Cars in the Wild

The first time I ever saw a Ferrari was on a family vacation in Lake George, New York when I was about 17 years old. It is indelibly burned into my memory: A red Testarossa growling through downtown Lake George on a warm summer night, downshifting for a red light, me running into the middle of the street to stand behind it with my mouth agape.

Since they started making roadcars, Ferrari’s bread and butter has been cars like the Testarossa—low, wide, mid-engined, two seat sports cars. That is, until now. Welcome to the most unorthodox Ferrari ever made, the FF.

Released in 2011, the FF (which stands for “Ferrari Four”, as in four seats and four-wheel drive) is about as unconventional for the most revered name in motoring as you can get. It is the very first all-wheel drive Ferrari, and instead of a svelte two seat configuration, a slightly ungainly hatchback designed body was penned instead. As you can imagine, when Ferrari first revealed the FF, the purists went nuts. They cried, “Whaaaat?!? Ferrari is making a car that ISN’T a dedicated asphalt shredding track weapon? Blasphemy!” This car is Ferrari’s response to an ever changing and evolving marketplace. With the FF, the company is now able to reach into previously untapped markets to scoop up customers who may have never purchased a Ferrari because of the cars’ inherent practical limitations.

And the result? Epic. The FF may look more pedestrian than the 458, F12, or the Enzo, but don’t be fooled. Along with its ability to fit, like, stuff and people inside, it arrives packing a 6.3-liter V12 engine, the largest capacity engine Ferrari has ever created, 651 horsepower, and crushing on road performance. It even passed one of the toughest crucibles of them all—the withering yet hilarious opinions of TV’s most famous trio on Top Gear,  and it went onto win the show’s “2011 Estate Car of the Year” award. (‘Estate’ translating into ‘station wagon’ for us ‘Muricans).

And it isn’t just Top Gear that is singing the FF’s praises—Harry Metcalfe of EVO magazine fame took loan of an FF for a week, putting 2000 miles on it and driving through nearly every situation possible—hustling down motorways, tearing up backroads, long road trips, even taking it for a spin around his farm. The car’s innovative four-wheel drive system allowed Harry to literally take the FF offroading. Blimey, Ferrari seems to have pulled it off. Check out the excellent video HERE.

The FF is by no means the most lustworthy or visually appealing Ferrari ever made, but it is an immensely capable machine and a total game changer for the Prancing Horse. Bravo!

– Many thanks to Dan Szczesny for the photo!