550, 612, 599, Califorina and now the FF "wagon"?

Oh snap!!!

 

IS THERE A DOCTOR IN THE HOUSE?

 

This thread makes me think that Rob Lay should include a Ferrari history test as part of the sign up process to Ferrarichat.

 

As much as I like mid engines, they really didn't appear in road cars until the 70's and 80's. So traditionally, front engine / rear drive were what manufactures made. It wasn't that long ago when many where saying, "if it's not a 12 cylinder front engine, it not a Ferrari". (What are people now saying "if it's not a mid engine, it's not a Ferrari") I hope Ferrari never goes the path of other manufactures and ends up with an SUV, (of course Lamborghini made a really hard core SUV) but there is nothing wrong with having the front engine grand touring cars along with the mid engine performance cars.

 

I kept reading in sheer disbelief.

Perhaps before educating oneself in Ferrari history, an education in manners is warranted.

Where the car is concerned, perhaps waiting till you have seen it for real would allow you to have a subjective opinion. Expressing childish exaggerations backed up by ignorance and a lack of education has no place on a site for people who are passionate about Ferraris, whether they are "pretty" or not.

 

HEAR ! HEAR !

 

especially one that used to kill people for a living

 

So the 550 sucks but the 575 is a nice set of wheels?????

Some people in this forum are really strange. It's as if they come in here only trying to piss people off.

And by the way, as Taz said I think, Enzo Ferrari always said the horses pull the car and not the other way around. He was so convinced about this front engine layout that he kept building F1 cars like that for a few years after all the others had understood that a mid-engined car is much better for RACING. For this reason and belief that front engined cars are better Ferrari did very badly in F1 for quite a few years..... I don't know if you have a Ferrari or you don't but anyway a big part of Ferrari is its history, so read a little about it before making comments like that.

Thanks

 

Hi-

I gave the quote about the horse pulls the cart. My point was that front engined cars were the very first cars made by Ferrari for racing or the road. The Testarossa with the of Miami Vice fame came much later.

But then I mentioned that Enzo Ferrari was not sentimental about older models. He was willing to let go of old ideas in favor of trying something new and better.

So when Ferrari the company releases newer and usually better cars, a lot of thought and consideration has gone into these efforts.

So it is annoying when people, who probably have no idea about the engineering and design effort, criticize Ferrari.

When asked which car was his favorite, Enzo said something to the effect of, " my favorite Ferrari is always the next Ferrari"

And Enzo also said, "The customer is not always right."

Tru dat!

 

A big +1 on that.

 

My guess is that the FF will sell only a handful of units. The feedback I have received from posting the design alternates here and elsewhere indicates to me that there will be an insignificant backlog for production. I am somewhat concerned that resale value may be another story as the design seems to be highly controversial. The early adopters will be taking a financial risk on this model whereas a classic GT style seems to have a much wider appeal to first time Ferrari (used car buyers) owners. The poll posted on this website seems to be a reasonable measure of support or distain for the FF and is likely registering with the executive team in Maranello. I would not be surprised to see one of the two variants I propose (with further design modifications) showing up with reveal dates of thier own not too far down the road.

 

Peter- They said the same thing about the California, and they are selling like hotcakes. This will be the combination of a new market plus the regular 2+2 V12 Ferrari market, so we shall see. If I remember correctly, they sold 3125 612s total, and that number was more than enough to make a profit for Ferrari over 7+ years of production.

Taz
Terry Phillips

 

Did I see the signal?
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California was huge for Ferrari as was China ... there is a big 225k market

 

The car is not yet officially presented. Geneva for the public, Tuesday evening for the privileged few.... The price is not yet established and there is a 2 year waiting list.... Perhaps Ferrari do know what they are doing?

 

Ferrari Spa seem keen to do well with this car in N America, a number of Ferrari owners in the USA have been invited to Maranello. Late 2011 delivery is promised. A top table on Tuesday will probably bring out my check book !

 

Lol

 

I posted on another thread but worth repeating. The 400 family (365GT4/400/412) which is often scorned by Ferrari enthusiasts was in production for the best part of seventeen years far longer than any other Ferrari, and to do that it needed to sell.

Ferrari know the big 2+2GTs is not the most hip and happening of models but there is a market for them and it will sell to the targets they set (I suspect 2-300 units a year)

 

Agree with your view, the sketches for the variants which the poster would like to adopt in my view just make me want to yawn. I think the FF will push a few boundaries and I think Ferrari has probably done their home work pretty well. I hope Ferrari doesn't fall back and do anything similar to the boring variants proposed which appear to be neither two seaters or 4 seaters. I think the FF will be a very good car and look forward to taking one for a spin.

I also don't need anybody to be concerned about resale values on my behalf. Buying a sports car like Ferrari, I accept the fact that I may take a hit. If it's a big problem for me - I won't buy the car - other than that, I buy the cars I like and if there is a cost to that - so be it.

David

 

It seems it would be best to ignore threads like this one where the person posting obviously has no knowledge of what he writes, and then goes about insulting other people's choices.

Enzo Ferrari himself hated the idea of mid-engined cars. His theory was front engined 12 cylinder cars.

I have no opinion as of yet on the FF, but just like the previous rants about the 599, 612, even the 458, etc, people change their minds when they see the new model in person.

The 456, 550, 575, are all beautiful cars, and are all true Ferraris. A 612 in person is quite nice. A 599 GTO is about as exotic a car as one can find today. I would drive any one of these with pride.

 

+1

 

I like this. I think I'll make a list of cars I don't like and start a thread about it. It'll go like this....

Hey guys a manufacturer made products and I didn't love every single one of them. They're really loosing it.

 

To start, this thread was an insult to the great members along with the great cars Ferrari has produced. I cannot believe some of the things I read as I went along. I was always told "if you don't have anything nice to say don't say it". Whats so hard about that? I'm all about expression of opinion but there is a time and place for everything.

As far as the FF goes, Ferrari is a business and they operate like one. I don't know how much research went into the projected sales figures but I'm sure they looked promising enough to give the car the go-ahead. Otherwise the car would have never been in the position it's in today. The resale value might be hard but the first set of owners probably know that, just look at the 612 prices today vs. MSRP. Scratch that.....almost all Ferrari models lose money with the exception of the 250 GTOs, Enzo, F40/50, etc.

Only time will tell. I also wont make any biased opinions until I see it in person.

 

Ferrari does know what they are doing as does every buyer that spends 225 -450k to drive one off the lot.

Which raises the question - how do you know there is a 2 year wait list?

 

Latin, for "To Each his Own". Point being that what people want and what is marketable are often two different things. Case in point is the Chevy Nomad. It was a two door station wagon that was initially viewed with deserved consumer skepticism. Today it's a classic, but it is a niche vehicle for a very small percentage of Chevy enthusiasts. Regardless of brand, the consumer ultimately determines the success or failure of a given model. Personal opinions are an indulgence suitable for Ferrarichat, but we will all watch with curiosity as the actual numbers begin to roll. I know my Ferrari owning friends have voiced thier opinions in the poll and Ferrari should take note.

Nomad referesher below.
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