I like my Porsches with the engines in the back, but my Ferraris with the engines in the front. That’s just the way I roll.
I’ve always loved front engined V12 Ferraris. Had the Group 4 Daytona pictures on my wall when I was a kid and in the 1990’s was lucky enough to be selling Jaguar and Ferrari when the first UK right hand drive Ferrari 456 was delivered to our dealership, in Rosso Corsa with Nero black hide, if I recall. Loved the high pitched starter motor whine, the big alloy gearshift, the black paddle style ancillary switches. And, of course, the lovely crackle finish of the V12 intakes underneath that huge one-piece hood. The owner of that car traded in a BMW M5 and the Ferrari 456 was his new daily driver.
Ferrari F12
The succession of V12 cars that followed the 456 didn’t always hit the sport with me personally. While doubtless great drives, I thought the 612 looked a bit stretched viewed from the side. but then I recovered and I loved the 550 Maranello, the Barchetta being one for my bucket list. I also loved the way the 599GTB drove, monster Enzo engine, lovely chassis, but the rear buttress detailing always distracted me.
So when the F12 was announced last week, I was up on my hind legs for a look. And yes, they’ve got this one dead right. The front end is a mixture of 458 / FF style front lights and the 458 blade-like front hood treatment coupled with some FF and 575 styling cues. Lovely sculpted sides that remind me of a sharks gills and give the car a slim waist that seemed missing from the 599GTB. And read end treatment that both reminds you of the Daytona and 575 and at the same time shows you exactly where the airflow will be going. The single prancing horse on the rear, no model badging, completes what I think will become a timeless piece of automotive design.
Scutpled waist – not as wide looking as the 599GTB
You can read the mechanical and technical stuff over on the dedicated Ferrari F12 website here. The headline number everyone is talking about is the 740bhp power output. But look at the spcification and there’s plenty more that shows it’s going to be an intoxicating drive. 80& of torque available all the way to the 8700 redline. Lower engine position and even further back than the 599GTB, which I already thought was pretty much in the glovebox. Twin clucth F1 shift and the clever E Diff combination that I loved in the 458 Italia. A whole series of suspension and chassis changes that deserve a feature of their own result in a chassis that Ferrari claim has really sharp turn in, “Allowing very high cornering speeds and levels of lateral G while at the same time using very little steering lock and maintaining a flat stance” One of those cars that you won’t need anything more than fingertips and palm pressure to steer, by the sound of it.
Some pundits are already saying it’s far too expensive. But they said the same thing about the Lexus LFA. The Ferrari F12 car is aimed at the old school Ferrari buyers who will probably drive their cars a lot more than average and to whom the price isn’t the most important thing.
The F12 microsite has an introduction by Luca De Motnezemelo looking cooler than George Clooney, as ever, followed by the configurator that allows you to specify your F12. My colour of choice? Easy – Blu tour de France, standard alloys with Yellow brake calipers and black and blue interior.
I can just see myself heading down to Tour Des Ramparts in one of those.
Somewhere for your fingertips to sit -lighning fast turn in predicted
