Ferrari 849 Testarossa Styling

I think the design team had some challenges trying to tidy up Lamborghini like rear air intakes from the SF90 to more Ferrari style intakes in 849. However, the chassis appears to be designed originally in a way that there is not much room for a differing design. Therefore the rear haunches appear to be higher than desired for cooling reasons only. The black band may have been added later in the design phase to reduce this effect. It may also help masking the gap between the door and the intake area. It is a bit tricky door design to get right.

 

People with no creative eye think all low slung sports cars in red look the same.

 

SP3 had much easier platform and lower body to work with. I agree that SP3 is a real gem and much prettier than 849. That said, when we get the road test videos out, I expect opinions of 849 change quite much. Indoor images of the car are just awful. Almost like Ferrari had made them intentionally bad. They seem to deviate from the actual form seen in the outdoor pictures.

 

I wasn't aware of all the limitations you mentioned in the previous post, which the 849 design team faced. However, IMO, the original sin of this hybrid Ferrari family doesn't lie in the platform, but rather in its concept, in which Ferrari prioritized absolute performance and lap-time beating above all else, relegating stylistic considerations to a secondary importance. Even with all the design constraints resulting from extreme aerodynamics, what many of us expected from Flavio Manzoni was that, as happened with the LaFerrari, he would once again use is genius stroke to transform these limitations into design excellence. From what we see in the indoor pictures of the 849, it's clear that Manzoni didn't achieve that goal. I'd say it's a leap of faith to believe that everything we dislike about the 849's design will become wonderful once we see the car in person because miracles have always been a matter of personal belief and faith.

 

This is no improvement, IMO. Leave the fake strakes for someone else…