When it comes to supercars there is no-one that can quite touch the panache and fame of the Prancing Horse from Maranello, Italy.Established in 1948 as a car manufacturer after having started as a racing team, the Ferrari brand is among the most recognizable in the the world, let alone the industry. And now the saga continues …When Ferrari launched the 288 GTO back in 1984 at the Geneva International Motor Show it took the world by storm. The moniker GTO was inherited from the 250 GTO, one of the most priced racing cars of all time. Naturally the pressure was on. Big time. But pressure is where the men and women of Ferrari loves and the result was nothing short of spectacular. Powering this monster was a bi-turbo V8.Since then Ferrari have been spitting out monsters every decade or so. Commonly referred to as ”The Big 5”. 288 GTO was followed up by the utterly outrageous F40 which became the first road car to break the 200 mph barrier. The 40 referred to the 40th anniversary of the company. Again a V8 coupled with two great big turbochargers was tasked with powering this monster of a supercar. In 1995 there was the F50 with its Formula 1 derived naturally-aspirated V12 engine. Both are among the most sought after cars ever made with prices today in the multiple millions in any currency you can think of.Then there was the Enzo. Named after the founder himself, Enzo Ferrari. As with the successor it was powered by a great big V12. Michael Schumacher played a big part in its development which is a bulletproof recipe for success. 399 were sold before the first piece of carbon was laid. With the 400th being gifted to the Pope himself. Fast forward to 2013 Geneva International Motor Show and the launch of yet another in the family of hypercars wearing the prancing horse resting on a bed of Modena yellow. LaFerrari. The Ferrari. It was the first attempt Ferrari did at making an environmentally friendly machine. The 6.3 liter V12 was not alone this time. It had help from an electric motor which together made a whopping 963 horsepower. The Big 5 was complete.But in an ever changing world and down-sizing and electrification playing a bigger role than ever before, Ferrari needed to rethink its formula. The F80 which is a nod back to the F40 and F50 naming now hides halv a V12 accompanied with electrification. Only 799 cars will be made and as is always the case with these cars, they are all spoken for long before you and I even get to know about it.In recent years Ferrari have had massive success in the WEC series claiming a back-to-back win at the 24h of LeMans. The F80 naturally draws inspiration from this. Both technically and esthetically. Back is a massive wing not seen on a Ferrari halo car since the F50, but this time it can move. 900 of the total 1200 hp comes from the ICE. The biggest eye-opener is perhaps the 1+ seat arrangement. There is one seat for the driver. However the passenger has to make do with some pads glued to the monocoque itself. Not ideal for a dash down to the Cote d’Azure now is it?
top of page
bottom of page