has been installed, marking the start of the final stage of development. Powering the reborn Ferrari 250 GT SWB is a naturally-aspirated 5.5-liter V12 engine from a 550 Maranello (the predecessor to the Ferrari 812 Superfast) producing 478 horsepower at 7,000 rpm and 419 lb-ft of torque at 5,000 rpm.

Its V12 soundtrack will "emulate the exhaust note of a classic V12 road-racer" according to Adnam Rahman, the Short Wheelbase's powertrain design engineer.

"We started by making recordings of the donor car's Ferrari V12 from inside and outside the car at various speeds and loads, from idle to full-throttle acceleration," he explained. "The engine was also put on a dynamometer, and data from both tests was built into a computer-simulated model that could be adapted to suite the new noise requirements of the Short Wheelbase. We also had to achieve all this while still meeting current noise regulations, and without impacting on the car's 485bhp performance." The pre-prototype is also fitted with two-way adjustable Ohlins dampers, allowing the chassis team to finetune the settings during testing.

With the body-on chassis fully painted and the V12 powerplant installed, the first pre-production prototype will be completed by next month before real-world testing begins. In the meantime, work has already begun on the first two customer examples.