Ferrari 849 Testarossa Styling

Jerry, in an interview with Auto&Design on January 7, 2025, about the F80, Flavio Manzoni was quite clear concerning the black visor containing the headlights, which debuted on the 12-cylinder. Manzoni explained, "We wanted to avoid the typical anthropomorphic effect whereby the headlights look like eyes, the grille like a mouth. The effect is perhaps less romantic but more sophisticated, and the result is more modern, futuristic, and simple." Manzoni continued, "This is when we went further: we surpassed our codes and created something unique that went beyond the typical aesthetic conics of cars and referred to futurism, speed, and elegance. To enable this transition, we moved beyond classic human lines to approach those of the most cutting aeronautics."

From Flavio Manzoni's words, one cannot deduce that he now hates seeing a face effect on the front of a car. However, he's been clear that the anthropomorphic effect is already somewhat old-fashioned and unsophisticated. The question Auto&Design didn't ask F.M., but which I would have asked him, is this:
F.M. have you lost track or forgotten that the Iconas have fronts with an anthropomorphic effect and they are by far, and by a huge margin, the best designs you've produced so far since 2018?

 

In fact, he considers that what dates a car and makes it not age well are the headlights ( and he s right ).
Hence the objective of making them disappear as much as possible, since it is now forbidden to make pop-ups, which remains an ideal (the SP3 pursues this objective of semi-pop-ups).

 

They all said that it induced immense emotions while driving it. Stop associating driving emotions just with sound. They also said that it sounds amazing inside, which is still besides the point, as sound is just one of the many factors that make a driving experience emotional.

 

I suspect that these black bars will age far less gracefully than, say, the 458's headlights. Which still look quite fresh, and will always look beautiful to my eyes.

Futurism rarely ages well.

I'd prefer he stick with the "typical aesthetic conics of cars" than seek inspiration from sources unrelated to Ferrari's heritage.

 

As far as sound goes. The Ferrari V12 is the iconic sound. The V8 is fine, but really it is the V12 howling that inviscerates everything else. So, if you’re going to complain about sound and losing “soul” (whatever the heck that means) then complain about V12 not being in every model. That is the heart of the issue. If it is not a V12, it is not a proper Ferrari.