F8 F8 Spider Wait Time

I can tell you what I learned at my local dealer: If you have an established relationship, you can expect closer to 12 months, otherwise expect up to 18.
The sales associate's suggestion (since I was really looking for a 458 but was open to an F8 to get the colors I wanted) was to buy something used to have while waiting for an F8, which isn't a terrible suggestion since you can probably sell a 458 for roughly what you buy it for in a year or two. Sadly I didn't really want anything they have in stock right now.
The other point he made was that if you finance a used car with them you'd get a better rate on a new one later. Not that their rates are anything as nice as with larger manufacturers, but they are really flexible about low down payments and early payoffs, so it might be nice to avoid making big wire transfers on the day you would really rather just be driving the thing.

 

No you don’t have to purchase a car before ordering an F8. The current wait from time of order is around 15 months. If your dealership has allocations and I think most do you can certainly get in line and order.
Good luck and welcome to the wait purgatory.