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| 2012 Ferrari F620 GT |
If you scroll down a bit, you'll see the
first teaser image of Ferrari's replacement for the F599 GTB Fiorano. That teaser has just been rendered completely irrelevant, as a reader at GT Spirit has sent in an uncovered photo of it getting ready to head to Geneva for the upcoming motor show in five days. They reckon the "most powerful Ferrari ever made" could have as much as 740bhp, 30 more than I had previously thought, as well as 690lb/ft of torque and an 8700rpm redline. It will also outstrip a Lamborghini Aventador in a straight line, with 0-60 happening in three seconds dead and 0-124mph (200km/h) in just 8.3 seconds, whereas the Lambo takes 8.8 seconds. That, I suspect, should be quick enough.
I'll let you make your own mind up on the looks, but the first two words that entered my mind were "flared" and "...challenging". It almost looks like a superhero's car in a Hollywood movie, actually. Oh wait, you were meant to be deciding for yourself. Never mind.
Source: GTSpirit.com
UPDATE: OK, so I have now made my own mind up on it, kind of. Also, the picture above is of a full-size wooden model that Ferrari took to preview events for privileged customers to see it first. The car to be displayed at the Geneva Motor Show is the more traditional Rosso Corsa, rather than this matte silver number. To be honest, it looks a bit overdone. I like the large vent on the bonnet - like a reverse of the 550/575 Maranello's very '90s (and very cool) scoop - but the front fascia isn't that great. It's mostly the same as the FF, which I think looks a complete mess, so that'll have something to do with it, but that smiley grille just isn't pretty. It's too big. The roof and side windows aren't very inventive either, and what you can see of the rear end almost looks like the tail of a Dodge Viper SRT-10, which is an odd source of inspiration.
I have noticed something, though - the F620 has the same front aero design as the Pagani Huayra. Well, Pagani said it was designed like that in the name of aerodynamics (an
evo writer held a Huayra's front bumper up while air was blown at it and said it got sucked downwards), and Ferrari like clever aero too, such as the whiskers on the 458 Italia that deform downwards at high speed to increase front downforce, so I assume they're both going for the same thing here. In both images of the F620, it appears that Ferrari have also put a straight splitter just underneath the front apron, which must improve the effect further in their eyes (or from what their undoubtedly extensive data tells them). They're not the most attractive front designs in the world (although I like the Huayra when it's not painted in that matte seal-beige it was originally unveiled in), but if they're more aerodynamically effective, then that's OK - both cars produce over 700 horsepower, so anything that keeps them under control without electronically neutering them is fine by me, not that it'll make any difference to me directly until they appear in Gran Turismo 5 or 6...
Anyway, it should be fast enough to offset the... "challenging" looks, because sometimes form has to follow function, and if this turns out to be a spectacularly good car, then it's worth being a little bit ugly. If it turns out to only be very good and not spectacular, I'll still be able to complain about it :-P
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