Ferraris, many crazy things, including expensive, ill-tempered and prone to mechanical in-shop staying more than, well, some new cars cost. But one thing that they are infallible is beautiful. In most bodies sculpted by Pininfarina, a Michelangelo of sheet metal, a Ferrari coupes dusty Afghan road back seems the Champs Elysee.
So it is quite the event for a new Ferrari greeted with the equivalent of cat calls for his appearance. This is the case with the new Ferrari FF, a $ 300,000-and-two-door, four seat family machine whose pre-release photos Ferraristi had much wailing in dissatisfaction and considering a new protest movement called Maranello occupy.
The problem in a nutshell: for adults in the rear bucket seats accommodate, Pininfarina stylists extended the roof of this 12-cylinder beast, creating a car that is not unlike BMW's hatchback-y M Coupe, but infinitely more. That image danced in my head as I waited for a FF of slipping behind the garage at Ferrari of San Francisco, who had just taken delivery of its demo model.
Surprise. What greeted me was not the Antichrist of cars, but rather an innovative approach to the current global economic reality to embrace. Here's what's going on people. People who kind of money it costs to buy Ferraris and their kin are either thinking twice about whether people are just aware of it, such as Mr. Monopoly money bags. Simply put, the more practical one spendy exotic, the better chance to sell. Just ask Porsche (cue the equally maligned-at-release Cayenne and Panamera) and Aston Martin (back in the game with the four-door Rapide). Or as Greg Klein, president of Ferrari of San Francisco, said: "We are now in the business of practical, luxury consumer goods."
Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo, may have started in racing in the business division, but as a rumored candidate for top Italian government reports he savvy enough for that, legend or not, his business should thrive or die in this new fiscal reality accept it. The FF, he said, echoes of the Ferrari California - the company's first retractable hardtop convertible, so much for women as men - in being "an authentic Ferrari, designed for people who want the pleasure of owning one of experience our cars, but different types. "Translation: far from a one-off exercise, the FF promises the example of practical models to come.
To this end, FF stands for Ferrari Four, which is a reference not only the seats but the car four-wheel-drive, 1 / 1 on a production Ferrari. Dubbed 4RM (Quattro Ruote Motrici), it is an always-on system that sends power to the front wheels if it senses a loss of torque - that is slipping - the rear wheels. It's no surprise that FF publicity pictures of the car frolicking in the snow show, or the latest chic Ferrari driving school will be held this winter in Aspen, where participants learn to throw around FFs in the white stuff.
In fact, as crazy as it sounds given that most Ferraris are pampered pets only glorious days taken, the FF is focused on the ski-loving families, Klein says, just an order took from an area businessman who will not leave his family out of the all-season Ferrari fun.
Walking around the metallic gray over brown leather FF in the late afternoon sun, I am struck by how the car instantly telegraph a message. Do not compare me to sneak around 458 Italia, or the California about two parking spaces. I am a different animal.
The car's mission statement is straight-forward, says dealer marketing manager Emmanuel Turin, while showing off the car attributes: "Two couples should be able to get away for a weekend with their luggage, or a pair for two weeks, with the (rear) seats folded down. "Turin flips a few switches and suddenly the leather boot is cavernous and semi-ready to run a supermarket Costco. (In what is probably 1 / 1, Ferrari's literature on the FF shows a configuration with a family of four and a golden retriever crouched down in the rear, not the usual sales pitch for a prancing horse.)
Once inside, it is clear that the FF is a true four seater, banished from the contortionist demands of everyone who wanted to climb back into the past of Ferrari 2 +2 s, like the Mondial and the 612 Scaglietti. Ferrari claims that the adjustable rear seat can accommodate a 6-foot-2 for adults, and the front seats a 6-foot-5 for adults, but not both. But the TV screens mounted in the front headrests to make clear who is most likely return there, cartoon-watching kids.
At the front, the feeling resembles a large pair of Ferrari, as might be less orientated than racing a 599 Fiorano. The emphasis was on making the FF a true daily driver, with available modern communication / music options familiar to anyone with a Toyota (and, in the past, not a strong suit of Ferrari). Predictably, the driver has the best seat in the house. A central rev counter tells you when you browse the paddle-shift seven-speed operation, but is available in front and behind cameras help the stress of maneuvering this large (6 by 16 meters) car. Another repair-saving feature is a button that raises the car nearly 3 inches, the better for snow to clear driveways. And there's even a back-saving gizmos: instead of turning like yoga instructors to pillar mounted belts to reach the belts for passengers are "handed" to them by a mechanical arm (although it sure is a kids' -brawling-in-the-back from incident broke out).
Time to hit the road. The FF comes to life with a bark that settles into a familiar growl Ferrari, the byproduct of a 660-horsepower engine that the car can zip to 62 miles per hour in 3.7 seconds and hit 208 miles per hour if you have a pass from the local police. On a winding road over the mountain Tamalpais near Highway 1, it is immediately clear that if pushed hard disk of the FF will tear a happy song. The most disturbing things about driving this car is backward looking, the idea that you can kind of speed entering the curves and have three other people along for the ride is impressive, but probably fool-hearted when the value of your leather interior.
After many paddle-shifting madness, I slipped the FF in the Auto mode, which frankly is what this model is probably most of his life. The question was: Can this beast into a lamb for the morning commute or carpool kids? But for a few notable hiccups as light transmission when the car slows to a stop, the FF impressively well behaved, polite with his motorcycle lowering the voice at the passengers to allow easy conversation.
Judgement on the FF? No, it will not win any beauty contests with its long roofline, not compared to a road-bound jet fighter, like the 458 Italia or the elegant brute that is the 599. But again, if you own the car you're actually probably your children or your friends and rough weather doomed to gather, ride. A lot. For a Ferrari, that is indeed something new.
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