Child Seat in rear of 612

So, I had some free time on my hands and read through this entire thread. It's a bit silly to let one person's opinion reiterated multiple times get so many people worked up, especially when that person's viewpoint is so clearly flawed! I commute into and out of NYC every day and when I bought my M5 last year my wife said "why don't you get something smaller?" But I like being able to take the whole family in the car (3 kids). They call it my silver race car...to avoid it being confused with my blue race car (my Pozzi Blue 360). I think sharing what we love with our kids is one of the best things a dad can do!

 

Just picked up this booster seat...
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

Didnt pick it up in NY. The seat looks better in my 08 F430 that arrived from Maranello a few weeks ago. This seat is for my 3 year old and actually tucks him in quite snug without the harness found on other seats. I guess it's due to the design. I picked it up from ferrarimodello.com and was told it meets/exceeds U.S. specs for child car seats.

 

I purchased the seats from the Ferrari store and use them in both a 550 and 612. Thet work better than fine. For our 7m old they are more supportive. Yes they use the belts which is fine as I do not intend to leave the base of a car seat either of the cars. We use them, in CA, in Ferrari's and have no issue.

I did call the manufacture to ask about Euro vs US. No issue, just does not use the base.

 

i have a 612 (and a f430) and an 8 year old daughter. as your child gets bigger, you go from car seats to booster seats. i bought my 612 when my daughter was 6, and she could use booster seats then. much to my dismay, i found that all the booster seats were too wide to fit into the wells of the 612's rear seats. the wideness also interfered w/ latching the seat belt into the buckle as i recall. i remember thinking i had been a fool to not have checked this out before i purchased the 612, and that i had made a terrible mistake thinking i was buying a family car.

where there is a will, there is a way. most of the booster seats have arm rests integrated into their design that contribute to the wideness which makes them unworkable in the rear. i bought the narrowest booster seat base (only), that had flimsy armrests integrated into it. then w/ a dremel tool, i cut the armrests off of the base, and sanded the edges. the armless base, now 4 inches more narrow, placed on a double-folded towel, fits perfectly into the well of the rear seat and my daughter is quite comfortable back there. i drove her to sea world san antonio from houston (about 3 hours) 2 years ago, and she was quite happy in her new surroundings. dad had a great time too, driving, of course.

just today, my wife, daughter and i rode for an hour to go to a birthday party south of houston, and we were all quite content. i love driving the 612 on family outings-it makes the kiddie birthday parties bearable. icing on the cake--about 4 cars pulled up alongside and the occupants gave me a thumbs up sign, or an ok sign, or just big smiles and nods of the head while pointing to the car. the pleasure i feel, the occasional attention the car gets, and just downright enjoyment of driving such a lovely, elegant, high-performance, feels-great, subtle vehicle never happens when we go in my mercedes ml63 amg suv, which is no slouch of a vehicle either.

edwin

 

..than these dont take your kids out in a 540bhp car, utter nonsense. I bought a 612 and its a second car to me, third to our family. I myself drive a BMW Z4 as a daily driver, my wife a Landrover Freelander. The whole point of me owning a 612 was to have a special occasion car to travel britain on long weekends, infact just back from a 600 mile round trip over the easter break. The car drives superbly as a GT, pottling along in traffic, yet can be driven very hard as need be. My 2 year old goes in the back & loves it, yes I dont go loopy when he is in the car, however the 4/5k rev range is quite often used for 'blips' etc...he loves it. The whole family enjoys these trips away, I have no interest, and indeed the whole trip would become quite mundane to do it in the landrover, becuase apparantly to some its more kiddy friendly. I also quite often go out by myself to enjoy the full effect of the 612.The 612 is a 4 seater, a GT car,my son is very well protected in the back, I am not going on a racetrack & slewing it sideways with him in it, as strange as that might appear to some.
As far as seats go I bought one of these, and I fix it in with the rear belt. I put a cushion on the seat first to semi fill the hollow in the bucket seat. Quite content its safe, as the belt secures across the front handles as well as through the back of the seat, infact its just about on the limit of the length of the belt, so the seat isnt going anywhere secured this way. Also content with the support & protection offered by this seat too, my boy is held tightly & snugly...he obviously loves it as it has the Ferrari horsey on it etc. I also like the seat becuase it is light weight and easy to move about. I have a recaro Isofix seat in the Landrover, and its a big heavy thing to swap about, and no way would it fit in the 612. The sloping roof also creates low headroom for many childseats that are quite tall.
So I reckon this is a cracking seat thats just the job, you just need a small cushion ( also helps to raise the seat so the child can see out a little more, its quite low in the back, and they cannot see out of the windows very well unless you raise it a little ), In some ways I am also more comfortable with belted seats, I always wonder if isofix can unlatch if a big impact happened.
Anyway that my 2 cents worth as you americans would say....

http://www.mothercare.com/s?Action=submit&rh=n%3A42770041&field-keywords=ferrari&x=32&y=7

 

I could not agree more and was casually reading this thread. My son just turned 17 and he takes out my 612 once a week or so. Saw him driving with his g/f and died laughing. These are beautiful cars and were made to be driven and enjoyed by all. I must admit that I wish there was a sippy cup holder.

 

My 6 & 8 Year old love the back of the 612 - although I do have a no shoes on rule for the 612 that I don't bother with when they're in the back of the 997 turbo. The beauty if you have kids of this age is there is no stuff back there for them to mess with. In my wife's X5 they have remote control of the a/c which is VERY annoying when they play with it. The 612 with its buckets is actually more comfortable by miles for them than the turbo. We've done a weekend round trip to NYC from Boston with the kids in the 612 and it was perfect for that.

 

Wow. Lucky kid. I'm 18 and have only backed a Gallardo spyder (neighbors car) out of the garage, put the top down, and rolled it back into the garage. great feeling but a total trip of about 100ft... Got to start it up a couple of times, that was the best part =)

 

As I have never driven a Ferrari I can't make a true comparison, but I do own a 330 hp Crossfire SRT 6. For me it is very easy to drive at a normal pace, and I do when I have friends in the car. I do realize 330 hp and 540 hp is a big difference, but especially since the gearing on the crossfire is for mid range/high range power. Almost zero neck braking torque from a stand still and damn near impossible to spin the tires in the dry (unless you turn the nanny off). Back on topic, no matter what I drive I believe it is very possible to drive at a normal low Gforce pace, and if you can't let us know when your on the road, because I want to stay off of it.

 

Even further off topic, when I was three days old, my dad took me home from the hospital in a Porsche 356C. I've never been the same since.

 

Dude, what was he thinking. That's like dropping a baby on it's head. If you were born in todays world your dad would be arrested for child abuse.

 

Or at least given a ticket for not having a child seat, but back then, child seats were in their ... infancy.

I don't understand the opinion that riding kids around in exotics is somehow bad; just take it easy for petesakes. You don't HAVE to drive like a crash test dummy ALL the time. With a proper seat and parental endorsement, I've had a great time with my littlest friend, now 8, in the S2000. Playing Eye Spy with the top down is fun, even when she says, "I spy something gray and white," umm, a cloud? "no, your hair!" Her cousins are a little older and one time they asked permission "hey can we go look at your car?" even though it was in a public parking lot. One of them said "how can you afford a car like that?" I said easy, I'm a lawyer with no kids! "You should have a girlfriend." I wish she could send me some referrals but she's 10. I also should have told her how funny it is that the dealer actually believed what I wrote on the credit app.

Kids love cool cars, and telling how you came to have one is an obvious way to inspire them toward success. When some hata complains about cars that cost more than houses, just tell them it's ... For The Children.

 

Same as the trunk!

 

Yeah, but the trunk has that emergency release tab inside--they might escape.

 

Ferrari seat in a ferrari with the 'loud' exhaust & glass roof....wish I was transported in this manner when I was 2!!
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ydhy11YVJw8&feature=related

Above is a link to a 612 equipped with 2 childseats....privilege kids!

 

My first memory of a car was when I was 4 and my nana would take me out in her '75 T-Top Sting Ray, still makes me smile.

 

asg did u figure out the seats in the 612??

 

I had 2 carseats in the back of my 612. Took me a while to find the right seats though. Due to the small bucket-type seats, many carseats will not sit properly back there. Must find one with a very small base. The kids used to love riding back there, but they are only 4 and 2 yo, so they don't need a ton of space.

 

can u say which ones worked well that u had?

 

There it is. Great thread and stories guys. Very good information and it's wonderful to hear that so many owners are enjoying their cars with family, children especially.

Forza,


Cavallini

 

+1. I bought my 612 to enjoy with my family. And that's exactly what I am doing. And it's a bonus to see my young son become a car nut like me as a result of being driven around in my Ferrari!

 

I came across this thread today, and I am looking for specific manufacturer and model recommendations for rear-facing newborn/infant child seats for the 612. I saw that there was a certain maxi-cosi (http://www.maxi-cosi.co.uk) seat mentioned in 2008, but the link to that model is dead. Anyone have a good rec?

Forza,
David