Enzo on F 40. (See my signature) vs Ferrari's future is not in extreme performance and top speeds, vice-general manager Amedeo Felisa has revealed to Autocar. “People are changing their minds about Ferraris,” said Felisa, on hand at the Geneva motor show to show off his firm's track-day special, the 599XX. “We need to go in the direction of customer needs and utilisation of our cars.” Felisa revealed that the company's future sports cars would focus more on the “special rewards” from the cars, hinting that noise, feel and drama would be increased rather than outright performance. The first example of this new policy is expected to the F430 replacement, the F450, due next year.
How the times have changed. but then it's little wonder when you look at the California .. it definitely wasn't designed with the purist in mind. So what will Ferrari announce next .. an SUV perhaps? or maybe a range of "Ferrari" exhausts so you can make your Toyota, Honda or Kia sound like the real thing. Maybe someone needs to remind Mr Felisa of Enzo's comments on the F40 before it's too late!
Oh well...i havent been enthusiast about a new Ferrari since the Stradale. They are awesome cars but they dont make me dream at night anymore. Hopefull the Enzo replacement will prove me wrong.
i think what they are trying to do is brilliant. a car can only get so much faster and when you compromise driving experiance to do so, its just not worth it imho. i mean they can continue to shorten shifting times, increase power, increase top speed, etc. but, with the exeption of a few, most owners will never drive hard enough to notice a difference. it becomes bragging rights. you lose the character of the car, the feel, the passion. the same thing happened to lambo. the countach, the diablo, so raw, so harsh, so rough, so rewarding! audi comes in and its all gone sure the murci is faster, so what! it doesnt get your blood flowing like the older cars. i think ferrari's timing is on key as well. performance numbers can only increase so much. i mean how much faster can you get to 60? how much faster can you make a car shift gears? if they kept going i think they would eventually hit a wall. its like breast implants. when they first came out they were small and modest yet a great improvement, im sure, for those who purchased. then like wild fire they spread into 39kkk in recent days. whats the point? i like my cars like i like my breast, sexy, curvaceous and with purpose! i would love for ferrari to focus on the feel of the car. make a car that sends shivers down my spine. one that makes my palms sweat and my stomache drop when you start it.
Told to me personally by the person who it was told to who was the person who told Pedro Rodrigues when he pulled into the pits complaining that his Factory Team Car was over heating took a screw driver, put it through the water temp. gague and said: "Now it's not go back out there you P****."
Lets not be too hasty here guys, Maybe as a "special reward" we can order a hot blow up doll in the passenger seat and an orgasmatron built into the drivers seat
Hope it is true!!! 599 will be the high water mark of outright performance lacking in "special rewards". I have been cautiously optimistic since the Mille Chilli concept car at the 60th
Good story. I think Porsche went a little off track with the Boxter. It was a soft car, designed for the female customer, and it was, in a lot of ways, like the BMW Z-3. It was a bit under done. Althought Porsche said they hit their sales goals, they beefed the car up a little (and BMW introduced the Z-4). Problem is, these cars carry a stigma. I hope Ferrari stays away from that. It's OK to eat red meat, have a scotch or bourbon and go look at naked ladies at a bachelor party, once in a while (well, it was when I was 25, at least) But if we start to get prudish and shy, we lose our edge. And when we lose our edge, we should just retire.
I think this is a great thing. Isn't that what Ferrari did with the Enzo? They didn't set out to build the fastest top speed car, or the best handling, they wanted to build a great all around car. Also, this is part of the reason why people love old cars. A bugatti T35 can't keep up with a modern minivan, but it is the noise, feel, drama, that make it fun to drive. Cars today you can't tell how fast you are even going most of the time, so I think a return to that would be great. I recently rode in a lotus Elise, and the car felt so much quicker and more fun to be in than the AMG I was in a while before, even though the AMG is quicker. I read this comment as almost going back to the F40 type car, bare bones raw etc. just with performance that is not always the "fastest in the world." I don't think Ferrari has in modern times focused on outright performance, besides their supercars. Ferrari is not in the business of building the fastest top speed or the quickest 0-60 time. If Ferrari customers only wanted cars with the best statistics would all be driving ZR1's. Instead Ferrari customers look for a blend of all of the above. Erik Erik
I miss the days when Ferrari not Corvette won the GT class at the 24 and built a street legal car that could lap the Ring faster than any other. The 450 will be great and I'm hopefull that the next Super Ferrari will be too but I do think the old ones have a certain je ne sais quoi...
Ferrari did win the GT1 in 2003, and the GT2 in 2008, but I do miss the days of Ferrari competing at the highest level of endurance racing with (semi-) works entries. No future Ferrari will ever be able to take away the emotional value and significance of the vintage racers of the Scuderia.
But to stay in business you have to make money, building the fastest car around the ring doesn't make business sense. Just look at the Viper GTS ACR that turned a 7.22 and what kind of shape chrysler and the viper's survival is in. I would much rather have any Ferrari then none. I do have a soft spot for the old cars as well, the good thing is their survival is not in question as they are so highly valued. In today's world I think that the performance is getting to a point where it makes sense to have a more driveable car, then one a race driver can record a great time in. Look at the top gear test of the Gumpert Apollo Hammond said the car was almost impossible to drive, yet the Stig recorded the best time of any car up to that point in it. I don't want to see Ferrari's that can get an inexperienced owner in any more trouble then they already can... Erik
GM and C's problems have nothing to do with the Corvette or the ACR. ZR1's go for 25K over msrp. today something new Ferrari's no longer do.
With the ZR1 give it time just like when the 1990 ZR-1 came out it sold for almost $40 over sticker which was in the low $60's then. The car was almost sale-proof by the end of production in 1995. Ferrari had a much longer run of MSRP+ then the ZR1 will have IMO. GM and C's problems do not have anything to do with the Corvette or the Viper you are right on that, but if you want the fastest car to go around the ring you will still either own a GM or a Chrysler product. Which then means you have to deal with GM and C's problems... I am just happy to see Ferrari still making cars and still meeting the US emissions standards you remember I am sure the days when the 308 was the only car sold here none gray market. I am thinking positive and thrilled to see them making more models available. It will take the mass produced models to make the cars like scud's, 16M's and the supercars possible. Erik
Halo cars like the ACR and ZR1, with 'Ring scoreboard among their accomplishments, are traffic builders.
Here's the whole statement. Hybrids in 2015. http://www.autocar.co.uk/News/NewsArticle.aspx?AR=238524
Could this drive the prices of older Ferrari's up especially the F40? It seems that the prices are firming up for clean cars http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=234363 Erik PS I am upset about hybrids, but I was upset when the F1 transmission started being a staple on every Ferrari instead of a rare sight. Now F1 technology is embraced by many. So who knows about hybrids I have been wrong plenty...
