A newer better 2+2/Mondial from Ferrari in 2008?

from Winding Road October 2007 Issue 25


Within one year’s time, Ferrari intends to formally define its product approach along two distinct core lineups. On the one side there will be the super sports, made up of the 599 GTB Fiorano, F430, as well as the higher-performance “superleggera” street version of the F430 to be shown at Frankfurt and recently dubbed Scuderia. On the other side will be the more classic gran turismos, led by the 612 Scaglietti and the much discussed future GT known by so many as “Dino” but which, as we now have learned, will be called something else—and will be something else—for a good strategic reason.





“Ferrari 2+2”

Now we come to this Dino-GT-midsize thing we’ve all been following leads on. This gets very interesting. Whereas our moles had uncovered the desire to make this all-important car a coupe-cabriolet with retractable hard top, the sporting GT car, referred to internally now as “Più Due” or Plus Two, is destined to be an interesting softtop that can be ordered with either just two seats or with a 2+2 configuration.

So, do not call this car Dino, please, our Ferrari friends tell us. Maranello has steadfastly refuted any existence of a Dino project, and it turns out they are, literally speaking at least, correct in throwing a snit. In their logic, which seems logical, the Dino was a small entry-level sports car. Ferrari has no current interest in producing a car for this segment of the world market. The new 2+2 is meant to walk hand-in-hand with the 612 Scaglietti and such clients, and it is not a little sister to the F430.

The 2+2—to be seen at Paris in September 2008 or in Detroit at the start of 2009—will sit on a completely new aluminum chassis made by Alcoa at the new facility in Modena that effectively replaces the old Scaglietti workshops. This is the car that will spearhead the fresh idea in Ferrari of a model that is quick but that can reasonably be driven every day. While not low-tech by any means, the 2+2 will steer clear of all the bells and whistles being tested for the F430 replacement and other upmarket models. The chassis is fundamentally based on the abandoned Maserati coupe-cabriolet of three years ago, and is therefore smaller than the 612. The plan calls for optimal lightness and a low center of gravity at a relatively low price.

The whole 2+2 idea creates the possibility of a Ferrari with decent luggage area behind, much in the way Giorgetto Giugiaro modified the 612 Scaglietti configuration for his GG50 concept car two years ago. The goal is two full-size golf bags back there in the two-seat choice. Test drivers for the 2+2 reportedly are very happy with the weight distribution on the new car, which will launch with a 460-horsepower modified version of the current 4.3-liter V-8 in the F430. Aiding weight distribution is a revamped six-speed F1 gearbox with the assembly itself mounted up front instead of at the rear.