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You had to be there to appreciate the significance of the sound, said German automotive spy agency Automedia.
It wasn't the look of the lightly disguised Ferrari that gave the game away - it was the sound of its engine.
It was unlike anything in the Ferrari stable; a rumbling soft growl from the twin exhausts, rather than a stirring sharp bark.
The photographer recorded the exhaust note on tape while shooting the pictures.
More research back at the office confirmed what Automedia had suspected: that the car is the test mule for the Ferrari Dino, the company's new entry-level model.
Officially, there is no such car. A company spokesman said: "I am under instructions from the highest levels to deny totally that any such car exists."
Unofficially, a Dino prototype is running around the hills near Ferrari headquarters at Modena, in Italy's north, preparing for launch in 2009.
Automedia said: "The Dino mule is based on a F430 body. It doesn't give away much but there is a little in some of the styling cues of what will become the new Dino.
"What identifies the test car as a mule for the Dino is the engine sound, or the lack of it. It clearly doesn't sound as sharp as a F430."
The Dino project is Ferrari's most important new model for years and comes roughly 40 years after the original 206 and 246 Dino GT was launched.
The classic Dino GT and GTS models were built between 1968 and 1976 and named after company founder Enzo Ferrari's son, Alfredino "Dino" Ferrari, an engine designer who died in 1956, at 24, from muscular dystrophy. The original V6 2-litre 206 and V6 2.4-litre 246 Dinos didn't carry the Ferrari badge. The prancing horse replaced the circular Dino badge later, when the Dino had become the best-selling Ferrari.
The new Dino was conceived in 2004 and approved 12 months ago. It is expected to be penned by Italian design house Pininfarina. Former Ferrari design boss Frank Stephenson, who now heads Ferrari parent Fiat's styling centre, is understood to be working on the project.
Automedia says the new Dino is likely to be powered by a front-mounted 4.2-litre V8 engine producing around 360kW (480bhp) and mated to a Formula One-type six-speed sequential gearbox. The original Dino carried a mid-mounted engine.
Rivals for the Dino include the BMW M6 and Aston Martin Vantage, both of which have being spotted at the Ferrari test track at Maranello. The Porsche 911 is there too.
Automedia says Ferrari will produce a Dino GT coupe first, followed by a folding-top GTS targa. This would follow the trend set by the 246 Dino GT and GTS from 1968 and 1971, and the 308 GTB and GTS from 1975 and 1977.
Production of 4000-5000 Dinos a year would effectively almost double Ferrari's output and create a whole new customer base.
The Dino is expected to be priced from $220,000, around the same as the Porsche 911 and BMW 6-Series in New Zealand. Britain is talking about £80,000 ($224,000) for the GT, the US upwards of US$140,000 ($196,000).
Aluminium specialist Alcoa will apparently make the spaceframe chassis in a new facility near the Ferrari factory. The outer shell will be built from carbon fibre. The new Dino is expected to be the first Ferrari fitted with satellite-navigation as standard.
