What does 'F' stand for?

Berlinetta simply means coupé.

 

Then Ferrari F355 is like saying The La Trattoria...

 

The official name sometimes includes Berlinetta and sometimes not. Just like a model name sometimes includes the F and sometimes not. It is 550 Maranello and 360 Modena, but F430 and F50. Unusually for a regular production car, the F430 doesn't have an additional name, like 458 Italia or F12berlinetta (this time there is no space). There are also models without an F or a number such as Challenge Stradale (no 360). Basically, Ferrari just does what it pleases.

The F does stand for Ferrari.


Onno

 

Hmmmm....what about the FF?

Times were good when the number denoted the displacement of 1 cylinder. But then, also in the old days they were not always consequent with this. Come to think of it, it was also confusing then. 500 Mondial/TRC (4 cylinders) and the various 500 V-12's were all 500. and 121LM is also confusing.

 

I don't think any car maker out there bases their model name of factual performance/statistics of their cars anymore. 63 AMG engines from Mercedes are 6.2 liters, the BMW uses 2,0 Turbo engines for the 530i and so on. And God knows what MP4-12C stands for (the McLaren).

FF = Ferrari Four

There is little to no logic with Ferrari naming these days, maybe they are running out of ideas - the trouble with name branding, like the Maranello, Modena, Scaglietti, Enzo Ferrari and so on, eventually they are all used up...
I'm not a fan of the F12 name. Sounds very non-Ferrari (very McLaren like), but that may be the future naming strategy.

 

No, FF stands for Four wheel drive, Four seats.

 

Thanks for correcting me.

 

Currently amg 63 engines are 5.5 litres
Twin turbos at the top of the heap

 

Well, there you go...

Seriously, the automotive world needs to re-invent simplicity!

 

Henry Ford started all right by calling his first car the Model A in 1903, and then went on to call the next one in 1904 the Model C...

 

Driveafterdark was correct FF does mean Ferrari Four.

John.

 

Nope. It is clearly explained in Ferrari's own introductory video regarding the launch of the FF:

Four wheel drive
Four seats. "The FF: a name, as we said, inspired by the car’s four generous, body-hugging seats and, more significantly, the new Prancing Horse-patented four-wheel drive system. Purists will be overjoyed to know that it is still the rear wheels that actually provide the power, with torque being transferred only to the front axle when required and even then intelligently and predicatively distributed to all four wheels. Yet another reason why this is the most versatile Ferrari ever built."

 

Guess I was right.

Edit; Or maybe we both are?
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

i'm not god, but wikipedia says it stands for:

The name of the new McLaren sports car is MP4-12C. 'MP4' has been the chassis designation for all McLaren Formula 1 cars since 1981. Since 1997, 'MP4' has stood for McLaren Project 4 (from 1981 to 1996, when McLaren's title sponsor was Marlboro, the "M" stood for this), resulting from the merger of Ron Dennis' Project 4 organisation with McLaren. The '12' refers to McLaren's internal Vehicle Performance Index through which it rates key performance criteria both for competitors and for its own cars. The criteria combine power, weight, emissions, and aerodynamic efficiency. The coalition of all these values delivers an overall performance index that has been used as a benchmark throughout the car's development. The 'C' refers to Carbon, highlighting the application of carbon fibre technology to the future range of McLaren sports cars.
MP4-12C shares its name with the MP4/12 Formula 1 car that raced in the 1997 season. This car featured a second brake pedal discovered by photographers to counter understeer on the exit of the corners by selecting the inside rear wheel, similar to the computer controlled "brake steer" system of the MP4-12C.

 

Hmmmm......It seems YOU are correct.

 

slightly off topic maybe---but i guess that asking for logic/standardization in naming/branding is beyond the possibility of happening for sure---we can't even get true commonality of were controls are or operate---ie; turn signals or wipers or lights ---who hasn't done the sit down in a new and/or different car and and frantic search for where is the whatever--and lets not even talk about saabs and porsches and ignition switches etc---
kind of like the olden days (age showing) when you got on a motorcycle and had to remember which side the shifter/brake was and what the shift pattern was and god forbid you forget while riding---quick downshift actually turning into jump on rear brake

sorry sort of drifted there

 

Guess I was right.

 

F### models are equipped with paddle shifters, as in F1.

 

But it's not F360 Modena, F458 Italia or F575 Maranello...

 

Ford F150

 

And isn't a F430 with a stick still a F430?

 

The F355 name (1994 - 1995) was changed to '355 F1' for the sequential manual gearbox models (1996-1999). Ferrari felt calling it F355 F1 was a bit off.