We’ll admit that the initial images of Ferrari’s F12 Berlinetta had us scratching our heads. The car simply didn’t look like a Ferrari; instead, it look like a Banglore back-alley interpretation of a Ferrari, perhaps built on a stretched Toyota Corolla chassis. Now that we’ve had some time to digest Ferrari’s latest Grand Touring flagship, we’ll admit that we’ve warmed up to the design just a bit.
It still lacks the elegance of a 458 Italia, but it also isn’t as comically over-styled as the Ferrari Testarossa or the Ferrari Enzo. We’d prefer some less-pronounced character lines, and we still can’t quite figure out the functionality of the top fender vents (brake cooling or negative lift, perhaps), but at least we’ve warmed to the upswept lines of the rear fenders a bit.
We certainly can’t argue with the music produced by the F12’s 6.3-liter V-12 engine. Like all Ferraris, it positively sings as you run it to the 8,700 rpm redline, and those lucky enough to own an F12 Berlinetta will drive the car simply to enjoy its mechanical symphony.
The video below gives you an idea of that glorious noise, but it’s partially masked by a heavy metal backing track. We’ve said this before, but we’ll keep saying it until automakers listen: when you’re producing a video to highlight your car’s engine sound, background music is only a distraction.
