by Wallace Wyss –
High-performance car maker Ferrari supposedly make the most profit of all automakers per vehicle. They have an iron hand on the dealers marketing their cars and thus can enforce who buys them. It appears by the look of the new F80 (named after the 80th anniversary of Ferrari) they know which side their bread is buttered on and their goal was to make it look like a race car but still be street drivable.
The coupe is designed around a carbon fiber frame, though it still weighs over 3,000 pounds and has dozens of features from their Endurance motor competitions and even Formula 1 single seaters.
Exclusivity is one of the firm’s ace marketing gimmicks so only 799 will be made of the special-edition and you might want to stop reading now because each and every one of them has been sold–at $3.9 million each.
You would think think the ultimate supercar class car would have a V12 but perhaps seeing some countries emissions laws could ban it, they are running a V6, a three-liter with two, count ’em two, electric motors for a full count of 1,200 horsepower.
Other state of the art components include racing brake pads, an active suspension and ultralight 3D-printed metal parts, including suspension arms. Unlike some other supercars with electric “helper” motor they do not have the choice of an electric mode only (in my view a mistake because London already has some zones deemed “electric only”).
The F80 “is the car which raises the bar of our range,” was the claim of Chief Marketing and Commercial Officer Enrico Galliera at the introduction. The special models are launched once a decade and embody the latest in technology.
The most recent Ferrari supercar was 2013’s LaFerrari, a coupe which was joined later by an open-top LaFerrari Aperta version that came along in 2016.
The engine ought to be reliable, being based on an engine already campaigned in the World Endurance Championship, handily winning two 24 Hours of Le Mans in a row.
I think mechanically it’s a tour de force though I’d rather be seeing a V12 than a V6. Not that it matters–it’s so out of my price range the dealership might as well be on Mars….
Let us know what you think in the Comments.
THE AUTHOR Wallace Wyss is a fine artist who will be offering 20″ x 30″ giclee canvas prints of his own painting of the F80. Interested parties contact him at malibucarart@gmail.com
Here’s my design critique for what it’s worth:
FRONT The black band across the nose is entirely unnecessary and I predict it will become optional.
SIDE Its best view though the wide spoiler looks a bit oversize. But you need that because it has more than 1000 lb. downforce at its projected 200+ mph. The front fenders jutting out from the body side destroy the symmetry of the curvy shape but it’s been a fixture in racing sports cars since Porsche had them on some works racers.
REAR The six holes cut into the back window covering is, in my view, entirely too much, trying to be mysterious. But since the hot engine requires ventilation I don’t know if plexiglass would be legal on a street car though I remember Porsches like the 911R having them.
OVERALL SUM UP Ferrari is trying too hard to have every gimmick whereas the basic shape should be the primary goal.
Photos compliments of Ferrari.
obsene rich getting richer..shame on you people thinking is ok.
Looks like a space pod from Star Wars. I’ll take the 250 LM.
Looks very “blocky” – as if it was made from Legos!
799 Ultra Rich Ferrari ‘favored’ buyers with pay 4 million for a car they will not likely drive. If they do. it will be enough to scare the bejesus out of them and it will become part of their collection where their ‘people’ take care of it, exercise it once a month, have it transported to the dealer for maintenance and recalls…and after one or two years as the factory allows, it will be sold for a significant profit. Also, Montana will make a few bucks registering it adding to the profit. Maybe and a big maybe, the second owner will actually drive the car, I sure hope so.