Ferrari Today - There's Something Missing

There isn't a new Ferrari that I would buy. I'd take the equivalent money and buy something older, more engaging, something that I can wring most of the performance out of, more of the time, than I could with a new one.

The same carries over into motorsports. I'd rather go to an historic race meeting than to a modern race, or on a tour rather than to a car show. It just happens to be where my interests lie.

 

I’m forever fascinated by what they do with each model change. Sometimes the designs are immediately exciting, other times (612 for example, later the FF) the design needs time, or just to be seen ‘in the wild’ before it becomes exciting.... in the case of the 612, I bought one still conflicted, but the drive of it resolved all my issues because it makes such perfect sense of the job it does.

As trends change, we either yearn for our favourites of the past, or we embrace them. It’s human nature, and if we all saw the same in every shape, then we’d have stepford wives and Hyundai cars! Standard and efficient, but on the verge of boring!

I don’t seem to be able to think of a ferrari that missed its mark, but I can think of some that needed time, or a little update, to make them truly great cars. I drive a california T at the moment, and I wasn’t convinced when the original was launched, I drove it, and despite enjoying it, it just didn’t quite hit the mark. 599, 458 came along for me and I forgot really, and then this Cali T never ceases to hit the mark for me, the styling was made stunning, the performance moved a little more towards racy from cruisy, and it now is my daily companion

 

Ferrari’s have been losing their soul ever since the company dropped their IPO. Shareholders come first now.


Sent from my iPhone using FerrariChat.com mobile app

 

I don’t know, it’s given us some pretty remarkable cars - 812 super fast is a prime example..... what a machine!

The need to make money was always there, I see more with regard to higher pricing, enforced dealership upgrades and purchases, tougher lists for the specials, as the main result from this, whereas it’s also ushered in better customer care - free servicing, better warranty, higher quality control - all of which must have a price, but are welcomed mostly on cars that can be very expensive if a warranty isn’t good enough

 

There's nothing missing. NOTHING. You're not missing a dang thing. It's all out there for you to view 24/7/365 the moment you pick up the device from your pocket....and that's the problem.

The mystery is gone. No anticipation from only hearing about things once a month in a magazine, or flipping through all the magazines at Barnes and Noble trying to see if anyone had some news on what's next...

Why wait for Geneva news? Just pick up your phone.
Need a spy shot from the 'ring? Just pick up your phone.
Need 432,698 opinions on the C8 Vette? Come to F-chat...or read motor1. p)

sjd

 

This is so true!
When I was growing up in 70s and 80s Ferrari was off in the exotic land of Modena, Italy and it was like a dream. Some far away magical land where craftsmen built gorgeous fast machines by hand. Unobtanium at its best.
Now everything is instant information, pictures, discussions about every aspect of cars and factory and employees, discussions about competition (competition? WTF is that?? Back in the day...there was no competition, except maybe for the equally exotic Lamborghini).
The magic has diminished because the veil has been lifted.

 

Every time I see a Formula E race on television, I think of Unlimited Hydroplane racing. My dad used to take me to the races on the Detroit river in the 1970's and hearing those Rolls Royce and Allison WWII aircraft engines thunder by was one of the highlights of my year. Then, they replaced the engines with turbines and the sport slowly died. I would hate to see F1 go the same way.

 

Pininfarina

 

New thread title: "How The Internet Killed Ferrari"

 

I guess the same could be said about porn.

 

Now let's not get carried away...sometimes access is good!

 

I do like the free service for 7 years on my 2012 458 Spider.

Take a 458 to 9,000 rpms and find the soul.

Seems like every issue of Forza Magazine has a new Ferrari model on the front cover. The pace of new models is astounding. Getting hard to keep up!

But l must say the turbo cars and hybrids just don’t interest me so far.

 

Cars are getting faster and faster while the driving itself gets more and more restricted.
Used to be (in good old times) you got an exotic and you were the King of the road and just pass or go around all the other cars on the road when desired.
Today, any AMG or M sedan can keep up or be even quicker in real life, you start to tangle with them and you go straight to jail, superior performance of exotics is academic only and never to be exercised (at least 99.9% of time).

 

I'm going to go against the grain and declare that I really like the new Ferrari. I was thinking back at the switch in design from the 355 to the 360, and thought about what a change that was for the company. To go from angular wedge to smooth 60's. It was the best decision IMHO. Now we have a change in the design language again and I'm liking it personally. I would LOVE to put a deposit on an SF90.

It's cool to have this little European company making cars in the "old world" style. Unfortunately, the world has moved on. With regulations and technology... these old analog piles of crap that were churned out in the 70's and 80's, they're not that good now and they weren't that good back then. The difference is ALL cars were unreliable pieces of crap so it masked it.

That warm and fuzzy afterglow of seeing the Ferrari on the wall... mine was a 328. I was thinking back to that time in the early 80's.. and it's not that the world changed, I've changed. Same with the Ferrari everywhere mantra. They're not everywhere if you live anywhere people actually work for a living and make... *gasp* the median wage. Once you own a Ferrari, YOU change. It's like when you realize the easter bunny was killed in 1910 by Teddy Roosevelt on a hunting expedition in Botswana (accidently of course). It's bigger.. but the company hasn't changed, we've changed.
I was out in the 360 last weekend and for a minute as I looked over the hood in between the humps for each front fender, I had that fleeting thrill of driving her for the first time. Only, it's not with the same mystique, but rather now with a sense of being at one with an old friend.

 

some of this is true.
but some of it is just because between when you were a kid, and now, ferrari made a few 100 thousand cars ! and so did a bunch of other supercar makers.
50 years ago, ferrari customer cars numbered in the 100's, not the 1000's. you are therefore seeing more of them, because there are more of them !
and the other reason is that you may have moved from a not-popular or not-wealthy place, to a popular and wealthy place, which means more cool cars.

 

This ^

I only became a Ferrari fan in the late 90's. I was to be 40 in 2004 and as a petrolhead all my life I yearned for something really special. I had a few regular turned special cars but nothing really notable. I had pictures of Mach 1 Mustangs and Ford Capris (Europe's answer to a Mustang) but as I have got older I wanted a late 60's Mustang Fastback, any V8. So I said to my then wife that I was having one for my 40th. She kicked off and in essence said look at something else.
Anyway it was a 308, which was too expensive then even at £25k for a reasonable one so I bought a Mondial.

I loved that car, probably as much as anything since, more. Maybe because it was my first special/exotic. Anyway to the point of this thread; I don't see Ferrari as any less special with their new cars as I thought in the late 90's when it would have been an F355 if you wanted a mid-engine V8. I eventually got that F355 but in short I prefer my 360 and it is probably the best car I have owned and driven, it has surpassed the Mondial.
So because I got to Ferrari so late in life I don't feel it has changed much at all.

I still like new Mustangs but they're not a patch on those Mach 1's or late 60's........ I think they've lost their charm.

 

I agree with the general sense of this thread. Ferrari is no longer special.

I remember back in 98 when i had my first digicam, i was 18 and my friend and i would drive around Paris hunting for cool cars to take pics off. I saw a 355 take off at the red light and we both giggled. Now..a 488 couldnt dream of that. Yes, it's a better car, faster, well put together, probably cheaper to maintain but i know if i was 18 again, i dont think id be giggling as it takes off.

Also, the performance of most brands have caught up to Ferrari. BMW, MB, Aston, Tesla, Audi, Cadillac, Jeep, Dodge they all have cars that can keep up with most Ferraris in a straight line. A freaking Alfa Stelvio QV can probably keep up with a California on a race track.

Styling is also not all that anymore. None of the current range makes me dream at night. 812 is kinda ugly, Portofino is ugly. The Lusso and the Pista are beautiful but on their way out. The F8, well, i need to see one in person but im not in love so far.

With that said, most of what i said, is true for all players. I find the 992 way too clinical. The Aston DBS is pretty but sounds average. Nothing at Lambo is really exciting (but they are all old). I do like the 720S but it also sounds average.

Solution is to buy a 92 Diablo and a Challenge Stradale.

 

I grew up in the New York metro area. There was plenty of conspicuous consumption! We just never saw exotics...... and THAT was part of the specialness.

The Ferrari store now looks like a corporate fast food chain, with at least 30 Ferraris sitting out in the forecourt. THAT just isn't special either.

 

yes well ferrari has gone the route of brand promotion above all else, but this is what is saving them from aston like stock losses.
its a business after all.

dont get me wrong, i tend to agree with the direction of this thread - there is not a single new consumer ferrari that lights my fancy.
even if i had the need and the money, i dont think i would necessarily just look at ferrari - i would actually prefer a mclaren at the moment.

 

Lots of great opinions here. One that I didn't see come up (or may have missed) is the change from manual only cars to flappy paddle cars.

To me, this was the big change that hurt ALL all the enthusiast brands. No longer did you have to know something about a car to drive it. Even my grandmother could drive a modern Ferrari or Porsche. Once the masses can drive them easily, these cars lose some of what made them so special, in my opinion.

For this reason, all my "special cars" are and always will be manual!

 

I'm 40-ish and largely lost interest in most new sports cars across the board starting about five years ago. I could cite the extreme performance that far exceeds my personal risk tolerance, or the lack of manual transmissions, or the general sacrifice of feedback and rawness in pursuit of isolation and refinement.

But the thing that best encapsulates my lack of interest? The screens.

Screens might be useful, functional, flexible, etc. Some (most?) people might like the futuristic vibe they arguably lend to an interior.

But they just leave me cold. They frame my view of the car as a temporarily-fashionable consumer-electronics item. I don't mind this sense of inherent disposability in a daily-driver that is all about functionality and utility. But in a weekend/fun car that I intend to keep and cherish long-term, I'll take classic over cutting-edge any day.

Guess it's a personality thing. I've yet to see a smartwatch that I'd even consider wearing, but I understand why others love them.