Ugly Ferraris

[biggbn]

WhiskyDisco said:

OK, here's a popular unpopular opinion....



I present to you the 612 Scaglietti

(P.S. I actually rather like this car)

My favourite modern Ferrari!!

[Gad-Westy]

Argleton said:

Gad-Westy said:

Argleton said:

All Ferraris apart from the 60s and maybe a couple of 70s ones are ugly.

WHAT!!

Yes, I stand by it. I'm not trying to be zany or different for different sake. I don't get the hype for the 308 and F355 looks, I just don't think they're pretty at all. The 80s Ferraris are typically 80s, same with 90s, in that they have dated very badly and look ugly. When you get to the 2000s they're just too fussy and now they're a mess - I include the 458 in that too, perhaps controversially.

I've never liked the F40, 50, Enzo looks. 550 is okay, but in an ugly sort of way..599, no. F12..too big and fussy details. 456, 612 no, no way.

Then there's the real munters; 308 GT4, mondial, Testarossa, 348, F430, California, FF, GTC4, Portofino..

The only 'modern' one I think works is the 288 GTO from the 80s, but not a patch, as I say, to the 60s and some 70s ones.

Oh, and I also think the Daytona is a dog!

I must admit, I misread your post and thought that you were saying all Ferraris from the 60's and 70's were ugly. Oops, must have needed more coffee this morning. Now that I know what you actually wrote, I sort of agree but with quite a number of exceptions. My favourite Ferrari shapes are all 50's and 60's but I also love the F40, 512TR, 355 and 456. Those were the cars that lived on posters when I was younger. Some questionable stuff in the 70's and 80's and modern ones do nothing for me but that seems to apply to most brands these days.

[P5BNij]

At this point in the thread I’ll happily stand up in defence of the 308GT4, after the 246GT it’s my second favourite Ferrari. I genuinely love its looks and think it is a very pleasing solution to the mid engined 2+2 conundrum.

[coppice]

I don't mind admitting that I've been in thrall to Ferrari since I first saw one in 1968 - a silver 275GTB - and I went weak at the knees. I heard my first Ferrari F1 car - the 312B flat twelve in 1971 and went somewhat tingly . It's fashionable for some to enjoy the iconoclasm thing and sneer at them - sticks and stones ... every time I see one my day is improved

Best memory ? Enjoying a prosecco with OH on balcony of our Maranello hotel , WTF is that noise ? An F40 , exiting the factory with the driver sparing no horses . It is a very long way from the best sounding Ferrari (none of the V8s sound that good ) but it was pure theatre.

[Walter Sobchak]

Think I’m on my own here but having seen both in the metal I think the SF90 and F8 Tributo are great looking cars, I’d have both if I had a euromillions win.

[g7jhp]

Older Ferrari's are lovely. Of the modern classics I'd go for the following. The F40 doesn't do it for some but still turns me into a kid when I see one being used on the road.

288 GTO


328 GTS


F40


512 TR


355 GTS


550

[biggbn]

P5BNij said:

At this point in the thread I’ll happily stand up in defence of the 308GT4, after the 246GT it’s my second favourite Ferrari. I genuinely love its looks and think it is a very pleasing solution to the mid engined 2+2 conundrum.

I like the Mondial too!!

[W201_190e]

I don't think any Ferrari has been particularly pretty since the 550, which in my opinion was the prettiest car of the late 1990's, more so than it's close rival the DB7, which hasn't aged particularly well.

[Deefor62]

WhiskyDisco said:

OK, here's a popular unpopular opinion....



I present to you the 612 Scaglietti

(P.S. I actually rather like this car)

Fully agree with you on that one. Thought they looked really good when launched and have aged well - all in my personal opinion of course.
A lottery win would see me seeking out one of these in preference to anything newer.

[biggbn]

Deefor62 said:

WhiskyDisco said:

OK, here's a popular unpopular opinion....



I present to you the 612 Scaglietti

(P.S. I actually rather like this car)

Fully agree with you on that one. Thought they looked really good when launched and have aged well - all in my personal opinion of course.
A lottery win would see me seeking out one of these in preference to anything newer.

Yup, thats my lottery daily!!

[P5BNij]

biggbn said:

P5BNij said:

At this point in the thread I’ll happily stand up in defence of the 308GT4, after the 246GT it’s my second favourite Ferrari. I genuinely love its looks and think it is a very pleasing solution to the mid engined 2+2 conundrum.

I like the Mondial too!!

You are not alone biggbn! There was a very tidy looking silver one with a red interior for sale at the NEC classic show a couple of years ago, I was very smitten with it at the time and it seemed a bargain at £30k. Of course there's a reason it was so 'cheap', the Mondial continues to be looked down upon by the Tifosi but ce la vie and all that.

I also have a soft spot for the 330GT and GTC models, this one at Shiltech has a lot of presence....

https://www.shiltechperformancecars.com/sales/ferr...

The four headlamp style isn't everyone's cup of tea but I like it....

[coppice]

Nice arse, shame about the face . But the GTC - God yes, as long as it is in grey or blue - red looks daft. The 308GT4 still looks utterly gorgeous , too, despite getting a fair amount of flak in period for not being Pininfarina - curvy. The Urraco also has that mean , lithe look - so much nicer than the cartoon Countach.

Anyroad, here's the GTC I'd own if God had been even kinder to me...

[8Speed]

coppice said:

Nice arse, shame about the face . But the GTC - God yes, as long as it is in grey or blue - red looks daft. The 308GT4 still looks utterly gorgeous , too, despite getting a fair amount of flak in period for not being Pininfarina - curvy. The Urraco also has that mean , lithe look - so much nicer than the cartoon Countach.

Anyroad, here's the GTC I'd own if God had been even kinder to me...

Agree.
Those were so effortlessly elegant.

[67Dino]

I heard an old definition of a diplomat is someone who can convince his wife that she looks large in a mink coat and vulgar in diamonds. Personally, I was trying hard to convince myself that modern Ferraris were ugly, but the Roma has put paid to that with its effortless elegance. Damn you, Maranello.

[Teddy Lop]

8Speed said:

It's not just Ferrari - we're going through a period when bling is in fashion.
With a bit of luck the pendulum will swing back to a more subtle & elegant approach in due course.

Everything from rollers and bmw m's to my transit van just had a chintzy blingyness thing going on I gather they blame the Chinese for. Weird how fashions change though - remember how not so long ago the 70s was commonly referenced as the decade that taste forgot then suddenly we could not get enough 70s retro-revival. Sometimes I'm glad I'm a sort of delinquent entirely incongruous of social trends and fashions

I'm with the 355 being the last good looker, always felt the 360 was a bit blobby/bland against it then it all went increasingly bling.

[P5BNij]

coppice said:

Nice arse, shame about the face . But the GTC - God yes, as long as it is in grey or blue - red looks daft. The 308GT4 still looks utterly gorgeous , too, despite getting a fair amount of flak in period for not being Pininfarina - curvy. The Urraco also has that mean , lithe look - so much nicer than the cartoon Countach.

Anyroad, here's the GTC I'd own if God had been even kinder to me...

Now that is very nice! The 308GT4's resemblance to the Urraco is no coincidence as it is based on a rejected prototype (the first of two) of Gandini's Urraco in 1970. It was left on the shelf at Bertone, then picked up again and tweaked to become the 246's replacement in '73 - and both designs hark back to Gandini's own Alfa Carabo concept of '68. I suspect that the wedge like GT4 taking the pretty and very curvy 246's place in the Ferrari model line up is another reason why some folk don't like it.

[F1GTRUeno]

I find that ever since the 360, they're not immediately pretty but much like a Bangle BMW they tend to look much better with age.

The 360 is absolutely stonkingly pretty now.

Whether that's due to all the angles and creases and vulgarity of modern car design I'm not sure but the smooth curves make it a lovely looking thing.

They almost always look a trillion times better in the flesh compared to pictures too, albeit I'm sure some of that is the 'holy st a Ferrari' inner child thing that happens when you see one.

[coppice]

P5BNij said:

Now that is very nice! The 308GT4's resemblance to the Urraco is no coincidence as it is based on a rejected prototype (the first of two) of Gandini's Urraco in 1970. It was left on the shelf at Bertone, then picked up again and tweaked to become the 246's replacement in '73 - and both designs hark back to Gandini's own Alfa Carabo concept of '68. I suspect that the wedge like GT4 taking the pretty and very curvy 246's place in the Ferrari model line up is another reason why some folk don't like it.

I'd forgotten the Carabo relevance - but as a 15 year old I did see it in the flesh though , at the one and only London Motor Show I ever went to .

[Deranged Rover]

Esceptico said:

I agree - luckily those are the two Ferraris I have owned

Lovely cars. Sadly, picture number 2 appears to have escaped from the "crap parking" thread...

[sxmwht]

Deranged Rover said:

Lovely cars. Sadly, picture number 2 appears to have escaped from the "crap parking" thread...

Beat me to it! I had the post open ready to quote in a new tab and everything