Ferrari 849 Testarossa Styling

Agree, it was fitting for the 12C, absolutely not here. But it IS obviously their new design language.

 

WTH…!! Just when I thought it couldn’t get any worse, Ferrari had to prove me wrong. Still my fav brand, but this is SO bad from every angle except maybe straight from the very front cuz you can’t see most of the weirdness from a low front straight on perspective.

 

It’s awful Ferrari is designing all its cars with the same “language “- black plastic panels, awkward angular panels with warts etc. There was a time when each of their cars were uniquely styled with an occasional nod to the past but new and refreshing. One model looked nothing like the other-but instantly recognizable as a Ferrari. Each was a home run.
In baseball speak, this 849 is a strikeout caught looking with the bases loaded and two out in the bottom of the ninth inning losing the game big time.
So now we have to wait for a VS version at $1M+ asking to get the car design “corrected” to a base on balls.
Unfortunately, I have already left the stadium…

 

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Ferrari has finally found a way to make Mondials look good.

 

Well, it's unfortunately quite simple, when several young designers come together who have no Ferrari culture and who, moreover, grew up with Japanese design, well, this is what happens... one designs the front, another the back, another the roof leaks... and then we assemble, and you end up with a cyberpunk car straight out of an Asian manga! Hence this feeling of total lack of coherence and 'immature' visuals, because for them, as long as there is symmetry, it works (duckbill front & back).
And Manzoni has the bad habit of adding tons of unnecessary details that drown the design. Objectively, it's... disheartening !!!
They absolutely need to change the badge of the new productions; I'm starting to feel ashamed to have the same one on my car... most of the people I know in the automotive industry are seriously mocking what the brand has... They are in the process of destroying the brand's heritage.

 

I still remember the Chris Bangle era at BMW, and Ferrari seems to be going through the same phase. Today, they say they are searching for a new design language and have not yet found it. But in 25 years, people will say, ‘The 849, the Ferrari design icon of the modern era.’
Personally, I think the 849 is a success, except for the curved rear wheel arches, which I find too old-fashioned, I prefer the elongated version of the F80.

 

It actually looks very striking in the flesh, very sharp, when they drove it on the stage it had quite a big impact visually on me, looks very sharp and modern with retro vibes, also the proportions are right, yes the front end treatment is not good in particular those half dinner plates under the headlights, I have no idea why the designer did that, maybe some aero benefit but the rest is absolutely on point, it will certainly grow on a lot of people that I am sure of, you need to see it to appreciate the intricacies of the design but it is certainly controversial.

Another thing I will point out, this car looks much better in color combos and spec which lean more towards Motorsport/Racing not so much a grand tourer softer look the SF90 has, this is more of a sports car perhaps that’s why the negativity from someone of the people who like a more elegant, soft, organic designs and shapes, it’s certainly not soft, it looks hardcore.

 

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Take it easy haha it’s not that deep LOL

 

Day355 at least you Italians still have amazing food, incredible architecture and gorgeous women, I will go have a nice meal now in Milan and spec my 849 haha.

 

I’m not somebody who will say “I don’t like it, Ferrari, Manzoni, they’re rubbish”. My initial reaction was not positive when I saw the video thumbnail, then more positive when I saw the video moving, then “er…” when it got to the side profile.

True top-level artists and designers make you think. I don’t get the black vertical piece on the side at all. I can see what he’s trying to do, I think. My eyes just don’t like it (yet?) Perhaps time will show this to be a genius design that harks back to the boxiness of the Testarossa, which would further add to the body of work that confirms Manzoni as the design leader I think he is.

For the moment though, I can’t conclude that I like this car. Manzoni, as Pininfarina and Bertone before, has had some fantastic successes, such as the SP3, and some less notable designs (Portofino perhaps). This currently sits in my list of more questionable designs.

The front seems to be influenced by the KC 23 (pictured); slightly pinched in terms of width, flat-ish, with winglets protruding ahead of the light array. The KC 23 was not controversial in the way even those who immediately love the 849 should be able to admit this new car is. The front is somewhat challenging to me, the black strip a little less successful than on the 12 Cilindri and F80. From some angles I see cleverness but others I’m much less sure. The car’s general boxiness, adopted from the F80, which I immediately liked upon seeing the F80 for the first time, is an interesting design theme and one that has a tendency to be controversial upon inception, then leading to appreciation and finally outright love in years to come. The Enzo is a perfect example of this, as is the Testarossa. Some would argue that the Enzo will age even better than the LaFerrari, which is the opposite kind of design - curvy, immediately beautiful.

The Testarossa name is then an obvious one. Boxy design, halo car. The 849 does remind me of the Testarossa, something that makes me question a few things because the side-strakes I have always thought to be a fully integral part of the car - it isn’t a Testarossa without them. What jars with me about the 849 is that the flow is quite broken up, something which doesn’t happen with the original Testarossa.

People who complain about it being a hotch-potch of ideas, should perhaps be reminded that if you want heritage in Ferrari cars, they have to draw influence from the back catalogue. Exhibit A? The SP3, now universally lauded as beautiful but wasn’t originally. It too has some broken lines and odd features, I think even the same criticism was levelled at it - influence of past cars was taken to an extreme and not integrated well. Then everyone seemed to change their mind.

Having said that, there are more restrictions to the standard cars - they have to be more usable, packaging issues are more of a problem and the construction method is less flexible, less bespoke. It is certainly possible that the ultimate conclusion about this car will be that such an ambitious design could be too much for a standard production model. The side profile of the spider in Giallo seems quite to be particularly challenging. It feels like there are lines going everywhere. I can just about keep up until the side carbon sticks a big vertical spike through the whole lot. The front and rear three-quarters are better but still very busy. I just realised the front black bar is reminiscent of the rear black bar on the original Testarossa, is that intentional? Maybe.

The interior is beautiful and a step on. I especially love the way you can colour the seats and area around them, plus the driver’s side of the centre console.

Overall though, this is quite a challenging design. I hope I will grow to understand it and I can certainly see why they tried to go this direction. As for my ‘wife test’, I asked her what she thought and she said, “Oh no, it’s beautiful. You’ll be wanting one of those..” Her reaction was instant! Maybe we’ve all been analysing every last square inch of these designs for too long and we should chill out a bit. Maybe.
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This judgement is purely subjective, as usual. On the contrary, I find these winglets to be deeply cohesive with the overall design, and capable of giving the car a great charge of personality. Together with the splitted rear flaps, they suggest the presence of two long blades immersed in the car body that extend from the nose to the tail.
They are somewhat reminiscent of some sports prototype aero tricks from the 60s and 70s and certainly perform a complementary aerodynamic action. I also suspect that they might be intended to vertically align the nose overhang with that of the lower spoiler in order to meet homologation requirements.
In any case, the referenced image shows great attention to detail. Incidentally, I really like the 3D sculpted shape of the headlight. The lower spoiler is also very intriguing and deserves further analysis and understanding.

 

Let’s break down the styling of the Ferrari range:

I think the 296 GTS is beautiful. It’s an incredible and timeless design. The GTB is close, with better rear proportions but the A pillar is a miss.

the 296 Speciale are also well done and striking but, for whatever reason I just find myself appreciating the curvaceous and sensual appeal of the 296 more.

the new Amalfi is bland and boring to my eye. No risks taken from the Roma.

the SP3 was never great looking to my eye but wow it is striking, so that’s a win.

12C is good to my eye and retro but done right. I think in person it’s quite something. 812 GTS is better, so tough act to follow, but the 12C coupe be 812 coupe….I actually may prefer 12C so that’s high praise. However, 12C began this retro direction and for that, big L!

the SF90XX is actually a great looking car and somehow a big improvement on the base SF90 even with the fixed rear wing which I traditionally don’t like.

The F80 is a big miss to me and way worse looking than LAF. No sex appeal. Weirdly retro. Doesn’t belong in the same lineage.

and now this, the 849 is one of the worst looking cars I’ve seen in some time, I think upon reflection. Not because there aren’t some interesting design flares. They just don’t come together and there are far too many!

how can the same department that designs the beautiful and curvaceous and reserved 296 create this? I don’t understand. When was the decision made to stop designing curves and make the cars as boxy and angular as possible? Was the secondary market success of the SP3 so much despite the overstyled and challenging design elements that the department was emboldened to just go ALL IN on overstyling and challenging design elements? Is the goal of Ferrari to test their brand might and see what people will let them get away with? Is Ferrari baffled by how to appeal to a shrinking European marketplace and a growing Asian market place and leaning too heavily into Asian style design elements which is why it looks so out of place and poorly connected?

a bit stream of consciousness, but these are the things going through my head regarding this….thing.

 

It's not subjective, tell Manzoni that when 80% say it's bad, he should take it into account.
And take the opportunity to share your opinion with Fioraventi (an undeniable genius) and get his opinion.

 

I think it looks great! Way better than the SF90. I could do without the little eyebrow lip protrusions though.

 

It's a ****ing disaster, no other way to put it...bad, bad, bad from every angle, it's not just bad from a Ferrari perspective, it's bad from an autodesign perspective. Elkan is destroying everything Enzo and Luca stood for, what a shame.

 

Some people may like it - after all, it was designed and approved...
Personally I think it's ugly, but that does not bother me too much; I'm more interested in the technical characteristics. Btw, I also found the F80 ugly.

 

In the first place, I wasn´t the biggest fan of the SF90 so I was more open to a radical change than others, but as I´ve said in another thread, I give it a thumbs up. Not the best ever but interesting, and I think they mnanaged to make something that is just a restyling look fresh.

As in many Manzoni designs, there are "too many details", and some are confusing. I can´t understand why there is a black wheel arch flare just at the rear. Why they just didn´t made the rear a bit wider? It looks like a last minute fix for aero reasons. The rear tries to imitate the open tail of the 512 with that black band behind the wheel arch, but the try is half-hearted. To not repeat the same trick of the SP3, they could have tried a smaller rear bumper that left the rear wheels more exposed and painted in black. I like the "blunt", 70s wedge shaped front, but maybe they went too far: maybe just a bit more of curvature. And I think the front flaps would look better in black like in the SP3 to clean the front bumper up a bit. Finally, I like black "Daytona" bands, but just because I like them doesn´t mean that they have to use them always; I hope this is the last time until 2050, or the idea will wear fast. And also maybe it´s time to make new interiors: they´ve been re-using 458 ideas for too long.

 

it's getting panned in terms of public reaction, people calling it the worst looking Ferrari ever etc

I have to agree tbh and 550k euros (with sf) + options makes me wonder how many are actually going to buy esp with the sf90 depreciation setting the tone

 

Dealers will tell us they are limited with high demand and maybe they can get you one but not sure. Forget about a spider, blah blah and then magically anyone and everyone gets an allocation.

 

Especially so here in Texas. Specifically the Austin store. I’ve never heard a more common textbook answer from a Ferrari store as I do there.

 

You have to wonder why they drag an iconic name through the mud with this car?

I dont get progression from this
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or this
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Why didn't they come up with a new unique name for it? Sort of indicates a fail to me.

 

I agree that Ferrari has now become openly mocked. At least the Roma and 296 are well executed. I wouldn’t be surprised if outside consultants helped style these.