We have what appears to be the first photo of the Enzo replacement – the Ferrari F70 – taken at a private viewing for Ferrari clients in China.
It now looks like – short of a non-motor show reveal – that the new F70 will bow in at Detroit in January, but ahead of that it seems Ferrari are already showing the F70 to select clients.
GT Spirit managed to track down the photo (above) of the new Ferrari F70 taken by someone attending a preview of the F70 at a private event in China. All we get is a shadowy front end view, but it does show us that the new F70 is moving away from the F1 inspired nose of the Enzo.
With weight in the region of 1100 to 1250kg, up to 900bhp from its V12 engine and KERS hybrid, the new Ferrari F70 seems to be focused on performance – just like the new McLaren P1 – rather than outright speed.
It’s rumoured that Ferrari are planning to double the number of F70s they build compared to the Enzo (there were 400 Enzos) which, if true, seems ambitious, especially at a price expected to get very close to £1 million.
Hopefully Ferrari will honour their promise to reveal the new F70 properly before the end of 2012. But don’t hold your breath.
Peloton25 says
This picture was actually taken in Valencia, Spain during the 2012 Finali Mondiali event.
The image first surfaced on the Chinese website, Weibo.com, leading some to believe it had been taken over there. It has since been confirmed that was not the case by others who were there in Spain and saw the same thing.
Also, the new Ferrari supercar – which won’t be called the ‘F70’ – is unlikely to debut at the Detroit Motor Show.
>8^)
Erik
Cars UK says
Thanks, Erik, for putting that straight.
The debut of the F70 (which is of course only F70 in the way the Enzo was F60 – a handy way to refer to it) was, as you know, scheduled for 2012. So if not at Detroit in January – the next major motor show – will we be waiting until Geneva?
If you have any idea, do tell!
Peloton25 says
At the Paris Motor Show there were murmurings that Ferrari were behind schedule with the new supercar due to internal rethinks on various items including the design details which they are handling more in-house now rather than the traditional relationship they had with Pininfarina. It’s also been speculated/rumored they were struggling with development of the KERS system that will be employed on the car. Not sure if that is true, but as this is their first real application of that for road use it does seem probable.
I have no guarantee we won’t see the car before Geneva but that is currently where I expect it will have its formal public debut. In keeping with history I’d also expect Ferrari will show teasers or a full set of photos ahead of whatever event they choose. Reports are that prospective owners will be getting advanced looks at the completed car early in the new year which I think also rules out Detroit as it’s press days are near the beginning of January. Hopefully some more images will leak out from those owners gatherings. I know with all the anticipation for this car that everyone is getting tired of waiting.
The image which sparked this article was shown during a conference for Ferrari’s dealers at the Valencia event and clearly one of them wasn’t playing by the rules in sharing it. Let’s hope that trend continues. 😀
Also I realize calling the car the ‘F70’ is convenient and that most of the press are doing it, but for the same reason people still refer to the Enzo as the ‘F60’ (which it never truly was) I really wish this trend would end. Ferrari’s 70th Anniversary won’t occur until 2017. Calling this the ‘Enzo replacement’ or ‘Enzo successor’ would be less concise, but just as informative and I think long term when Ferrari do give this new car an official name less people will be stuck with F70 in their heads.
>8^)
Erik
Frank says
I know first hand that the top level management refers to the car as the “Enzo” replacement.
Peloton25 says
The internal codename for the new Ferrari supercar project is ‘F150’. Proof of that appears in this slide that compares stats of the two cars which was also snapped at the recent dealer presentation in Valencia:
http://i46.tinypic.com/10y1flj.jpg
The internal codename for the Enzo was ‘F140’ btw – Ferrari never referred to it as ‘F60’ at any point. It can be seen in early photos of the design study shown in Japan:
http://i50.tinypic.com/2llglfp.jpg
‘F140’ is also the designator for the Enzo’s 6.0L V12 engine so it seems likely that ‘F150’ will end up as the designator for the new car’s powerplant as well.
>8^)
Erik