Nobody's talking about the Ferrari Four around here ? It is a MAJOR car. Way more convincing in the metal than the official pictures could have lead to believe. Awesome outside, usable inside, luggage space, accomodates adults at the back with enough head and legroom. Really worth a lot of consideration.

Pics from the Geneva car show: http://www.asphalte.ch/news/?p=2090

 

There has been at least one thread on the FF.

the consensus (so far) is that the car is FUGLY on an epic scale, matched only by equally toad-like vehicles like the BMW Z3 coupe.

This is a car not even the Ferrari badge can save...
And I LOVE Ferrari...

 

Ugly on an epic scale!

 

The interesting piece is that recent cars that have been decried as ugly by some have had a smashing success on the market.

The California is a good example, it saved Ferrari's sales in 2010, so did the Panamera. I was chatting with Porsche execs last night and said that they are stunned (and nearly clueless) about the worldwide sales performance around the globe. 30'000 cars around the world.

I believe that the FF, which I personally found very questionable in official pics but find awesome in the metal, is going to be a smashing success for Ferrari in 2011

 

I hear what you're saying.
However: this may be true for mass-produced cars like the Panamera, but i doubt it will apply to Ferrari.

Ferrari has held a long-standing disregard for the general buying public and has always kept production numbers low. Enzo could barely hide his disdain for the people who bought his road-going cars. They were considered a necessary evil, as the sales of the road cars funded his Scuderia. It was always all about the racing.

Porsche went 180 degrees the other way. Make as many cars as the market will bear, dilute the exclusivity of the brand by releasing more affordable models (Boxster, Cayman), etc. I am not judging. I drive Porsches by the grace of their plentiful supply in California.

Ferrari has always chosen not to play that game. Volume is low, access is restricted unless you're already a member of the little club and the cheapest Ferrari is still over $200,000.

The FF is still a Ferrari under the sheet metal. However, a 4-seater, two-door car with the roof line of a Z3 coupe, seems like the answer to a question nobody was asking. The Panamera, like the Aston Rapide, is an effort to get into the market niche created by the likes of the Maserati Quattroporte. The FF is not going to enter that market, in my opinion.
A back seat which will accommodate adults without the door to go with it, is as pointless as the back seats in my 911.

And if you wanted a tourer with 2 doors and a back seat, there is the Scaglietti, which is vastly more attractive (again in my opinion).

The future will tell whether the FF is a success. I think Ferrari has bigger fish to fry. I think McLaren poses a more serious challenge...

 

Currently, there is a 3 year waiting list. This car is not cheap at 350K, not including options and taxes. Pretty amazing.

 

A three year waiting list is better than a full showroom of unsold cars.
Putting that in perspective: Ferrari has always kept their waiting lists long, often artificially.

Walk into a Ferrari dealership as a first-time buyer and try to buy a new (not as-new with 500-900 miles on the clock, NEW as in right off the boat with only delivery mileage) 599 or 458 with cash in hand and see what happens...

Time will tell, when we've had a year's worth of production (assuming we can get that data somewhere, which is another story).
I'd be very interested to see how many FF's get sold, compared to the 458, 599 and whatever the successor to the 612 Scag ends up being.

 

The Ferrari FF IS the successor to the 612

 

They will ask you which one you want. I test drove the california a few months ago and asked the salesman about the "must own a ferrari before buying a new one legend" He said it was crap. They would sell any car there right now. I'm sure they give previous customers first dibs, but they want to sell cars.

 

Thank you, I stand happily corrected