Tag: enzo ferrari

The best four doors ever!

On By ChristofferIn News, The Dream Garage, The Thrill of OwningLeave a comment

Enzo Ferrari is a name that probably rings a bell even if you don’t have the slightest interest in cars. The father of the most legendary sports car brand of all needs no further introduction, as my portrait of him on this blog back in 2023 hopefully showed. Less well-known, and arguably less legendary, is Luca di Montezemolo, Ferrari’s president until 2014 who was a central figure in the development of many modern Ferraris. Again, I did a portrait of Luca almost exactly a year ago, which will notably tell you that he started with the company back in 1973, moving up the ranks to become its president in 1991.

di Montezemolo is instrumental to this post, because it was him and no one else that in the late 90’s was appalled to see that Italian politicians and other VIP’s had to resort to being driven around in German limousines, as Italy at the time did not produce anything that fitted the bill. The Lancia Thema 8.32 may have had a Ferrari engine, but it was old by then and never on par with an S-class. Ferrari was only building two-seaters, and Maserati, which at the time belonged to Ferrari, had a Quattroporte, meaning a four-door, four-seater sedan, but the 90’s version, which was the fourth iteration of the Quattroporte, was far too small for a limousine.

The fourth series had its charm, but not the same looks – and it was far smaller.

This had to change, and so di Montezemolo’s Ferrari group started developing the stately limousine that became the Quattroporte series V, one of the most elegant cars that’s ever been built and the first Ferrari four-door. Yes, you read that right. The fifth series Quattroporte may have carried Maserati’s neptune trident logo, which you can also admire on a fountain in the middle of the brand’s home town Bologna, but for all intents and purposes, it was a Ferrari, including the wonderful engine and the far less wonderful single-clutch automated manual transmission, here called DuoSelect.

Pininfarina was in charge of the design of the new Quattroporte, giving it a look that is the very definition of timeless elegance. It does without any wings or spoilers, something Pininfarina has never been a fan of, preferring sweeping lines that require no special effects or drama to come into their own right. A quick comparison with the Chris Bangle-designed 7-series from the same period illustrates the point quite well. The Quattroporte brilliantly conveys its class through small details like the trident logo on the c-pillar and of course, the three side skirts behind the front wheels, Another way to look at it is that the fifth series Quattroporte looks as good whatever the color, perhaps the best testament to a truly great design.

…including in white, usually not a very attractive colour!

What the outside promises, the inside doubles up on. Leather of the finest Italian quality is complemented by wood inserts along with alcantara notably for the roof lining. The look is distinctive and elegant, with a comfort to go with it. In spite of the car being over five meters long (5.09 metres to be exact), room in the back isn’t opulent, but sufficient for four to travel in great style.

And yet, all of this is secondary to what you find under the hood, home of essentially the same Ferrari V8 as in the F430 or 458. Initially at 4.2 litres, the V8 in the Quattroporte delivers a healthy 400 hp with a sound you won’t hear in a new car ever again, modern regulations have made sure of that. At idle the Quattroporte growls impressively, and as the revs rise, so does its tone. It’s quite simply a wonderful engine that I promise will give you goose bumps every time, even if you were to drive the car as a daily. Maserati have also placed the engine as low and as far into the car as possible, meaning it sits behind the front axle.

The DuoSelect gearbox risks giving you goose bumps as well, however for a completely different reason. The single-clutch, automated manual is fine on long distances or for real sporty driving, as it kicks in the gears like a true racing car, and being a transaxle construction, it also gave the big limousine an almost perfect weight distribution of 47-53. Unfortunately though, the gearbox is far less great in slow-moving traffic or any kind of hill start or parking. On one hand for the jerkiness of the gear change, but also since its construction means that any such driving formally eats the clutch, and letting the car hang in first gear during a hill start will make you aware of this through a distinct smell of burned clutch.

A lovely interior, with the DuoSelect box distinguishable by the small reverse handle

The fifth series of the Quattroporte premiered in 2003 with the above mentioned engine and the DuoSelect gearbox as only option. It generally received a good reception from the motoring press with praise going mostly to the engine and the ride, with the standard-fitted Skyhook adaptive damping, Unsurprisingly, the gearbox was far less appreciated. In 2005 two specific versions called Executive GT and Sport GT were added to the line-up, the former with more luxury, the latter, you guessed it, with more sportiness, notably an X-shaped sports exhaust that gave the Sport GT the best tone of them all, a metallic growl worthy of a true race car.

In 2007 Maserati then bowed to the pressure from its customers and replaced the DuoSelect box with a six-speed automatic from German ZF. Or rather Fiat did, because by then, Maserati had passed from the house of Ferrari to the house of Fiat. The change of gearbox however meant major changes to the whole car, as the box was now moved forward to sit right behind the engine. Roughly 25% of all parts in the car had to be changed as a consequence, and the weight distribution became slightly less favorable at now 49-51. Given how much better the new gearbox was, most buyers found this very easy to stomach.

What is generally considered the best pick of the Quattroporte range is the Sport GTS from 2008 onwards, the sportiest version of them all. Chrome parts were here blackened and the suspension was changed to conventional Bilstein dampers rather than the Skyhawk setup, generally considered better. Wheels were bigger at 20 inch, the grille was turned inward, all giving it a more aggressive look. In the same year, the engine volume was increased to 4.7 litre and 430 hp in the Quattroporte S and Sport GTS versions. The Series V was discontinued in 2012, and unfortunately replaced by two far less charismatic cars – the Ghibli at around five metres and the new Quattroporte at almost 5.3 metres, comparable to an extended S-class.

The Sport GTS looks more purposeful – especially fron the front.

Of course, a five-meter, two ton limousine isn’t in its element in the city. It’s built for the large Autostrade or sweeping country roads of Italy and elsewhere, and it’s here the car really comes into its element. The steering which can feel a bit dead at lower speeds is now communicative, the ride is subtle, and the car is a better drive than any automobile of this size should be allowed to be. It’s difficult to fault it, and in this environment, it’s really irrespective of version. Perhaps even more surprisingly, Quattroporte’s have a generally very good reputation quality-wise, often scoring better than S-classes of a similar age. If, and this is one of the biggest if’s you’ll ever read, if and only if they’ve been properly maintained.

No luxury limousine is cheap to run. Big engines and considerable weight means maintenance costs for, next to the engine, things like dampers or air suspension, brakes and tires will be high. In a certain way, the often low price of the car is only the entry ticket to a hopefully happy ownership. If you can’t budget the necessary maintenance costs, then it’s generally better to stay away. Which of course also means a need to ensure that the previous owner or owners (the fewer the better!) have done so as well.

The prettiest luxury sedan rear ever!

The above has never been more true than for the Quattroporte. Some of these are very cheap, meaning around EUR 10.000. The general rule is to steer away from those, or any car which doesn’t have a complete owner and servicing history. Let me illustrate why. Remember the DuoSelect gearbox? If badly driven, the clutch could need replacement already after 20.000-30.000 kms, and will most certainly have to be changed at twice that, even if you treat it with silk gloves. That replacement is about EUR 5.000. A pair of break pads is around EUR 600, which is interesting since the pads are identical to those on a Mercedes ML, where they cost EUR 50. A pair of disc brakes will be EUR 1.000-1.500. And so on.

The implication of this is of course that if a perfect car with perfect history costs 5.000 more than a less perfect one, that will be the best 5.000 you’ve ever invested. The good news is however that if annual servicing intervals have been maintained at a serious garage, then the engine is pretty bullet proof, and slightly higher mileage needn’t therefore be a deal killer. That goes for the gearbox as well – the six-speed automatic that is, which is the only one you should get. As for the rest, at least statistically, a Quattroporte won’t be worse than any other luxury limousine, but it will always be more beautiful and incite more emotions!

The day I have more time and space, meaning that five-place garage I’ll never find as long as we live in Switzerland, then a Quattroporte is probably the first car I’ll park there. To my mind, it’s quite simply the best modern Maserati. I’ll follow my own advice above, going for an automatic but not caring too much about the version, or even whether it’s a 4.2 or 4.7 litre, both are great. I’ll park it so that I can admire it every day, in whichever color it is, and I will most probably used it as a daily, to enjoy the best engine sound in the world over, and over, and over again!

Auto legends: the story of Enzo Ferrari!

On By ChristofferIn Auto Legends, News1 Comment

When one of my readers gave me the idea to the section on legendary personalities from the auto industry, he did so specifically mentioning Ferdinand Piëch, whom I therefore did the first portrait of earlier this summer. Had I come up with the idea myself though, I wouldn’t have started with Piëch. If someone says “automotive legend” to me, there’s really one name that springs to mind before the others, and it is that of Enzo Ferrari. I kind of suspect it may be the same for some of you, so in this second portrait, we’ll have a look at the Commandatore himself, the legendary man who spent his life in northern Italy between Turin, Milan, Maranello and Modena, and whose legend has only grown since he passed away around 35 years ago.

Young Enzo on an Alfa Romeo, sometime in the 1920’s

It apparently took little Enzo 10 years from his birth in 1898 to be stung by the racing bug, which happened when his father took him to a car race in Bologna. Enzo had an older brother and early on dreamt of becoming an opera singer, but the Spanish flu that swept across the world at the time killed both Enzo’s older brother and his father, forcing him to grow up quickly and lay his ideas of a singing career to rest. He joined the army in 1917 and was very close to dying from the flu as well shortly thereafter, but survived and was honorably discharged the same year. Rather than becoming a soldier, his big dream was now to work for Fiat, but his application was rejected, which we should perhaps all be grateful for.

Enzo instead went on to work for a company called Costruzioni Meccaniche Nazionali for whom he also debuted as a racing driver. He took part in a number of races over the coming years with quite some success, before a very defining moment for him but also for the larger automobile world occurred in 1923, when Enzo met the parents of the noble flying ace Francesco Baracca. Baracca had done some heroic flights but later perished in the war, and his parents now invited Enzo to use their son’s coat of arms on his cars for good luck. You’ve guessed it, that coat of arms was none other than a prancing horse, and so the legendary Ferrari logo was born!

The original look, and use of the Cavallino Rampante!

In 1929, Enzo’s racing career was crowned when he was knighted for his achievements and given the title “Commandatore” (Commander), that would stick with him for the rest of his life. He would end his driving career in the coming years and instead set up the sporting society Scuderia (“team”) Ferrari, a kind of racing club for aspiring drivers with as symbol the prancing horse. The club would a few years later become affiliated to Alfa Romeo, but the association would only last a few years.

Enzo had now also become the proud father of a boy called Dino, but as he didn’t know then, Dino would only have a short life, dying of dystrophy in 1956. Between the Spanish flu, his son’s dystrophy and other terrible viruses and bugs at the time, it doesn’t hurt to remember that modern medicine has done quite a few wonders in curing and exterminating what people died of less than 100 years ago… Dystrophy however, as a genetic disease, is unfortunately one we don’t yet have a remedy for.

The 125 S was the first Ferrari car to score a race win.

Just before WW II broke out, Enzo had founded his new company Auto Avio Costruzioni in Modena, later moved to Maranello. As soon as the war was over, Ferrari started racing and the 125 S would score its first victory in 1947. That would be the start of many race wins over the coming years, including notably the Mille Miglia in 1948, the 24 hours of Le Mans in 1949, and the world racing championship both in 1952 and 1953, in both cases with the legendary Alberto Ascari as driver. it was at this time that Ferrari also started producing road cars, already then with the rich and famous in mind.

If the late 40’s were all happy days, the 50’s and early 60’s would be less so. Next to the loss of his son, six Ferrari drivers would be killed between 1955 and 1965, Enzo as head of Ferrari would be charged with manslaughter following the accident in the Mille Miglia in 1957 that I described in my post about the race, and Enzo would also lose several of his top people in the Palace Revolt in 1961, that we looked into in the post on Bizzarrini back in February 2021. These events and of course, especially the death of Dino, changed Enzo into a reclusive man. It was most probably also these events that led him to consider a sale of Ferrari to Ford in the 60’s, that would however never happen. Instead it was Fiat that Enzo sold half of the company to in 1969, because Ferrari by then had serious financial issues.

The Dino, one of the most beautiful of them all

At the age of 79, Enzo would resign as president of the company he founded in 1977, but president or not, it was still clear to everyone who was really running the company. A further personal blow was the death of his beloved wife the year after, and finally Enzo himself took his last breath in 1988 at the age of 90, in Maranello that he made so famous. He was later introduced to the International Motorsports Hall of Fame, given the 13 world championships and 4.000 race wins achieved over his lifetime.

Next to the racing successes, Enzo also led the development of Ferrari’s road cars during the decades he was active. Going through them all is a post by itself, but let me pick two of my (and many others’) favorites. The Dino, named in honor of Enzo’s son, is to me one of the most beautiful Ferraris, and the F40, which was the last car Enzo signed off on personally, one of the most spectacular. These and others are shown in the Ferrari gallery in Maranello that it’s well worth visiting if you’re in this beautiful region of Italy, going by a single motto: Forza Ferrari!

The unique Lancia Stratos!

On By ChristofferIn Classic cars, News, The Dream Garage1 Comment

If competition between car makers has been a trait of the automobile industry for as long as anyone can remember, it’s probably only in Italy that competition between car designers was just as fierce. The two dominant houses in Italian car design are of course Pininfarina and Bertone, both having employed legendary designers through the years who have in turn been responsible for some of the most beautiful car creations to come out of Italy. Usually one of the two big houses would be the main partner for a certain brand, but there was certainly nothing hindering the other one from trying to gain market by various means. Thank God for that because otherwise, the legendary Lancia Stratos would probably never have seen the light of day.

Lancia had historically mostly collaborated with Pininfarina in designing its models, with Bertone eagerly watching from the sidelines. In the late 60’s however, Bertone saw an opportunity as it was obvious that the ageing Lancia Fulvia was up for replacement. Bertone’s gave its legendary designer and our old friend Marcello Gandini, the man behind notably the Lamborghini Miura and Countach, the task of drawing a car that completely broke with the Fulvia and would signal the advent of a new, modern era. So he did, and it was so convincing that the Lancia bosses decided to show the prototype at the Turin Auto Salon in 1970. Gandini was subsequently commissioned with designing the production car that would come to market a couple of years later.

Gandini’s original Stratos prototype was…special!

The Stratos’ predecessor, the Fulvia coupé, had been used on the rally scene in the 60’s with some success, and Lancia saw rally as a way to position the brand as a sporty alternatively notably the the siblings from Fiat. This meant that unlike basically any other rally car at the time (or for that matter, thereafter), the Stratos was developed exclusively with rallying in mind, and not as a civilian car later converted to rally usage. You don’t need to look at the car for long to see this was the case, and also that this was a completely new design language that would follow Gandini notably to the Countach. The ultra short wheelbase of only 2.2 metres carries a body with minimal overhangs but with a big, sweeping front screen giving the driver great visibility. The engine was mid-mounted in the ultra low, rear-wheel drive car, getting in and out of which it is not an exercise suitable for any kind of daily driving. Looking at the Stratos today, it’s surprising how small it really is at 3.7 metres and around 900 kg. Lancia did however have to comply with the rules for any rally car at the time, namely that 500 so called homologation cars for street usage had to be built and sold along side the rally cars themselves.

How most of us remember it – on a clay road in some southern rally!

During the development of the Stratos, Lancia had considered various engines for the car, but the one they really wanted was the 2.4 litre V6 that Ferrari was using in the Dino. After long negotiations, rumour has it that Enzo Ferrari himself agreed to deliver the 500 engines necessary for the homologation of the Stratos. However, after the first 10 engines or so the deliveries suddenly dried up, with Ferrari claiming various production issues. It wasn’t until Lancia threatened to replace the Ferrari engine with another motor that they finally started coming in. Strangely enough, that also coincided with the end of production of the Dino, which Enzo had of course seen as a competitor to the Stratos… In the homologation street cars the engine produced 190 hp, in the rally cars performance was typically between 300-400 hp thanks to a big, old-school turbo. With the car being rear wheel drive, it’s an understatement to see that the Stratos was difficult to drive, but for those who mastered it, it was one hell of a car!

The Stratos premiered in the world rally championships in 1974 and went on to win the title straight away, as it did in 1975 and 1976 as well. It won both the Swedish Rally on snow, and the African rally on clay in the same period. There’s little doubt it would have gone on to win further titles had Lancia let it, but by this time Fiat had taken the somewhat strange decision that the Fiat 131 Abarth, a not very futuristic car that few will remember and that didn’t see much success, would be the rally car (and Fiat thereby the rally brand) in the Torino car family. The last major title the Stratos won was therefore the Monte Carlo Rally in 1977, although private teams continued to race the car and having success doing so after that. Of course Lancia came back on the rally scene a few years later with the Lancia Delta Integrale, that we looked at in an old post from 2015, but that’s another story.

The quite minimalistic interior of the homologation cars

There’s been various initiatives over the years to revive the Stratos, some of which have made it to some of the big car shows, but none of which have so far made it all the way to production. The most promising one was designed by, hold on to your chair now, Pininfarina and not Bertone, although it was, let’s say heavily inspired by the Bertone-designed original. It was built on a Ferrari 430 chassis and was to be built by a company called Manifattura Automobili Torino (MAT). It was shown at the Geneva Auto Salon in 2018, but the project then died off, apparently not because of Covid but rather because of Ferrari vetoing it, unclear why. I included it in my overview of the auto salon back then in a post you can find here.

The Stratos was thus a truly unique car, and to me, one of the coolest cars around to this day. It’s also uniquely small, uniquely focused on rally and if not uniquely, then at least very successful. It’s also a uniquely difficult car to find today should you want one. With 500 built in the early 70’s that’s perhaps no surprise, especially since many of the buyers certainly thought of themselves as hidden rally talents. As I write this in the middle of February, there’s not a single car on the market anywhere in Europe, nor in the US (which is less surprising since the Stratos never made it officially there). The Stratos will thus remain a rally legend for poster walls or these days Youtube, but what a car it was!