Ferrari Debuts Next Generation Four-Seater

There’s something to be said for four-seat Ferraris. Sure, they always lack the hard-core boy racer personality of the mid-engined V8-powered cars, and they don’t quite have the performance chops of the front-engined V12 coupes, but they do have that certain indefinable quality that has ensured their success. Maybe it’s their graceful proportions, or maybe it’s their relatively affordable nature, but there’s just something divinely right about the combination of a V12 in the front, a prancing horse on the hood, and four seats behind. But it’s a model that’s always lived in the shadow of its bigger brethren. After all, when one can afford a Ferrari, one can probably afford a two-seat Ferrari, and a second car to haul passengers around in. But this latest version of the brand’s grand touring car might change that.

Oh sure, there’s still a V12 out front (displacing 6.3 litres and producing 651 horsepower), and there’s still four seats in the middle, but the difference is both skin deep, and not. With an elongated roofline and hatchback rear end, the car is the definition of a European shooting brake, giving excellent rear seat room or an almost station wagon-esque level of cargo volume when the rear seats are stowed.  Out front, the long hood combines the best of the 458 and 599’s designs while incorporating the long lost smiley-face grille that adorned Ferraris for decades. But perhaps even more interesting than it’s unique silhouette is the much-anticipated all-wheel drive system employed by the car; a Ferrari first. Apparently called 4RM, the system is said to weigh half as much as comparable setups, helping the car maintain a 47:53 rearward weight bias.

The only thing that seems to be amiss? The name: the 2012 Ferrari FF.