Ferrari as you might know is one of the most enviable brands in existence. Ferrari as a company soared to great heights after their IPO and officially managed to become the most valuable automotive brand in the world. Talk about an achievement.
If you’re unaware, Ferrari didn’t even have plans to make road cars. Enzo Ferrari gave it a shot since he was in desperate need of sourcing money to keep his racing division alive. Scuderia Ferrari, as it goes by, is the most successful Formula One team in the world and is the only team still in commission since the sport’s inception.
Before we stray even further, let’s just say that Ferrari has gone from making some of the most exciting cars to a luxury brand that caters to the rich and influential. While it was always reserved for the affluent, there was a zest in them that’s missing these days. With the Purosangue SUV and monstrously powerful cars that are for the most part garage queens, we think Ferrari is sort of losing the plot.
We reckon they should make a 500-horsepower manual sports car just for the purists. Wouldn’t you agree? Here’s us backing the claim.
What Made Ferrari An Icon
If you’re to look at the past, Ferrari started off as a racing team that competed across various events in and around Europe. As with racing and life in general, you’re not going to win everything. Ferrari was pretty successful but wasn’t big with tons of money or influence to back their venture.
Now, Enzo being an optimist decided to favor one of his friend’s suggestions to manufacture road cars and transfer the proceeds into his racing program. Ferrari launched their first road car the "125 S" in 1947 and marked the entry of a brand that would later become a symbol of speed, luxury, and wealth. In 1969, the brand took off after Fiat taking a 50% stake in the company. This improved cash flow and helped Ferrari release more of their road cars and gain a strong foothold.
It didn’t take long for Ferrari to establish themselves as the go-to brand if you have a couple of extra bucks lying about. Ferrari rose to become the symbol of stature and opulence that if you owned a Ferrari you were more than cool. Every Ferrari that comes out of Maranello is built to an individual customer's specification. In this sense, each vehicle is a unique result of a specific client's desire.
Let’s Go Over Our Claim
Ferrari, as we mentioned earlier, has gone from an enthusiastic brand to a luxury product that anyone with money can buy. While this was the brand’s ethos in its earlier days, there was passion in every product and Enzo himself approved many of them. Now the brand is dancing along with the likes of its investors, and products are largely dictated by market trends.
Famously known for being stubborn, Ferrari is not very keen on admitting faults. Every innovation they bring is, according to them, the best that it could ever be. This was the case up until the early '90s and after that, it’s just another Ferrari. What we as enthusiasts and people who admire the brand want is that Ferrari should start from a clean sheet of paper and come up with something that has passion and flair which was once part of the company. Don’t get us wrong, Ferrari still produces some of the best looking and envious cars in the market, but it doesn’t quite appeal to purists. Sure, it has 700+ horsepower but it hardly engages the driver like Ferraris of yesteryears.
Ferrari should start a program like Porsche with its GT division. An exclusive driver-focused machine that tingles the senses. And yes, it should have a manual and be road legal. Porsche has been listening to their customers and has brought back the manual transmission and as an avid enthusiast, nothing replaces the joy of rowing through the gears. Porsche has admitted to stopping going after horsepower and started completely focusing on driver involvement. Ferrari should also try something similar, given their extensive customer base, it’ll sell like hotcakes, no doubt.
Classic Ferraris As Reference
If you gloss over some of the iconic Ferraris, you would come across the fact that a lot of them didn’t have massive engines nor did they produce a ton of horsepower. If anything, the 250s were pretty much basic with 3 pedals, a 3.0-liter V12, and a gated shifter. You didn’t have to worry about traction control or fancy electronics since the car barely made 250 horsepower.
We are requesting the blokes at Maranello to bring back cars that are engaging and not frightening. By today’s standards, a 500-horsepower engine with a manual gearbox and rear-wheel drive would more than suffice. There’s no harm in Ferrari making 1000+ horsepower hybrid machines but, a smaller, nimbler, and engaging package is, to be honest, a lot more exciting to experience, especially if it comes from Ferrari.
Sources: Wikipedia