Which first Ferrari: 612, California or FF?

I have a 612 OTO/HGTC It is a truly special car with all the technology you might need.

It is a large car that shrinks when you push it. Fast, roomy, comfortable and VERY capable.

If you can find one, buy it.

 

I’d just buy a two seater and manage splitting up your time with one kid, the other kid, or just your wife.

You don’t really experience the drive in the back seats because you can’t see much from back there...

I’d go with a two seater that really excites you. Plenty to choose from in your budget.

Robb

 

I agree with others that it is a very personal decision and you have to see them and drive them.

I didn’t have the back seat concerns that you did (the children have left the nest and generally people dislike my driving and so I have few passengers). My criteria was I wanted a big coupe with a V12 that I could drive on a semi daily basis. So the Cali never was considered (also where I live the Cali is a dime a dozen and I wanted something that not everybody else was driving). I could not abide by the looks of the FF (I have hated the looks of shooting brakes from the first MGB and on) so it was not considered either.

So my list was either the 599 or the 612. I actually thought it would be the 599 because it was more advanced and a faster/hotter looking car than the 612 and that was what I would have bought sight unseen. But when I drove them I actually fell in love with the 612. I found it to be much more comfortable, refined and an all around better daily driver. So that is what I got and almost 4 years later there are no regrets.

In terms of cost of ownership, it is very modest. A few thousand dollars a year.

In terms of the 612 not being technologically advanced enough, that is a little overstated. As a co daily driver I had a current model Mercedes S coupe until a few months ago. There is nothing more technologically advanced than the Mercedes. I drove it for a year and it was NOTHING compared to my 612–I grew to hate the car for everything the 612 was and the Mercedes wasn’t. Ultimately I decided I was wasting my time, dumped the Mercedes and elevated the 612 to my sole daily driver.

Lastly, everywhere I go I get compliments and thumbs up so I think the negative comments on the looks of the 612 are a little overstated (and there are no other 612s in my neighborhood which is also great).

But again all of that is personal to me and everybody has their own thoughts and criteria.

 

FF. Absolutely. It drives better than the other 2. Sounds much better than the California. 612 sounds amazing with HGTC pack.

Real rear seats in the FF. And if you can get one for 120k, it's a bargain.

 

By shooting brake do you also include hatchbacks.

 

I dont think there is a definition of a shooting brake per se (kind of like pornography—I know it when I see it). For me a shooting brake is a car that is a cross between a coupe and a station wagon and it has that distinctive drop off from the roof at the back where the rear window is located. So a shooting brake can be a hatchback but all hatchbacks are not shooting brakes. I have always hated the ungainly back end loaded look of a shooting brake. Only my personal opinion, but clearly the FF is in that category.

Examples for me are the MGB, BMW Z3 and the old Volvo sports coupe/station wagon (forget the model name).

 

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Understood, sometimes my ff looks odd to me to, My wife calls it Kardashian.

 

Well I have to tell you that is the most gorgeous FF I have ever seen. Love the color. In that color I could even do that!

Also love the Kardashian analogy. Both have junk in the trunk!

 

Daniel - I am not a fan of the FF but for your car I can make an exception. Some how the color makes it.

 

Thank you look closely the carbon fiber side skirt, font and rear,Color Rosso Mugello.

 

Image Unavailable, Please Login Randy I thought the same tilbeauty of Ferrari is deep down but you’re correct color helps

 

Okay I hate to be the party pooper, but It seems I usually am since I just see numbers not reasons. OP nothing personal, but do have any idea what it costs if something like the lift fails, or one of the control modules, or an AWD failure. So lets get into reality, the 612 has grown on me over the years, and yes the F1 compared to the transmissions of todays cars is slow and out dated but it will give you that Ferrari feeling people seem to want. The Cali has a better transmission is more modern and it a convertible, but not a chance it is a 4 seater (most of my dogs would not fit back there). So unless you want a Gran Turismo MC (the only other Italian with a V8 that sounds great and can fit 4 in the price range you want to be in), my advise would be stick to the 612. Good luck, and after 13 years only one post geez join the party. I don't post as much as some, and not everyone likes what I have to say, but I call it as I see it.

 

You Know tell you something really funny ...when driving the 612 S and normal driving mode and it was so comfortable that i started to fall asleep on the wheel
and i keep telling myself how in the world Ferrari made this car drive like a Luxury Sedan so comfortable and yet is a Ferrari......then of course once your switch to Sport Mode and F1 Gear this car with Turn into a Ferrari Ready to be On The Tracks ....!! Almost like AMG Cars can drive like a Lux Sedan and Track Car

 

Beautiful Car and I bet Big Truck Space Yes .....? can put lots of Stuffs at the Back ....
if Yes should install Super Sound System at the Back... ;-)

 

Loads of room in back and rear hatch area, Sport or race it’s just a bit less than a F12 in comfort mode it’s like a Bentley,
But drives small.

 

Did you check your Car Back/Truck the Battery area or some where in the car and do you have a Battery Cut OFF Switch Handle ....? see photo
have you use it before .....?
If we Turn the Handle and Cut off the Battery is it ok....?

 

Two weeks ago I drove my 2010 612 OTO 1,329 miles to Montreal and back to attend the Canadian Grand Prix. About 1,200 miles were done on the interstates. The rest was slugging through Montreal traffic (UGH!) and a three hour drive into the Laurentian Mountains. The 612 is a wonderful touring car. With its mid-front mounted V12 and long bonnet, it is evocative of cars from Ferrari's Enzo Era. There's a lineage you can trace back. You can't say that about the FF.

Did I mention that I got 14.5 mpg start to finish? Not bad for a honkin' V12 Ferrari. Mileage cruising on the interstates before getting in Montreal and its traffic was near 18 mpg.

Now, I'm not badmouthing the FF. I've spent a number of hours in a couple of FFs as passenger and driver. It's a terrific car, with newer technology than the 612. The interior is gorgeous. It goes like stink (FAST!)! But, there is not that visual link to 70+ years of company history.

I take a little issue with comments about the 612's back seats. I'm 6'1" and rode in the back of my car for two hours to try it out. It was fine! The glass roof of the 612 OTO really opened up the car for back seat passengers. We had four people in the car without any complaints.

A family of four (the children were 15 and 13, I believe) in another 612 were with us. The parents bought it for the same reason you are considering a 612. They also looked at the FF and passed. They have done thousands of miles of touring in their 612.

As another poster has said, the technology in the 612 is dated, but the 612 OTO (mid-2008 through the end of production in 2011) has updates over the earlier 612 that give you all that you need. I've owned a number of Ferraris from the late 1960s to the 2010 612 OTO and driven newer ones. The 612 is my favorite.

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I’ve owned a 456m my pal has a 612 oto I agree 100% with you no shortage of room in either wonderful touring cars, and least we forget 2+2 we’re most of the time the choice of Enzo

 

Not really a modern guy but I have to go with the 612 here. V-12, and because of your kids, two real seats in the back.

There's a gorgeous 612 in the classifieds here, a black OTO. (No affiliation)

 

If you do want back seats then it is either the 612 or the FF. The Cali really should not be considered in that category. Frankly the only consideration for a Cali should be if you want a convertible. If you are looking for a sports car and not a convertible then I would go for a 599 rather than a Cali. The 599 has a similar price point to all of the other cars discussed here, is fairly technologically advanced, has a V12 and is a far better car than a Cali.

 

I've had my buddies teenagers in the back seat when we took them for a spin. I had to move my seat up but they made it fine. Small frame teenage girls, not football players lol.

 

given YOUR requirements, take the FF.

if it was me, i would take the 612 because i prefer the look, but the auto function is not a genuine auto and will fry your clutch in a hurry.

 

Ferrari Lover check with you is it safe to install different tire model in Ferrari

can We can do this

Now Front
*Pilot Sport 4 S*
255 / 35 ZR 20

may be ... back
we can install
*Pilot Sport 4*
315 / 35 ZR20

can we mix tire different model in same car ....?

 

Scaglietti is the best deal and the best looking IMO. Never driven one though. California would be your second best bet. I've heard FF's are fun but think that they are ugly.

Scaglietti also will have less depreciation in the coming years than the other two. Something to think about.

I don't care what people say about the california being aimed at the broads. The first gen is a very pretty car and doesn't look feminine to me. No stick though, and it has a back seat. Two strikes...

 

Ferrari 612 is a Very Comfortable car to drive and funny to say but i keep falling asleep in this car just too comfortable and the ride is nice and like a AMG in between and a Porsche and Red Car is the Best Looking for 612
other color make the car look ordinary