What is happening to Ferrari??

The 458 is amazing better looking the the 430. Most of the critics will agree. (Open up any magazine, watch Top Gear, etc.) A big step in the right direction. The FF is UGLY! (I think most anyone with taste would agree.)

 

http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=311221

 

Times are-a changing.

I love the 458 btw, the FF is CRAP!

 

Nothing wrong with the 458 at all. I don't think the FF is the proper segment for a super car manufacturer but that's my opinion, I'm sure Ferrari knows what they are looking to accomplish.

 

Actually, PAP isn't far from the real answer: Times are-a changing.

Style is something that moves. If you design something familar, it's safe. That's why you see so many cars that just keep repeating the same thing. BMW sedans look pretty much the same as they did 20 years ago (at least the same proportions and styling cues are there).

The 911 goes back to the early sixties.

The modern Vette goes back to the Mako Shark show car of the 60's.

People like familar things. They get comfortable with it. They also get tired of it which is why they sell their cars so often and buy new ones.

At some point, everything looks the same. Everything becomes boring.

Boring is something we don't want associated with "Ferrari" -- or any Italian car for that matter.

For a stylist to really make his mark, he has to try something new. It has to shake the senses. It has to stand out. It has to be controversial-- like the side strakes were in the 80's --- not everyone loved them but they become a styling cue that a lot of people still love today.

If designers never do anything bold and different, we are destined to remain in the past.

But, when you do something bold, you're going to be one of two things:

1) Ahead of your time

2) Out of range of taste

And, it's a delicate balance between these two.

People get used to style over time. It's like the "acquired taste" of first trying beer or wine. But you can't get people to drink bad wine no matter how much they try to get used to drinking it.

In a world of "safeness", Ferrari is being bold. As a designer myself, I see a bit of where they are going and I think over time, many will change their tunes about the current styling trend.

Then again, people may never find it attractive. There are several Ferrari models that never make the top 10 list in beauty or design.

That's the risk you take in being bold. Some things new just take a while to get used to.

 

I am ALL for change, but if its for the worst.............one has to wonder if it was really worth making the change.

 

I like the 458, the 599 is ok, the GTO is awesome

The 612 is not my cup of tea, the Cali is awful, and this new FF seems very confused

FF isnt ugly but who really wants an F hatchback ?

 

Three things, imo:

1)a) Loss of focus. Once the F1 team was made self-sufficient the raison d'etre of the road car program was severed. With the lack of any sort of real sports or GT racing program the marketeers were able to assume full control.

1)b) Luca Montezemolo: All power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely. Rather than view his role as that of steward of an historical treasure, he believes he's Enzo's successor; the latest cars, bar the 458 somehow, reflect his personal obsessions and lack of taste.

2) Ken Okuyama. The stain he has left on Ferrari will not fade in my lifetime. Under his wretched reign fashion took full precedence over style.

 

+1 - well said

 

Yes, Ken was a ****. I met him and he was whining about building the Rossa concept

This would be everybodys dream to design an F concept. Instead he whines that the company didnt get paid for it. WTF?!?

 

Where exactly does beautiful styling fit into the above.....

 

I concur. I recall cars that came out and seemed odd at the time, that took design in a new direction can grow to be quite handsome. Beauty can come in multiple forms. There is beauty that doesn't fade, but I recall once seeing a GM car that I thought was fantastic and I knew I'd want one when i could afford one. In 6 months the design was tired. It tells me that I have basically no sense of style and am required to be a sheep if I want anything tasteful. It's a sorry lot in life, at least I have my brother who can really see the writing on the wall and has an artists eye.

 

The FF, the front view reminds me of Honda 2000 and the profile a BMW M coupe far too much to say it's an advance design. And the m coupe is ugly as sin, the Honda I like.

 

+ not to mention with some Alfa Brera thrown in for good measure.

 

At least the lights can be fixed with a little (body color) paint.

California is BARF for style.

 

In the 50s and 60s I'd see a new Ferrari and say, "WOW"!

Now I see a new Ferrari and say, "WTF"?

 

HUH ?!?!? Park a Cali next to a 550 & the Cali looks like an F150 front end w Rosanne Barr's back end

The 612 is best forgotten asap

456 was nice

308/328 was a real beauty

 

From an ENGINEERING standpoint, Ferrari is still making fantastic cars. From a FUNCTION standpoint, Ferrari is still making fantastic cars.

Form, style, fashion, finish...... subjective

Wrap the FF in a different body, and we'd all be in awe of its capabilities
The California is no slouch either

 

Easy.

The 80% of the Ferrari workers ARE NOT Ferraristi. They are going to Maranello every day like As if it was going to bakery. I have seen it for my self. From chairman to the last man in assembly line.


(excuse me all of you,my english.I know, is very bad)

 

Your English is Fine!

Best

 

What he said.

OTOH, the FF would do better in flood waters, depending where you live.

Except the FF borrows from an existing body of design -- Honda Civic hatchback, BMW Z3 coupe and a couple of exotics that are regarded as curiosities rather than design successes: The Aston Martin shooting brake and the Ferrari "Breadvan" rebody.

The FF isn't innovative in terms of its aesthetic. It borrows from the wrong places to meet a market segment that probably doesn't exist.

We saw Chris Bangle being "bold" with the last gen BMWs, and those have been nearly universally disliked (and their replacements applauded). Bangle was being self-indulgent, and the FF looks to be a similar move: forget motorsports, let's try something un-Ferrari-like.

Well said.

If a Ferrari isn't about motorsports or sporting tourers, I don't really see the point of it existing separate from Fiat.

Ferrari isn't supposed to be the focus group-driven company. We have Toyota, Fiat, Ford, VW, Mercedes, BMW, etc. to meet our daily driver needs.

 

Ferrari lost its way when it started WORRYING about selling cars .......... quite some time ago.

Instead of building cars IT wanted, it started building cars it HOPED the masses LIKED.

BAD MOVE.



"CHANGE" for the sake of CHANGE, is NEVER a GOOD Thing. You always have to load it with a bunch of "hope" that usually doesn't pan out.


How many people are going to buy Ferraris with their service schedule in this economy?

 

FF doesn't try as hard as some others, and might not perform as well in a strip mall parking lot (beyond actual function). First ones may be scored and enjoyed by regulars who own multiples of the current fare. Bet it'll be a good car - cool it's different - curious to see in the metal.