http://www.pistonheads.com/news/default.asp?storyId=9360
Tony, that's a 550 barchetta- I'd imagine the 575 Superamerica will look quite different to the Maranello. Robert.
Afraid the SuperAmerica does not look different from a Maranello. It actually makes a Barchetta look good....has a glass roof that pivots backwards to sit atop the trunk with the center stop light incorporated in the part that pivots...... Has the 612 engine and GTC brakes/exhaust The glass roof can be "dimmed" a la Mercedes UGH
Yes, well you must have been in Monterey where it received a VERY luke-warm reception.... This top looks simply awful.... what a disapointment.
Huh, what didn't you like? The group I was with responded very positively. I'm not big on drop tops anyway, so it is not a big deal to me. But did you not like the squared off look in the back or ????? Thx, Dale
I saw it at a presentation here in the UK last week. Very lukewarm reception here as well - I didn't meet anyone who would buy one. For the european market (where we have crappy weather) it's a pointless car IMO. If I lived in California - maybe, but just maybe. I would hate getting caught in the rain with the top down - the window just acts as a bowl for water and it's going to come right down in your head when you flip the roof back. To me there was something wrong with the back as well. The integrated spoiler on the boot (trunk) was gone, and they had changed the rear. It looked to much like a Peugeot 406 Coupe I think.
What a pity- I'd hoped it was an opportunity for Ferrari to make a breathtakingly beautiful car, a la 250 California, not an SL wannabe. Robert.
STOP POSTING THAT PICTURE AS IF IT WERE THE REAL THING! Not to be too rude, but people constantly try to pass of that artist's interpretation as if it were real, and it simply isn't.
Since there are no pictures available (they're doing a good job keeping it under wraps - better than with F430), I made a quick sketch of what I think it could look like. The Fioravanti roof concept can also be made to work with a vertical rear window. The rounded glass on the Vola concept was really to emphasize the rotating aspect of the flip roof. With the addition of Enzo-like sail panels, I think it's a pretty good looking car, considering it's based on an almost 9 year-old design. To those people who saw it: Does it look anything like this? Image Unavailable, Please Login
Yes, good job. Your drawing is the closest that I have seen. The only off part is the rear deck lid, or actually the rear truck lid. The car I saw had a flatter lid that folded up from where the rear window ends. Ferrari was very proud of the fact that you could fit two golf bags in there. But I think that you captured the essense of the car. There is no round dowel like on the picture, but instead there are mini-308 sail wings that cover up the details. Dale
Yes I saw it at Pebble Beach, and sorry to say but that "artist concept" yellow picture (see prior post) is right on. The glass is a single piece, EXACTLY like the previous picture, as for the those beer can looking Ferrari aluminum end caps, those are not true. Not to be rude, but it's obvious Damcgee hasn't seen it as of his last posting.
Thanks for the feedback. Do you remember if the back of the one piece roof was rounded like the original Fioravanti Vola, or if it was flat, like in my sketch? The kinematics of the roof will work just as well with a vertical rear glass (don't know how the sealing will work), whereas with the rounded back glass, I would image the view to the rear might be distorted.
I hear a (the ?) car was shown to dealers last week in Zürich. Allocation for Switzerland would be 20 cars, at a MSRP of 340KCHF.
I saw it at the Park Hyatt in Zürich last Sunday evening. Nice presentation, excellent dinner and live music...and, oh yeah, the car...I liked it. The roof is very cool and a very simple mechanism. The 540PS car as presented was red the carbon ceramic brakes and will come standard with 19" wheels. Another very nice 'new' thing is the seat leather. It's perforated with tiny holes to allow it to breath. I guess it avoids that 'sticky' feeling when the cabin heats up... - Brian
Yes, the back of the glass was flat and the top was slightly round shaped. One more thing, with the top laying upside down the trunk lid, you could still open the trunk! Dale
In Monterey, Ferrari specially called the car a Berlinetta Convertible. I know that this is a contradiction in terms, but I think that this was Ferrari's point. Thx Dale
I was in Pebble Beach for the unveiling as well. It was an impressive show as both Sergio Pininfarina was there (w/ a line of people asking for his autograph) along w/ Piero Ferrari (the sons of the two founding fathers). They called the car the Convertible Berlinetta. The picture posted by Patrick Shimm is the same car they had at Pebble except for the color - that one was red. I actually snuck my camera in but didn't dare pull it out to sneek a pic as they had people all around the car. The back of the glass top (behind the drivers and passenger's heads) where the roof hinges to the car was rounded. I think the point of this is so that when the top is open and the glass hood is rested over the trunk the back of the glass roof behind the drivers head forms an air dam to deflect air away from the cabin. It's an ingenious design. The interesting thing about the presentation is that Ferrari seemed to be hyping the electroluminescent roof coating. Since the roof is all-glass it could get hot in the car so you can adjust how much light passes through the glass roof to darken or lighten it. Much like the Maybach.
