Best Auto Car: Ferrari Enzo

Showing posts with label Ferrari Enzo. Show all posts

Fantastic Four: A Brief History of the Ferrari F150's Illustrious Ancestors

Not all Ferraris are born equal. True, each and every one of them is a bona-fide supercar (with a lemon or two thrown in from time to time; no one gets it always right…). Among all the models built over the years, though, there are four that stand out.

During an interview published in Ferrari’s official magazine, the automaker's Technical director Roberto Fedeli said that people inside the company feel the term “supercar” isn’t strong enough for these cars. “We call them ‘the special cars’”, he said. “Let’s refer to them as our ‘specials’”.

Yes, yes, we know that we haven't seen the new Ferrari F150 (that's Maranello's official code-name) in its entirety and that depending on your point of view, you can probably find similarities between each and every passenger car, but for the sake of conversation, we'd like to pass on a question, which came up from one of our readers.

No, we are not talking about the "Whale shark?" remark on our post with the first official teasers of the F150, but "The Italian Viper?" comment that followed.

Despite the fact that the car we've been calling the Ferrari F70 will be produced in limited numbers and, if its forebear is anything to go by, you’ll have to be invited to spend an obscene amount of cash on one (don’t bother calling Maranello – they’ll call you…), Ferrari has let a couple of images, as well new info slip through about its new hypercar.

Posted in the official Ferrari magazine, the images show the front and rear ends of the Enzo replacement that bears the F150 codename.

A shadowy image of a red sports car displayed on a large screen, which some believe could be previewing the new Ferrari flagship codenamed F70, has been making the internet rounds in the last 24 hours.

At the time being, we can neither confirm nor deny the authenticity of the F70 picture that first appeared on a Ferrari fan page on Facebook.

There's an unconfirmed rumor going around the net that Ferrari is working on a track successor to the 360 Challenge Stradale and the 430 Scuderia models based on the current 458 Italia named the "Monte Carlo".

It is a prototype of this model that the folks over at the Dutch forums Autogespot claim to have filmed racing around the Italian brand's Fiorano test track together with a prototype for the F70, which is what the media has been calling the Enzo's V12 hybrid replacement, due to be revealed next year, possibly as early as the Detroit motor show.

There's a lot we know about Ferrari's next hypercar, but there's also a lot we don't. If we are to believe a report from Inside Line, then we can add the venue where the unveiling of the car we've come to call the F70 (even though the name has not been confirmed yet) will take place to the list of things we know.

The news site said the Ferrari F70's world premiere in front of a public audience will be held at the 2013 North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) in Detroit next January.

If true, then it’s more likely than not that Ferrari will give us our first online look of the hypercar towards the end of this year.

Sitting behind the wheel of a special Ferrari doesn't necessarily mean that you are actually going to be treated like royalty.

Case in point, Ferrari's exclusive FXX program that kicked off in 2005. For a paltry $1.8 million, 29 handpicked special clients could enter the program, which included a track-only racer based on the Enzo that's powered by a 6.2-litre V12 producing 848Hp (860PS) at 9,500rpm in Evoluzione trim.

Having renewed its entire range in the past two years with the launch of the 458 coupe and Spyder, the FF, the F12Berlinetta and the revised California Coupe-Cabriolet, one would think that Ferrari would just sit and wait for its customers to form an orderly queue and the cash to start flowing in.

However, since the 400th and final Enzo rolled out of Maranello in 2004, the prancing horse lacks a true flagship that will continue the tradition that started with the 288 GTO and continued with the F40, F50 and the Enzo models.

As Ferrari engineers ramp up their efforts to complete the development of their new Enzo-replacing hypercar that is currently known by its internal codename F70, the more chances we have of getting a glimpse of the prototype models.

This video footage comes courtesy of the crew at the YouTube channel Speedspot who filmed an F70 draped in black covers while cruising on the roads around Maranello in Italy along with some not-so-happy Ferrari people…

No thanks to the extensive efforts of Ferrari's engineers to keep all prototypes of the Enzo's replacement (codenamed F70) safe from prying eyes, there's a lot of speculation about what Maranello's next top model will look like.

Independent artist David Williams from Sydney, Australia, whom we first heard about this past June through his Ferrari 365 Turin design concept, took a good look at Ferrari's test cars and put his imagination to work to create his own vision of the F70.

Before we let you check out Williams' well-executed renderings in the gallery below, we'll remind you that the new F70 is slated to debut before the end of the year and go on sale in 2013.

The rear wheel-drive flagship from Maranello will sport a hybrid powerplant linking a mid-mounted 7.3-liter V12 naturally aspirated V12 rated at around 800-horses to a dual-clutch transmission and a pair of electric motors with about 120hp for a total system output in excess of 900 ponies.

It has been a long time for Ferrari to be without a flagship hypercar - eight years to be precise, since production of the Enzo ended in 2004, but the Italians are getting ready to return to the category they helped forge.

Before the end of the year, we'll have the opportunity to see Ferrari's next magical automotive creation, currently codenamed F70, in all its glory, but for now, YouTube user Souvlaki57 shared a video of a prototype model he captured on the move in the streets of Maranello in Italy.

As one of the rarest Ferrari models of recent times with only 400 units built between 2002 and 2004, the Enzo is a prime candidate for makers of kit cars.

This eBay find is based on a 1992 Toyota MR2 NA, which is said to have been "professionally stretched and reinforced" to a 104-inch long wheelbase to bring its dimensions closer to the original Ferrari.

With the presentation of the Enzo's replacement having being confirmed for the end of 2012 by Ferrari’s Chairman Luca di Montezemolo himself, it's actually surprising that the Italians have managed to keep the supercar under wraps for such a long time.

Today, we got word from one of our readers that a friend of a member of the Ferrarichat community snagged a very interesting prototype driving around the company's headquarters in Maranello, Italy, and which we believe to be the next Enzo that may or may not be called the F70.

Little by little, Ferrari is uncovering and confirming new details about its Enzo successor.

In an announcement on the company's first quarter results, Ferrari’s Chairman Luca di Montezemolo revealed that the Enzo's replacement, rumored to be named F70, will be a full-hybrid and will debut at the end of 2012.

"We have a complete new model range brimming with technological innovations, and which deliver significant reductions in fuel consumption and emissions, down by 30 per cent on average," said di Montezemolo.

You have probably seen our most recent scoop pictures of the prototypes of Ferrari's Enzo replacement undergoing tests in Europe, but what could the actual production version look like when the new model, reportedly named the F70, hits showrooms in late 2013?

For now, this is a question that will likely remain mercifully answered, but we have an interesting design study for the Ferrari F70 that was penned by industrial designer and current employee of Pininfarina's German subsidiary in Rüsselsheim, Constantin-Gabriel Radu.

The concept borrows elements from both the Ferrari 458 Italia as well as the previous Enzo, combining curves with hard creases and a teardrop glasshouse. If this design were to be produced, we would imagine that the car would obtain more air vents both on the sides and more importantly, on the rear end.

In any motor show, the Ferrari stand is a crowd magnet. Beijing wasn’t an exception, especially since the Prancing Horse displayed its brand-new F12berlinetta.

The company's CEO Amedeo Felisa said that the 730HP supercar lapped the Fiorano circuit in 1’23’’, which is the fastest time ever recorded by a production Ferrari, including the mighty Enzo. It’s also 30 percent more frugal than the 599 it replaces, with an average consumption of 15 lt/100 km (15 mpg US).

Even though the supercar, which made its Asian debut at Beijing, was the center of attention, the novelty that Ferrari displayed in China is the new powerplant that will power the next Enzo, rumored to be called the F70.

What looks at first in these spy pictures like a shooting-break prototype of the 458 Italia is in fact a test mule for Ferrari's next top supercar and a replacement for the Enzo.

Many believe that Maranello's forthcoming flagship model will continue the naming tradition that started with the F40 and F50, and as such, will be called the F70.