Purists are those who urge or require strict correctness. Establishing correctness - and arguing with preconceived notions of correctness - is more challenging than actually urging or requiring said correctness. Interestingly, Ferrari purists are more than likely not owners of current Ferraris. And even the purist Ferrari purist doesn't urge or require the sort of sportscar simplicity of say, a Lotus or even a Porsche purist. Nevertheless, coming from someone who lists the Ferrari 458 Italia and Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano as 100 Favourite Cars members, there are worrying signs coming out of Maranello. evo magazine asked Ferrari's CEO a few questions at the Frankfurt auto show. Amedeo Felisa's answers were, by times, troubling. Here are a couple examples, the first two from an exchange relating to the 458 Italia.
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evo: Why have you chosen the DCT gearbox if it is so much heavier?
Felisa: Because it increases performance. Acceleration is better and the lap time round Fiorano is quicker. This is a sports car and so this is important.
evo: Is this the end of manual gearboxes in Ferraris?
Felisa: Yes, it is. The 458 will not be available as a manual, nor will future Ferraris as customers no longer request one.
evo: Which is your favourite new Ferrari?
Felisa: It used to be the 612 HGTE but now it is the California. I like GTs and the California is a fantastic GT car.
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Ferrari is expected to build the quickest and best-handling cars in the world. Felisa has access to the cold hard numbers, but one wonders at his theory surrounding the 458's direct-shift gearbox and a traditional manual. Ferrari's boss admits that the DCT is much heavier than Ferrari's gated manual, so would the possible weight loss not make up for at leastpart of the DCT's accelerative advantage? Couldn't the option be offered so a prospective buyer could know for certain?
On the subject of manual transmissions and the brand as a whole, this is far more concerning. Is there no car in Ferrari's future that would be - possibly, maybe, by chance - more fun by shifting yourself? It doesn't help my pain that Ferrari's manuals were (formerly) presented more beautifully than any other shifter from any other automaker. Now Felisa has concluded that laptimes are more important than fun. Which probably has something to do with the driving ineptitude of many Ferrari buyers who grew up being chauffeured to private school in a Rolls-Royce - most definitely fitted with an automatic - before buying an E46 BMW M3 with that dreadful SMG. And they never acquainted themselves with any of the 794 manual shift programs.
Not that I'm jealous. After all, apart from two-thirds of Ferrari's latest releases, it looks like Ferrari's boss would equip the company to fight Aston Martin. Amedeo Felisa's favourite Ferrari was the whaaa? Any version of the 612 Scaglietti, HGTE or not, is not pretty enough for a mother to love let alone an uber-wealthy company CEO. And then his allegiance switched over to the California because he loves GTs? Grand Touring cars, seriously?
This is the boss of Ferrari. And I want to hear him say his favourite current Ferrari is the 430 Scuderia until his black-over-beige 458 Italia is ready which will be his fave until the Scuderia/Challenge Stradale version of the 458 debuts.
Thankfully Ferrari is a team environment. However cool Felisa may be, somebody smart enough to make the 458 Italia gorgeous is still working outside Enzo's old office.
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