In the world of the ultra-rare supercar, pedigree is all-important – and you won’t find many finer examples of that than the new Kode89, which was unveiled at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance as part of Monterey Car Week.

The Kode89 is the work of Ken Okuyama, the former Pininfarina creative director who led the design of the Ferrari Enzo as well as overseeing the design of cars like the 612 Scaglietti, 599 GTB – and even some lowlights, like the Mitsubishi Colt convertible.

Silver convertible sports car in motion on a winding road, with the driver visible through the windshield.
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This latest design from his coachbuilding firm, Ken Okuyama Cars, is an in-house development, unlike previous vehicles that have started as redesigns of existing models. Despite the unique chassis, the design has more than a few links to Okuyama’s past work with Ferrari.

The Kode89 is built around an aluminium space frame and features a 5.4-litre naturally aspirated V12 engine producing 403kW at 7000rpm and 569Nm at 5000rpm. Both the chassis and engine were reportedly created by Okuyama’s company and not sourced externally.

Okuyama’s baby joins other limited-run supercars like those from Gordon Murray Automotive and Spyker in featuring a traditional H-pattern six-speed manual rather than a dual-clutch or sequential transmission. A run of eight cars is planned, with the 5.4-litre engine as the ‘base spec’, but Japanese magazine Response reports that a more powerful race-prepped 5.9-litre version making 560kW will be available as an option.

Both engines are designed to run primarily on petrol, but there’s also a bi-fuel version tuned to run on vaporised hydrogen for zero-CO2 urban driving but capable of switching to petrol combustion for performance work.

Top-down view of a silver and blue sports car on a dark surface, highlighting its aerodynamic body and rear spoiler.
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The first three build slots from the planned production run are already spoken for, and the Kode89 name is a nod to the car’s retro-inspired design, with Okuyama pointing to the late ’80s era of design as an inspiration for the V12 roadster’s appearance.

Even the chassis development, which shuns the typical carbon monocoque construction seen on modern supercars, was deliberate, with Okuyama explaining, “In this age of carbon monocoques, we deliberately chose an aluminium frame because we wanted to pursue a supple feeling that allows us to communicate with the road surface.”