Ferrari F149 – Not the new Dino

We’ve been waiting for some time for Ferrari to put up the ‘Ferrari F149 For Sale‘ signs. Well now they have; sort of.

Luca di Montezemolo has always been a law unto himself, and this time he’s even managed to catch out his own PR team, by announcing that the new Ferrari F149 will be revealed at the Paris Motor Show in October (thank you Evo for the original story).

The motoring press has been trying to guess what the F149 was all about for quite some time. Most of the speculation has centred around the possibility that this will be the Dino for the 21st century. Personally, that always seemed a little like wishful thinking (an easy sentiment to put in writing after the event, but honest, Guv, it’s what I thought!). I can’t see Ferrari going down-market. The reason they sell, and the reason they’re so profitable, is because they stubbornly refuse to compromise on price and quantity. A lesson they have learned very well from Porsche. There will be no ‘cheap’ Ferraris. There may be Ferraris that cost less, but believe me they will be very profitable.

And I think Ferrari is far too shrewd to pop a cheaper mid-engined car in to the mix. For a start, it would threaten the F430 but, probably more importantly, it would pop a new Dino bang in the firing line of the Audi R8. Now that is a very dangerous place to be.

So, the new F149 is going to be a Front-engined, V8. Yes please! I have never been a huge lover of the mid-engined Ferraris; much preferring the engine up-front. And the idea of a front-engined, sensibly priced (by Ferrari standards) 2+2 is very appealing. And there seems to be the possibility that the F149 will come with a folding metal roof. Now that will be interesting, and a big seller in the UK (which buys more convertibles than anywhere else in Europe. We are an optimistic bunch!).

I think Ferrari will have a real winner here. It won’t take sales away from the existing line-up, but it will pull sales in from other marques. And this should complete the Ferrari line-up for the foreseeable future. Oh, apart from the SUV (believe me, it will happen!).

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