How Long Until Beautiful Ferraris Resurface?

I doubt it. Too much money in this building to be underutilized.
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Im w/ you man. IMO the current line up isnt "beautiful."
I can only hope the Dino will be.

But NOW THIS IS BEAUTIFUL!!!



















NOT!!!!!
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Aerodynamics aren't the only major design influence in modern cars; safety and governmental regulations play a big part, as does the need to accommodate an increasing level of hedonistic decadence that was not expected in "sports" cars in the past (i.e., easy to get in and out of for larger people and people with less physical dexterity, room to cary more stuff, etc.). Then of course there is the perceived (or perhaps created) need by marketers and designers to always be "pushing the envelope" and always be coming up with something new. I think these later things detract from cars' beauty more than aerodynamics do.

I think that just as a bird is beautiful, an aerodynamic car can be beautiful, and will be most beautiful with the most simple and functional design; a design whose purpose is right for being aerodynamic, physically on the road, housing engine and driver in good weight distribution, with purposeful trim and accoutrements, etc.

 

I dunno.... I think the 360 and 599 are quite the lookers.

 

Aero may be part of it, but they will never recapture the magic until they lose some of the girth. There are proportions on smaller cars (like the 246, 308/328, Boxer, 355, etc.) that are simply more appealing. It's easier to create a cohesive design when you're not working with an acre-long car.

I think that's why Callum was able to do such a bang-up job on the Aston Martin V8 Vantage, which is probably the prettiest current production car. Likewise, the taut little Porsche 997 is still handsome, because (and I haven't measured...) it's got to be about the size of the 328/355-era Ferraris.

 

Well, maybe we should remember that in the golden age (I call it anything pre-Daytona even if I am a Testarossa owner), Ferrari had not only lots of models, but also lots of custom bodywork of fantastic variety.

Many of the specials, and not a few of the regular production cars, were sort of stinkers in their day. Many of the specials in particular looked like somebody had been used to test-sniff a little Tabun before making their way to the drafting table. Others (a few like that King Leopold convertible) were classics and influenced future Ferraris and even other makers design.

But, all in all, it seemed that the good-looking cars were the ones that finally made into series production and these are the ones that we tend to remember.

Today, there is not the luxury of such lavish experimentation: each and every one has to be judged by the public to be a surefire beauty winner and this is not so easy to achieve every time you roll the dice.

On the other hand, it could also be said that maybe somebody is not reviewing the drawing and clay stage of the design quite as closely as they should -

 

I'd love to see Ian Callum or Fioravanti design a modern Ferrari

Pininfarina is pretty much over now

So I think Bertone will be designing next gen Ferraris

 

Kinda doubtful.

 

I think that the Cali looks "ok", the 430 & the 612 look good.

However, I think that the 599 looks simply beautiful
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The style starvation is just not limited to our F-cars.In 90% of all of today's cars the guy that designed the front of the car never shook hands with the guy designing the rear! The butt's are just too huge and from the side they all look like those brown rubber door stops.

 

many of the newer ferraris and lamborghinis look striking, but not beautiful..the 360 comes the closest to being beautiful of the newer cars IMO. as for lamborghinis even, i'd prefer the gorgeous shape of the miura over just about any other design..i would definitely love to see a more simple and pure looking ferrari sports car in the future.

 

Andrea Pininfarina the soul of PF died last year, all the top designers left then pf was bought by banksters

PF is done

The way I see it either Bertone or Fioravanti will do future Ferraris

The new PF crew is new and untested, not who you want designing Italy's finest

 

The 599 is beautiful; the Maserati Birdcage is beautiful; Jim's P4/5 is beautiful. These three models have one thing in common: Jason Castriota. And Jason is currently at Bertone. If Bertone becomes Ferrari's new designer, then Jason's influence will no doubt find its way into the bodies of contemporary Ferraris. And they will once again host the beautiful curves and timeless lines for which we long.

I, for one, happen to like the look of Ferrari's current and recent models. But if the design of future Ferraris winds up in Jason's lap, then we'll see a radical, forward-thinking progression of design while still retaining an homage to the greats like Fioravanti and Giugiaro who have influenced Castriota.

If Jason stays with Bertone, then we can only hope that Bertone gets the Ferrari contract.

 

Aerodynamics and passenger safety are two key elements in building super cars, however the Pagani Zonda is a modern day super car with great aero and safety plus the car is drop dead gorgeous. I just think Ferrari has decided to build cars to a more liberal clientele so they can keep increasing production. Being an F355 owner, maybe I'm a bit prejudice, but IMHO cars coming out of Maranello today just don't do it for me design wise. Like Jeremy Clarkson said "a super car should have two functions,to look amazing and to go faster than anything else, period!"

 

Eye of the beholder and all that.

I'm on record saying that I don't like the newer designs. However, I don't think we'll ever see a return to the old days.

IMO, Aston has cornered the market on beauty.

CW

 

i think that is sad but true my friend!

pcb

 

Sad but true

in the meantime Lamborghini keeps designing true Italian beauty exotica

 

I think Jason was quoted (in Forza magazine?) as saying that the Granturismo was beautiful and the 599 was a "challenging" design, not what it could have been. And, to my eyes, the California looks like a "599 GTS".

Yes, they're all beautiful relative to normal cars. Park a 360 next to a Porsche <insert model name here> and the Ferrari wins the stares. There are some brilliant bits to all of them -- I like the rear view of a black 360, and I like the side profile on the 612 Sessanta with the two-tone scheme.

But the era of the bite-the-back-of-your-hand-I-want-to-marry-that-car sexy probably hit a peak in the '60s and ended in the '80s, with the 355 and 550 being the delayed last gasp.

Now they all hold your golf clubs, carry your fat relatives in comfort, warm your a$$ in the winter, generate negative lift and don't look offensive. I've seem some promising P-chops of the F500, and I hope they make it small, light, fast and gorgeous. We all have other cars to haul crap around.

 

I'd like to see some of the older designs with modern technology (safety).

 

I cant say ANY Ferrari is ugly... but I have to agree that the 'beautiful' Ferraris are a thing of the past.

As others have said there are too many considerations that now have to be made for technology and safety. Designers do not have the freedom to create as they once did.

I definitely do not think the 599, birdcage or Jims P4/5 are beautiful. Interesting and attractive in their own ways (Im not turning any of them down) but not beautiful.

beautiful is something a good designer can create in a few minutes using only a french curve. Not wind tunnels.

I cant even say that the TR, 355,308 etc are beautiful...they arent. Certainly attractive and 'cool' looking. but not beautiful.

beautiful is a GTO. And im not some 60 yr old dude that grew up with those cars...i didnt even discover them until my 20s. But when I first saw a GTO it was like seeing design perfection.

Out of todays manufacturers Aston Martin certainly is the front runner as far as designs...but even it isnt really beautiful to me. The Alfa 8C is as close to beautiful as Ive seen in a long time..oh and that 599 rebody.

 

Cogently put. "Mass marketing" , for lack of a better term in the exotic car biz, requires a car with navi this, power assist that, and all the amenities we look for in our daily driver. If you're shooting for 10,000 plus in sales, you can't just target the enthusiast market. Ferrari is, after all, a business seeking the greatest profit potential, which is perfectly understandable. Just not quite as much fun.

 

If you look carefully at most modern cars, you see much evidence of making the car cheper to manufacture. Really has limited the design detail on the front and rears of cars. Also, the glass area, or green house has shrunk to the point where you drive in a bathtub looking out of gun slits. Terrible design, probably done because metal is cheaper than glass. Lastly, the tall rear "haunches" make for a fat rear end, and the amount of metal over the rear tire to the trunk or glass is almost universal design, and sure looks terrible. Add in poor wheelbase to wheel size asthetics, and the overall outcome of most cars including most Ferarri's is just not pleasant. The 599 comes close to looking beuatiful, but for the high haunches at the back. If they brought that down, and added more glass on the sides, this would be a modern classic. Maybe someone can phtoshop what I am thinking about here...

I think the design fads will evolve. And with the price of a Ferrari, surely the cost of manufacture can accomodate some complex glass, panels and detailing. Give me a nice jewelry quality door handle made of solid metal to start with, and I will have hope.

 

You don't get any significant structural strength from the greenhouse (purpose-built race cars are usually open cars, to maximize strength and keep the center of gravity low). You do get a lot of weight. A Lincoln Town Car or Ford Expedition has lots of glass, but those aren't built with performance in mind. I doubt that Ferrari are cutting back on glass to control costs. Modern Ferraris are built with expensive structural materials relative to regular road cars. I can't fault them there.

I agree that there is generally too much metal over the rear tires in the modern Ferraris -- compare a 308 to an F430 and it's like Pininfarina built a walk-in closet instead of an engine bay.

I don't share your enthusiasm for the 599. It reminds me of a Mitsubishi sports coupe: not ugly, and the proportions are what you'd expect, but it lacks the drama of the 550/575 or a Porsche 997 Turbo, which look like they're bulging with muscle. The 599 is close to 2 tons, and it looks like some of that went to the rear end. Overall it just looks "nice", in the same way the 456 still looks good but was never poster material.