The shooting brake design harks back to the Kamm tail styling of the early Forties
If you’re sick and tired of trying to convince people that all sportscar drivers are not swellheads who’re loathe to share the joys of high performance motoring with others, here’s a bit of help from Ferrari.
Maranello has revealed pictures of its new four-seater — the latest in an illustrious line of GTs that date back to the 1948 166 Inter — that’ll replace the 612 Scaglietti.
But, if you expected to see a facelifted 612, then these images are sure to come as a surprise. Rather than basing it on its immediate predecessor, the guys at Pininfarina seem to have drawn inspiration from the Giotto Bizzarini-designed 1962 Ferrari 250 GT ‘Breadvan’, although that car wasn’t technically a Ferrari.
So the FF, or Ferrari Four — signifying four seats and four-wheel drive — gets a flat, extended roofline as against the sloping ones in its predecessors. No marks for guessing that this frees up more headroom for the rear passengers. This also means the shooting brake FF has a profile that’s more similar to that of a BMW Z3 coupé than a 612 Scaglietti.
The Prancing Horse has also revealed a few practicality stats that’ll give performance saloons like the Panamera and the Rapide sleepless nights. The FF’s Hele start-stop system gives it a not entirely socially unacceptable fuel efficiency figure of 15.3mpg, while the 450-litre boot space can be extended to 800 with the rear seats down.
Now that we’ve got all the sensible bits out of our way, let’s get into the ‘real’ facts
that you’ve been patiently waiting for. Under the FF’s long bonnet is a 6.3-litre V12 unit that houses 660, er, prancing horses, unleashed at 8,000rpm.
The powerhouse is mated to a transaxle dual-clutch F1 gearbox and the carmaker’s first ever four-wheel drive system, 4RM. Ferrari claims 4RM is 50 per cent lighter than a conventional AWD system and can channel torque to the wheels that can utilise it best. As a result, the FF despatches the 0-100kph sprint in 3.7 seconds flat, while reining in those horses is a job for the carbon ceramic Brembos on all corners.
For more facts you’ll have to wait a bit longer, until the Geneva motor show in March to be precise, where the FF will be officially revealed.
The precursor
The 612 Scaglietti, which the FF will replace, is the only Ferrari four-seater on sale since 2004, when it replaced the smaller 456 M. Named after the famous Modenese stylist Sergio Scaglietti, who penned some of the most stunning Prancing Horses, the 612’s 5.7-litre V12 has 120 horses less than the 660bhp FF. It was a fraction slower as well with a 0-100kph sprint time of 4.0 seconds.
