[tushar_lalsan]

i see badly blended Panamera and Z3 coupe(e36).

[GTO]

Originally Posted by tushar_lalsan

i see badly blended Panamera and Z3 coupe(e36).

Oh man! Now that you put it this way, the Ferrari Four seems like it's a little more than an Italian version of the BMW Z3. Chris Bangle must be having a hard laugh. Nevertheless, the bottom line is, the Ferrari Four hardly looks like a...well, Ferrari.

Originally Posted by DicKy

It's only the 599 that is keeping me from drifting away from Ferrari fan-ship. Has everything that one dreams in a Ferrari.

Except that the engine is in the front?

[petroguzzler]

Bangle has influenced the automobile industry right from Maruti to Mercedes to Ferrari. But the Bangled'ness is best left to Beemers. This Ferrari looks awful.

[DicKy]

Originally Posted by GTO

................Except that the engine is in the front?

Yep, that's also a requisite in the 'dream Ferrari' , but the best balanced set up and my all time fav is FR layout,though i have never driven a rear mid engined car,so can't really comment about it.
Also seeing the engine in the rear through a plexi-glass is also one of the 'dream Ferrari' requisites, but would rather have the front engined 599;all TDs say that it's more balanced than the twitchy RMR layout.

[theragingbull]

Here's a pic from a different angle.

[Amartya]

In my opinion, Ferrari hasn't made a decent looking car for a while. So, the 458 was to a large extent, quite a pleasant surprise for me; I quite liked the design. Sadly, this seems likes a misstep......again.

It seems to me that controversial design sells; that along with Ferrari's tremendous engineering skill should make this car a success too. But I do think that they are dangerously close to losing their soul. There's a reason why Italian sports-cars were likened to their women; they were always heart-achingly beautiful, they made all the right noises and were hard to live with. In summary, great for amorous flings, but not so great as wives.

While Ferrari have addressed the hard-to-live-with bit of the equation with some new found reliability (the 458s fire stories aside, that's an aberration) and perfect ergonomics (meaning it's easier to now press the buttons that result in great noise), they have sadly lost the plot when it comes to style. I like to blame it on overzealous aerodynamicists, who instead of looking at the curves of the car, look at the curves created by the car.

Ironically, Ferrari seem to be becoming more Germanic (in terms of design) than their competitor owned by the German's. Yes, as it currently stands, not a single Ferrari can compete with a Lamborghini on style. Here are a couple of pictures of the two Ferrari's that I personally find delectable, the 355 and the 456:

[DicKy]

Originally Posted by Amartya

In my opinion, Ferrari hasn't made a decent looking car for a while. So, the 458 was to a large extent, quite a pleasant surprise for me; I quite liked the design. Sadly, this seems likes a misstep......again.

It seems to me that controversial design sells; that along with Ferrari's tremendous engineering skill should make this car a success too. But I do think that they are dangerously close to losing their soul. There's a reason why Italian sports-cars were likened to their women; they were always heart-achingly beautiful, they made all the right noises and were hard to live with. In summary, great for amorous flings, but not so great as wives.

While Ferrari have addressed the hard-to-live-with bit of the equation with some new found reliability (the 458s fire stories aside, that's an aberration) and perfect ergonomics (meaning it's easier to now press the buttons that result in great noise), they have sadly lost the plot when it comes to style. I like to blame it on overzealous aerodynamicists, who instead of looking at the curves of the car, look at the curves created by the car.

Ironically, Ferrari seem to be becoming more Germanic (in terms of design) than their competitor owned by the German's. Yes, as it currently stands, not a single Ferrari can compete with a Lamborghini on style. Here are a couple of pictures of the two Ferrari's that I personally find delectable, the 355 and the 456:

Can't say better than that. From the mid 90s starting from the F50 and 550 Ferrari lost the styling plot, and now Lamborghini with Audi influence seem to be properly styled like Italian sportscar even though the underpinnings are otherwise.

[samyakmodi]

@amartya

bro i think you missed the 348 and the iconic testarossa. when someone says ferrari, those are the cars that always come to my mind. the 458 italia IMO looks quiet ugly when compared to the lp640 (check the pic of the 2 cars standing together {front and back} in the supercar show)

wonder what has happened to automobile designing. is quirky design called beauty these days??

[AltoHoncho]

IMHO: Ferrari has always produced iconic designs right from 250 GTO all the way to Italia (saw the yellow one very recently), everyone of them has been either a wallpaper or a wall poster in every petrolhead's life. Same is the case with lambos.

This one IMO will be one of the bestsellers, looks are awesome, especially the pic in post #50 above. This is there first attempt with the shooting brakes and its a gorgeous one, it could've been more damaging to see ferrari coming up with a regular estate or square-back like any other SB designs around. Will be ineteresting to see the lambo coming up with a '670-SV Leggera Shooting Brakes'

[ir458]

Hi Ferrari critics

IMHO the problem is that with iconic cars like 250 GTO, California, Lussos, 275s, etc. Ferrari has set benchmarks which it itself can't rival.

We expect from each new Ferrari to have a soul like the above mentioned cars which is just not possible.

Regarding criticism of new Ferraris let's look at the few models launched in the recent past -

348 - criticized by Montezemolo himself as the worst Ferrari ever.
355 - exception
550 - again ugly
360 - oh no!
575 - as ugly as 550
430 - what's wrong with Ferrari
599 - Pininfarina should start hiring Italians again
612 - 599 is what it should have looked like
458 - ah they are back on track
California - Enzo must be laughing in his grave

We criticize Ferraris just because they don't score 10/10 on looks but IIRC I haven't seen any reputed magazines criticizing any of the above listed models (keep Jeremy Clarkson aside).

I have often found myself and others criticizing Ferraris for failing to produce beautiful cars but every time each Ferrari has grown upon me and others and earned respect.

Though 2+2 is not Ferraris strong field yet this is what I am expecting of FF - gradual acceptance and respect .

[suhaas307]

Alright so Ferrari haven't got the looks sorted, but I think the formula is fantastic! V12, four-wheel-drive, et al. Ferrari purists may beg to differ, but there is nothing wrong with thinking outside the box. What this car does, is it gives Porsche sleepless nights. With many exotic makes resorting to sedan-like supercars in order to expand their market-share, it makes sense for Ferrari to bring in a brand new four-seater that goes like stink.

And it's quite smart of them to dig into their own parts bin, there by cutting manufacturing costs, a la, Porsche.

For a few minutes, try and look beyond the dowdy exterior, because there is a fantastically engineered and meticulously designed car inside. Kudos to Ferrari for getting the formula right.

[@400Kph]

Here is a video on you tube of FF :

YouTube - Ferrari Four Concept revealed - the making of

[Scorcher]

Ferrari FF Spyder rendered!

[Nikhilb2008]

Dear god! This is simply miserable! It looks pathetic! I know some of the Ferraris in the recent past have not been beautiful, but they havent been this ugly either!

[avishar]

As joey would say:

Ferrari good,V12 good,4wd good,4 seats good,0-100 very fast? good!

Whats there not to like?