T
he 29th September arrived but just to make sure, I checked the diary to confirm. Yes, it was the 29th and today I was going to have a drive in the new Ferrari F8 Tributo. Two slices of toast and an expresso later the garage doors rolled up revealing my Honda Civic and the Ferrari 430 spider. It had been raining so it was going to be the Civic. I looked at the 430, and for some reason thought it looked sad, as if I were about to embark on an affair with another Ferrari. I patted the roof and put her mind at rest.Set the sat nav to Penshurst Place in Kent, fired up the Civic and I was on my way. Arriving at the Tudor mansion that is Penshurst place I parked the Civic and walking through a stone gateway spotted the Tributo, or to be more accurate, twelve of them formed up in a semi-circle. This gave me a chance to wander around and take a good look at the cars. My first impressions were what a beautiful car, but then are not all Ferraris beautiful. So, I started to look closer and in more depth. It was still a beautiful car but perhaps if you look hard enough you can find fault, perhaps not fault but areas of design to address. As an example, let’s look at my black 430. In my
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The Drivers Union
opinion and many would probably disagree, the profile of the tin top just doesn’t look right. The haunches and the roof line where they meet doesn’t look a natural blend, unlike the 360 which does. The 360 flows whereas the 430 is too abrupt. However, without the roof the 430 spiders’ lines look more natural and flowing, hence my preference for the Spider. I felt this with the Tributo. the spider’s lines seemed cleaner. I also wasn’t keen on the rear view, again this may seem like nit picking but to paraphrase the TV program catchphrase. Say what you see.
“Great car and a good drive. The engineering is to be applauded” On a positive note you can see why the lines are where they are. This car is a very heavily face lifted
