Which Ferrari designs have aged the best...

Maybe for a Ferrari, but the Muira beats it in timeless beauty.

 

The 360 (and to some extent the 430) look like they have the mumps.

 

The 275s,including the incredible NART spyder.

 

Grump.

 

In the old cars, I'd say the Lusso. It always looked like a pregnant 250 SWB to me. But, lately, I wouldn't kick one out of bed.

 

Im going with the Dino and 308 have aged the best as far as design they are “timeless” .... the 288 and B.B. boxer came from the 308, but look bloated. Don’t get me wrong, they look great, but the 308 proportions just look right and the most balanced.

The ones that seem like the odd duck to me are the 612 , 575 ....

As a previous poster mentioned, they all look great even today, it’s jsut some look a little better to the eye than others.

 

Aged the best?
550/575
328
F50

Worst? Love all Ferrari’s but these rate at the bottom for me.
Mondial
F40 - looks like a kit car. Always did to me. Never understood the front clip of this car. Just awful even though it’s a beast.
612.



Vince FerrariChat.com mobile app

 

I thinks curved lines age better over time than hard edges. So many Ferrari’s have beautiful curved lines and that’s part of the reason they have aged so well. IMO the 360 is aging better than its successor, the 430, for this reason.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

Hmmmm

You may be on to something. Although there are always exceptions, this may be a good rule.

 

The only thing it's missing is the air-cooled VW tailpipes.

 

The only Ferraris I've really changed my mind about are the 400/412. I used to think they were hopelessly homely, but now they look quite elegant to me.

Ferraris I never liked include the 348, 288 GTO, and F40. I remember seeing an F40 for the first time at Southfork Ranch circa 1996 and thinking it was simply awful. Still do.

Favorite designs in their respective categories are the 550/575M for V12 GT, 456/456M for V12 2+2, 360/F430 for mid V8, and F50 for halo car.

The only modern designs that do it for me are the 458 and F12. I appreciate that others are awesome, they just don't do it for me.

 

Unarguably!
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

vTo me, the most simple designs are the most timeless.

Any frill or add-on pins a car to its era and almost by definition reduces it timelessness. (for example, the 'eyelashes' of the Miura detract from its timelessness. Note that were removed on the SV). Ornate is seldom timeless. Simple is usually timeless. Very few modern cars, with their grotesque tail light shapes, overwrought headlight shapes, 'floating roofs', rice rocket wheels, sneering grills, over-designed side windows, etc. etc. etc. are timeless...whereas something as ordinary as a Fiat 124 Spyder will always look good. So, while the ornate, high-end French cars of the pre-war era (Delage, Dellahaye, Talbot etc.) may be astonishing and impressive (and worth a fortune), they are almost the antithesis of timeless. We love them because they are artifacts of a specific era of man and the automobile.

Also, certain design traits equate to being pretty or appealing. They have timeless allure, just like a pretty woman or a handsome man will be so in most any culture or era. I think curved lines, like those shaped by the wind or by flowing water, will always in the long run be preferred, and be more timeless, than sharp, angular lines. Do you like Madonna's cone shaped breast 'design'?

Most Ferraris, especially those designed by Pininfarina, are simple, gorgeous, and timeless. So, we are picking the best of the best here.

But, starting with the 430 - perhaps that was when the design team at Ferrari changed? - Ferrari has begun to adopt today's design idiom of 'more detail is better'.Perhaps that is what the current, younger buyer wants. Something that says 'I have the new model

Just my opinions on the matter.

 

I am at monterey this week and am getting afresh look at many cars and i still leave the previous cars on my list but i have to add the 288 gto is just awesome i like it much more than say an F40... but i have to add the 430 SCUD that i am kicking myself for selling they just look better and better..atleast to me....another will have to come my way soon

 

I suppose I’m biased, but the 328 and 355 are amazing designs and I believe they will continue to grow as beloved models as time goes on. The 360 and the 430 were always yawners to me. To me, it’s like exciting Ferrrai 8 cylinder design went dormant in those years.

I really love all the vintage cars, particularly some of the earlier Vignale bodied cars. Interestingly, I never thought of the 250 GTO as a spectacular design. I think the 250 LM and 250 SWB are far more attractive. I’m also a big fan of all the 275 variants.

As for the supercars, I love them all, especially the Enzo. I must admit that I wasn’t an F50 fan once but it has really grown on me. The LaFerrari is spectacular.

 

I know the Scuderia is a better car, but a Stradale in Corsa Scuderia with a stripe is one of the best looking Ferraris ever. Yeah, wish I hadn't sold mine. Oh well.

 

I think the Boxer aged the best.

 

In my opinion the 246 GT is and will likely remain one of the most beautiful cars ever to hit the road. The 246 GTS less so, but only very slightly less so.

 

288GTO (that front end! That rear tail/spoiler!) is my most lusted after car, really solely for its looks.

At first some of the curves on the 360 were a bit too much for me. But the Challenge Stradale is close to perfection in my eyes.

OP - I am surprised to find myself saying that the 308 has aged very well to my eye.
Similarly the Boxer is appealing to me.
The 456 I think will always be appreciated for its looks.

So I guess 456, 360CS and 308/Boxer (I lump their design elements together for this purpose - perhaps wrongly) are beautiful to me now at this age and I am predicting will remain so.

 

550 gets my vote.

 

I have been thinking on this topic for some time. As I said in my previous post...Even a least favorite Ferrari still looks like a space ship condescending itself to the earth compared to the other horrible jalopy rambling down the road. Within the realm of Ferrari and the very high benchmarks that have been set there are some things that I think about. Essentially what seems to me is that with the newer models Ferrari Design seem to be designing more with 2D lines rather than true sculpture and proportions in the three dimensions. The designs become more sensational because of all the lines however less satisfying as a whole design. Pininfarina produced sculptures where the fewer lines serve to accentuate or even de-accentuate the overall shape and proportions of the sculpture.

 

When the 360 came out, I thought it was the most beautiful mid engine car since the Dino. It was such a radical new direction from the 348 and 355, which were stale evolutions of the 308 and 328 (The 355 is nice, and the last of the small cars, and has the 40 valve glory, but it's no 360). The same reason I was never impressed with a 288 GTO. It was a 328 with a lot of power and awkward body bulges. The 360 was something new and exciting. Curvy and beautiful. I don't understand anybody who doesn't love it.

 

Pininfarina designed some amazing cars for certain. They also designed a few dogs. All in all, Ferrari’s in house design team has done an amazing job.

 

I agree with the 1st two sentences of that post

Have we seen anything truly original from the in house group yet? LaFerrari? (non-evolution model)

 

It’s enough to compare the different philosophies in the F12 verses the 812SF. I think the first ground up new design for Ferrari Design will be the 488 replacement. We’ll see this car within a year.