The Car Spy

Looks aren’t everything so my mother used to tell me. It’s the person inside she said and how right she was too. In the car world however, looks are very important. Subjective maybe, but still important.

The Porsche Panamera springs to mind. I remember walking up to the car for the first test drive and decided that I was going to hate it. The bulbous rear hind-quarters following the flat-nosed front end made it look as though they had stretched a 911 too far on a rack and stuck two doors on each side. The Panamera was not pretty.

But to drive the car was sublime. Great driving position, performance and handling made it very easy to forget the awkward shape of the car being driven. Until you caught a reflection of the Panamera in a large shop window and realised what the rest of the world could see as you bowled merrily along the high street.

Handing the keys back was filled with mixed emotions. What a great car to drive but so hard to fall in love with. I tried hard to forgive the peculiar design but to this day, nine years later, the Panamera has not aged well. Sorry Porsche. Hopefully your forthcoming face-lift for the car this year will transform this ugly duckling.

History is littered with examples of cars that have struggled in the style stakes but have nonetheless been recognised as proper driving machines. One that came up in conversation recently was the BMW Z3M Coupe. Unkindly described by some people as a ‘bread van’, BMW had somehow managed to transform the interesting design of the Z3 roadster into a disfigured hunchback of a coupe. But we loved it and so it seems does everybody else these days with decent examples fetching up to £40k. Who would have guessed that?

Even Ferrari has made a couple of faux-pas in the shape of the Mondial, designed by Pininfarina, and its predecessor the 308/208 GT4 designed by Bertone. Time hasn’t been kind to the Mondial and possibly the Bertone offspring wins by a whisker in this comparison. What about the Testarossa that still looks like it is stuck in the 80’s with those exaggerated side-intakes and the 456 which was probably the most bland design ever to come from Maranello?

But all it takes is the arrival of a superstar in the company’s line-up and all those previous mishaps are forgotten. Enter the F12berlinetta in 2012.

With a mix of dramatic curves and the odd aggressive sharp crease in the right place Ferrari created a car you could stare at all day. You could buy it and never drive it because you wanted to make sure you had taken in every inch of the beautiful shape and then go back and check it all over again.

But drive it you must. Before the LaFerrari arrived it was the fastest production car out of Maranello. The figures speak for themselves: 6.2 litre V12 producing 740hp. 0-60 mph in less than 3 seconds. 0-120 mph in 8.5 seconds. Maximum speed 211 mph. The F12 is a seriously fast car and only the F12tdf will come between this and the LaFerrari when it is launched this year.

However, it is not just about the looks and the performance figures but it is also the aural sensation of the way it goes about its business. The engine note is akin to that heard in a Formula One race car. A kind of mid-range bark that turns into a screaming wail at high revs and then crackles loudly on the fast down-shifts. Delicious.

So there it is. Is the F12berlinetta the perfectly packaged sports car with the looks, the performance and the noise to go with it? We think it comes close and has certainly set a very high bar for all newcomers. Maybe only Ferrari itself can eclipse its own accomplishments but we shall find out in the fullness of time no doubt.

For anybody now thinking of purchasing an F12berlinetta we can tell you about a car that will be coming onto the market in a couple of weeks from now – let’s say early February.

Finished in Rosso Corsa with Cuoio Leather interior, this F12 is right hand drive, brand new and unregistered. The specification includes the following: yellow brake calipers and rev counter, Scuderia shields, fully electrically operated seats, reverse camera, suspension lifting system, AFS, carbon/LED steering wheel plus 20″ forged and painted wheels. This is also a vat qualifying vehicle.

For further details including pricing information please contact The Car Spy on ++44 (0)1892 506970 or ++44 (0)7809 890969. You can also send an email to sales@thecarspy.net

In the meantime this video from Chris Harris about the Ferrari F12berlinetta gives a good insight to the car and its ultimate capabilities. It is nearly 15 minutes long but great viewing….enjoy!

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