Although I haven't yet seen the 12 C coupé in person, I already have a more or less formed idea about its design. The only thing that might happen when I see it is thinking that its design is more appealing than in the pictures as it seems to me that the opposite will not happen. After having seen quite a few pictures of the rear of the 12 C coupé, I think that in terms of design it has nothing to do with the rear of any of the predecessor GT V12 2-seat models from the last decade and a half. That's why I recently decided to test a group of ten friends who have a diverse knowledge of the automotive world and none of whom are Ferrari fans or aficionados of the brand. One by one I started by showing them the 7 pictures of the various models below without the emblems and lettering in the random order that I present here. As the pictures appeared on the screen I asked them to identify the brand of the car. 9 out of 10 identified the pictures of the rears of the 599, F12B, F12 TDF, 812 SF and 812 C as being from a Ferrari. The Hurracan Picture was identified by 8 persons as being a Lamborghini. Finally, 8 persons said the 12 C was a Lamborghini and only 2 said was a Ferrari. This small sample may not be significant but what is a fact is that the 12 C seen from this angle has nothing to do with any of the Ferraris that preceded it. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Thanks for your effort MDEL. Interesting analysis. 12 Cilindri indeed has some Lambo vibes from that view. If the bulbs over the rear wheels would be displayed more, it would lean more towards Ferrari. I would say that it still provides heavy Ferrari vibes. All displayed Ferrari rear ends share the concept of oval area rounding the 2 or 4 rear lights (812 SF is a bit of an exception). Roma is of course the closest design to 12 Cilindri. If a person is familiar with Roma's rear end, it is easy to recognize the family resemblance in 12 Cilindri.
It's going to be interesting to see how the 12 Cilindri VS design shapes up. I'm not sure how you make that design aggressive without completely losing the original in the mix.
God, this sounds like all those consumer ‘clinics’ we had to sit through. Asking people: “do you like this? Or that?” Hated those things.
I wonder if in 1963, we showed 10 people pictures of the 812C, how many would have said Ferrari? Sent from my iPhone using FerrariChat
Sadly, a lot was "lost in translation" from sketch to production car. The result is OK but when you look at what should have been, it's appalling... Same happened with the 296, or even worse IMO.
In 1968 when the 365 GTB/4 “Daytona” was launched its design represented a new direction for Ferrari as is now the case with the 12 Cilindri coupé. Unlike its predecessors the "Daytona" had sharper-edged styling rather than the sweeping curves of the 275 and 250 series Ferraris. The design of the 365GTB/4 was not universally accepted; “traditionalists decried it , while non-conformists thought it the best looking Ferrari to date”. Some critized the styling, questioning its apparently "un-Ferrari-like" simple appearance. The Italians even nicknamed the car “Il Gobbone”, or “the humpback”. However, the body lines have proven graceful and timeless, as so many Pininfarina designs do. I don't think the same will happen with the 12 C coupé but we have to wait a few decades to confirm whether I'm right or wrong.
It funny, the 365 GTB/4 is one of very few iconic Ferrari designs that doesn't speak to me. I know it was ahead of its time, but the design era it ushered in is not among my favorites. Perhaps this is why I'm having trouble warming to the 12C. The plexi-nose and bulbous rear from which Manzoni drew inspiration are perhaps the features I like least in the Daytona. I know this is probably an unpopular opinion. Still, I can't help but wonder if there's an overlap in people's responses to the Daytona and 12C designs. (A quick straw poll among family members suggests that there is.)
I love the original Daytona but my all time favorite is the GTB4-I’ll take mine as a NART Spyder[emoji4] Sent from my iPhone using FerrariChat
More like complete nonsense, "air brakes"? something like 100 pounds of total downforce if driving fast enough, those are completely pointless devices that will, hopefully, have a delete option when ordering. Remember, this car will weigh in excess of 4000 pounds when full of fluids and passenger or two. The diffuser looks quite odd as well, like it is not aligned as it extends past the bumper...are those pockets? Seems Ferrari is going out of their way to find silly things to do.
?? Actual air brakes, such as used on big diesel trucks use air compressor(s)...not what I was thinking of and definitely not what Ferrari or Pagani use. The Pagani retractable rear wing, depending on the model, has over 500KG of downforce, yes, I know how that works and have very much experienced it and the Cilindri is a silly, 10% of that downforce, it's a joke, the Roma generates almost twice as much downforce with its retractable wing...still not very meaningful.
There is a video of the 12 C coupé that Manzoni posted on his Instagram page. This video shows the car from different angles, some angles are on the pictures below, from which we will probably never see it in the real world. When the 12 C was presented, Ferrari released a series of photoshopped images of the car that were later found to make it much more appealing than what it actually appears to be in normal pictures. The feeling I get is that current designers live in a kind of fantasy imaginary virtual world where the images and videos they show us are unreliable because they are very different from reality. Fortunately, there are those who continuo trusting their own eyes to evaluate in person whether they like a design or not. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
The flaps are opening here twice as high as in animation provided by Ferrari. Could this be a service mode?
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Friend of mine who has bought 1 used Ferrari 488 was offered an allocation for a coupe with ETA 12-18 months. He declined- thinks the 12C is odd looking. I have the feeling dealers are going to have to work to sell them all. Maybe you’ll have to buy a 12C in order to qualify for a 296 The Ferrari world is upside down Sent from my iPhone using FerrariChat
