Ferrari 812 Superfast review – design
The pinnacle of front-engined Ferrari engineering, the 812 melds mind-warping performance with a chassis that draws you into the action
Whether the 812 was one of Ferrari’s finest design moments is a matter of opinion. Off the back of the quite divisive, retrofuturistic 12 Cilindri, it’s certainly aged well. It’s not just traditional compared to the new car either, given it reintroduced the quad tail lamp signature, following the dual units of the 599 and F12, which had odd-looking rumps.
Ferrari’s pursuit of aerodynamic advantages did make the car a little fussy and technical compared to its monolithic successor. To our eyes though, there aren’t many better silhouettes in all super GTdom. The whole exterior and underside of the car is a moving advertisement for the power of the wind tunnel.
The aluminium bodywork is covered with slats, scoops, diffusers and turning vanes, while hidden away are various active moveable devices, including a trio of flaps under the rear bumper that can move through an arc of up to 14 degrees. It all adds up to a car that can generate the same levels of downforce as the TdF, but with 40 per cent less drag.
