Does it look kinda like a 288 GTO?

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I'm just happy it doesn't look like a Lambo or an Audi (or is that really the same thing?).

 

maybe I am just too addict to the 458, I think that look better than the Enzo.

 

The 458 is real Ferrari.

By the way, Lambo=Audi, just look at the LP-560-4 and R8...

 

It swings both ways.

Just because something is older doesnt mean its better...same goes for being new.

90% of all auto design (actually all design in general) gets stale within a few years...its very rare for a design to achieve a timeless quality. The 288GTO , IMO, is one of them. Its the perfect auto design...same with the Diablo, the GT40 and the GenII Dodge Viper.

As for the 99/100 who couldnt tell the difference...well there is no accounting for the tastes of the general public...if they had taste we wouldnt have so many ugly designs ,from autos to architecture, assaulting our eyes everyday.

I dont really care about top speed or 0-60 times...thats for high school students who sit around *racing* cars based on magazine stats.

 

most Ferraris look better than the Enzo

 

Tru dat

 

That is not what I said. Did you ever hear me praise 360 or 430 or SA or 599 or 612 or Enzo when they came out?

Please explain to me very clearly what makes 288 the most amazing car design of all time and not 308? Feel free to post pictures.

Again, you take in irrelevant point and draw absurd conclusions. I can even agree general public may not have the best taste, but that does not mean that 288 is devine, especially if they can't tell it apart from a 308.

Keep the juvenile responses to yourself. And you are admitting that actual performance has no bearing what-so-ever on your judgment? Great!

Also, I can tell that you really don't keep up with what happened at LeMans. F430s did very well and I am looking forward to 458s spanking daylight out of the competition. Lastly, you probably failed to see the canopy design on 458 reminiscent of LeMans racers.

 

You are correct that I have not kept up on LeMans...in fact I know nothing about LeMans. I have no interest in auto racing. I am strictly an artist/designer and that is where my love and perspective comes from. Performance stats and technology are a distant second and racing heritage is so far down the ladder its irrelevant.

Since we come from such opposite perspectives its debating apples and oranges.

The 308 is one of the most perfect sports car designs of the past 40 years. The 288GTO is an evolution of it and improves on it in every way. Though in no way does that diminish the beauty of the 308. There is an entire thread (as Im sure you know) regarding the 288GTO and everything that can be said has been said in it.

Very few auto designers these days are striving for timeless...they are all riding current design waves to be 'modern'. well being modern usually leads to being dated faster...architecture and auto design are the two main culprits there. There is a purity of form that is missing from most designs. The 288GTO is pure form. There is nothing 80s about it other than some technical limitations of the time. It is aggressive without being comical, sensuous without looking feminine. It is just *right*.

The 458 italia is almost right...if they hadnt put in those Bangle surfaces and the headlights going up the fender it would have been a home run in my eyes. unfortunately those headlights and bangle surfaces will firmly date the car to the late 00's. But make no mistake I still think its Ferraris best in a long time.

 

Very cogent ideas, Jerry. "Bang on."


My biggest qualm with lots of auto designs today are exactly the johnny-come-lately fascinations with gimmickry such as LEDs, extremely elongated triangular/attenuated headlamp housing designs that now run all the way up the top of the car ---with "busy work" inside the shape, and overly-designed/overly-styled body surfacings.

Insofar as the pejorative term "Bangle design," in my opinion, the 458 doesn't so much suffer from that as it does the obligatory current giving in to the whole "who can make the most bizarre headlamp" idea. Simple is better. But designers think they're being clever with all of this projector/LED/overly-complex housing idea --when it is just bad design.

Look at the headlamps of even the 430 and they are simple and harmonious. Or better yet the housings of the 246 Dino, with the clear covers and round lamps behind. What happened to that? You can even have your projector lamps and such, as you see in the 550/575, yet keep the overall housing shape very simple and flowing.

 

but not the F348,355,360,430

 

In respect to the front of the vehicle with the style of headlight, and elements of the seemingly flat area of the front bumper kinda gave that vibe. But the body is smooth and well rounded with very elegant curves. It screams Ferrari. I like it.

 

I agree headlamps are getting out of control. Pretty soon they will be winking at us. I can do without the LED underliner.

Too clever by half.

 

It's very hard to tell because so many Pininfarina designs look great in person and not so great in 2-D. The 458 could be utterly stunning in person. It's off to a good start because I think this is the most beautiful design since the 288. I think the problem is that technology got to a maturity in the late 1980's that what was truly efficient in terms of drag and downforce didn't jibe with the human intepretation of symetrical beauty. Design direction was less for beauty like in the technologically more naive 50's and 60's, and more in tune with the realties of physics and science.

To be able to synthesize both the functional and beautiful is much easier when the definition of functional is less advanced. But to do both is rare and important. I'll be honest, I've hated the slab-sided designs of the 360 and 430. Yes I respect their capabilities like I respect the technology in my I-Phone, but these cars are as much art and emotion as ''gosh I'm faster than you''. Want just fast? Go for a Z06. There was no delicacy in the profiles of those designs. The 458 though is completely different capturing a sinewy-ness and tautness not seen since the 288. I like it a lot and hope it knocks me out in person

 

I think that the 458 has a lightness that is missing in the 360/430 design. The greenhouse and the center section of the body (between the wheels) flow very naturally, and help to create a cohesive design. As a synthesis of Enzo, F430 and California design elements (with some 612 P4/5 thrown in), it is dynamic. I am anxious to see it in person. Fred

 

well-said


I don't hate the 430 or Z06 however.

 

doesn't even look close to the 288 imho

ferrari hired pagani to design this car. kept their enzo front end and stole the rear hips and *too large* front windshield from Zonda
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from my breif look... the "too large winshield" has been featured on both the 360 and 430. In fact... the windshield, windshield cowl shap, A-pillar, front edge of roof line as well as door glass are from the 360/430. I wouldn't be suprised if they are the same. Look at a 430 and a 360... they are the same on both cars there too. seeing as this is an evolutionary car of the 360/430 they could have saved on costs by keeping this portion of the green house the same... Just my two cents

 

Agree !

 

i agree with you that the 360/430 are the same. it's got the same factory model number for production even. it's clear that the 458 took a lot of styling from the enzo in the front. i believe they took it a step farther with this one. it even has characteristics of a Daytona Prototype car. it really looks like a cockpit now instead of just part of the car. this is obviously my opinion only. just me and that's why i think it looks a lot like the Zonda i posted above. i don't think this is the same base as the 360/430. it very well could be. i haven't seen a picture yet of a 458 that jumped off the page and yelled buy me. there is a thread showing a possible 458 challenge and lowered with that rear wing it sure looks a heck of a lot better.

the performance is awesome so if it looks good to me or not. damn what a car.

 

I have a GTO and it is amazing how many of that 1% that I seem to meet...

I also like new cars so I have at least one foot in the present...

Will reserve final judgement on the 458 until I see one in the metal but so far I like everything that I see

 

I like to think of it as Ferrari's answer to the Mullet: Business up front and all part in the back! LOL

 

I don't mean this in a bad way, and I haven't read the rest of the blog, but I don't think that it really looks anything like a 288 GTO. Sorry.

 

It s like to compare Cher(458) to monica Bellucci(288 GTO)!