Ferrari 812 Superfast: Showpiece of the Week

Why wait a year for your own spec, when one this good is already available?

As the array of configuration possibilities for new cars continues to increase, so actually specifying one must be getting more and more difficult. Hardly a national emergency, sure, but for something as personally important as a car purchase you'd want it to be right. With ever more choice, so the chance of choosing something that doesn't suit increases.

What if that leather combination doesn't quite work in real life? What if the seat itself isn't exactly right? When even the colour of the tachometer dial can be chosen, there's a lot of responsibility to get everything just so, to end up with something you actually like and - as importantly to some - to make sure it's desirable should you come to sell.

While a car like the Ferrari 812 Superfast doesn't require any deliberating between engine or suspension, then, there are still a lot of decisions to make regarding materials and equipment. Plus there's the concern about Ferrari heritage, what's appropriate for a front-engined V12 and what isn't. Then there's the wait; this isn't going to be a few weeks from order to delivery, not by a long stretch. What if, heaven forbid, you changed your mind?

All of which makes a car like this 812 - one tastefully specced, very low mileage and immediately available - all the more interesting. While not as wild as the limited-run TdF that preceded nor as vital to the brand as something like the F8 Tributo, the 812 is a phenomenal car. Chiefly that's due to the 6.5-litre V12, as fine an advert for atmospheric engines as there'll ever be; combine it with one of the best dual-clutch transmissions in the world and a chassis with the sort of agility previously unheard of in a front-engined car of this weight, and it's an intoxicating experience. Of all the cars to have to wait many months for, rest assured this is going to be worth it.

But here there's no need. While £360k will represent some kind of premium over list, it likely won't be the crazy excess that has to be paid on limited run models. And while it is a rather terrifying £100k over the most basic price, it's hard to imagine any Superfasts leaving Maranello at less than £300,000 when Alcantara boot carpet is £960, the carbon steering wheel with shift lights is £2,880 and those near-mandatory Scuderia shields are more than £1,000. It all adds up...

While the temptation must surely always be there to take a Ferrari fully over the top, this 812 is particularly nicely done. Grey with red is a timelessly stylish combination, this car's rather subdued exterior offset by a very racy interior and, to be frank, the thrill of an 800hp and rear-wheel drive - you'll struggle to care too much about the paint after about 15 minutes. There are others available on PH at the moment, though could red or yellow maybe be a little obvious? A car like the Superfast will never be truly sublte, though there's some appeal - from here, at least - in going a little under the radar.

Finally, while every 812 currently for sale is more than £300,000, it's worth noting that the Superfast is more powerful than an F12 Tdf, and typically regarded as a more resolved, less intimidating car to drive as well. Yet one of those will cost more than £700,000, thanks to its limited run status. So now 'almost good value' can be added to the 812's long list of talents, or at least in the bizarre world of supercars it can. So while some will only ever consider a red Ferrari, it's easy to see the appeal of this more subdued spec to everybody else. Why it didn't suit the original owner isn't clear, though their loss could stand to be another's considerable gain...

See the original advert here.