Business Insider/Jessica Tyler
Editorial note: Business Insider will name its 2018 Car of the Year on Monday, November 19. Each day this week, we're taking another look at the five vehicles that were runners-up that were selected from a pool of 15 finalists. We featured the 2018 Lincoln Navigator on Monday. Next up is the 2018 Ferrari 812 Superfast.
- The Ferrari 812 Superfast is the successor to the F12berlinetta.
- The 812 Superfast is the latest two-seat GT car powered by the iconic Ferrari V12 engine.
- The 812 adds about 60 horsepower on the F12, bringing the output to 789 horsepower and making it the most powerful production Ferrari ever.
- I drove a $474,000 version of the car for a weekend and was in Ferrari heaven.
Cars with just two seats but with massive motors are, to be honest, pretty rare. Once you've seen a Corvette and an Aston Martin, you've just about seen them all.
But there is, of course, Ferrari and its two-seater coupés that shelter immensely powerful V12 engines beneath the hood. Until relatively recently, that slot in Maranello's lineup was occupied by the F12berlinetta. But for the 2017 model year, it was replaced by the more potent 812 Superfast. It's the most powerful production Ferrari ever created, excluding limited run models like the LaFerrari.
Casting around for a use case for a such a machine is difficult, but there is one: drive extremely fast for a long time. At base, the 812 is a mega-grand-tourer, the highest expression of a genre that's not about practicality but the raw pleasure of getting someplace.
Clearly, the getting there will be done by no more than two people, and they'll be limited on what they can bring with them besides their amazement at the 812's power. (Luggage space is adequate for a weekend trip and little more.)
As it turns out, the V12 GT was a lacuna in my Ferrari-driving experience. I had missed the outgoing F12berlinetta, so I was primed for the 812 Superfast, which arrived last year. Ferrari kindly let me borrow a $474,000 example for a few days. (The base price is $335,000.) Here's how it went.
Believe it or not, this was Business Insider's first yellow Ferrari ("Giallo Modena," to be accurate). To be honest, not my favorite Ferrari color, but boy did it pop! And it rapidly grew on me.Business Insider/Jessica TylerThe 812 Superfast is an update of the F12berlinetta. The critical concepts here are two seats plus a massive engine, hence the very long hood.Business Insider/Jessica Tyler
The car is essentially divided, with the looonnnggg hood harboring a huge V12, and the cockpit and boot bringing up the rear.Business Insider/Jessica Tyler
The 812 Superfast might be a dinosaur, but it's a sleek, elegant visitor from the automotive Jurassic — a heroic example of what a front-engine Ferrari should be.Business Insider/Jessica Tyler
The 812 is a road car, but the Scuderia Ferrari badge reminds owners that it comes from a company renowned for racing.Business Insider/Jessica Tyler
See the rest of the story at Business Insider
See Also:
- We tested the new $90,000 Lincoln Navigator for a week to see if this Car of the Year runner-up delivered both luxury and performance — here's the verdict
- One of these 15 finalists will become Business Insider's 2018 Car of the Year
- The 15 worst airports in America, ranked
SEE ALSO: One of these 15 finalists will become Business Insider's 2018 Car of the Year
FOLLOW US: on Facebook for more car and transportation content!
