Ferrari F12: Berlinetta Blowout

When one thinks of horse racing pedigree inevitably one conjures up images of the Grand National or the Kentucky Derby, where the sport has become the stuff of legend, a day of dreams. Britain and the United States have had a monopoly on the equine action for many decades with much of the world left in the dark. Recent years though have seen the events descend into orgies of lunacy where waistlines are slim, and the personalities slimmer. Various attempts at spreading all this horsiness have proved futile, but this has never bothered a little town called Maranello, the sunny stable of Ferrari.

Ferrari has finally taken the covers off its latest prancing horse with the unveiling of the F12 Berlinetta. Due for its official unveiling at the Geneva Motor Show next week, early details reveal that this is going to be a very irate pony. So pissed off in fact that this new breed has lapped Ferrari's own test track, Fiorano, in 1:23 which batters the equally demonic Enzo's time of 1:24.90.

The new arrival however wasn't content with one smashed record as this is not only the most powerful car Ferrari has ever produced, but also contains the most powerful naturally-aspirated V12 ever made. With 730hp and 509lb.ft of torque it is clear why this is the new flagship of the Ferrari range and will haul the car from 0-100kh/h in 3.1sec.

Despite mouthwatering figures, Ferraris of late have been rather inedible when it came to the styling. Their partnership with Pininfarina has not had the most pleasing of outcomes in recent times, the new FF should have resulted in crucifixion, but the Berlinetta might just buck that trend. The front profile is composed of angular but alluring lines which then give way to side scoops that have clearly been the result of some cross-pollination with Aston Martin. In fact halfway between the side and front profile one would be forgiven for believing it was an Aston Martin One-77, a car whose powertrain record has been usurped by this one. This might just be the first modern Ferrari you would like to go out with, which is ironic really as the rear-end seems to have been modeled on a g-string in a startling piece of automotive lingerie that only the Italians would attempt.

Similar to the attendants of the Grand National, the Berlinetta was the product of copious Pilates sessions and this means that it tips the scales at 1525 kgs, a full 70 kgs slimmer than the 599. The way in which this weight disappeared is so incredibly nerdy -Ferrari has become a bespectacled, pimply shadow of its former self- that the chassis is formed from 12 different alloys. The techno-wizardry continues with so many acronyms that one is forced to actually sit down whilst reading the brochure. There is ABC, ESP, E-Diff and SCM-E amongst many others which Ferrari have dutifully culled from their F1 program.

There is no time to recover from the flood of acronyms however as without a let-up Ferrari delivers its knockout punch, the price. It is expected to be well north, this will really fuck your compass, of £275,000 which places it even further above the other V12 lunatics in supercar state penitentiary, such as the Lamborghini Aventador and the Aston Martin DBS. For those of you dribbling at the prospect of such an inmate making it to South African shores (who isn't?) expect prices to double to an earth-shattering R7 million. Damn, horse racing is an expensive sport.