CHRIS HARRIS
The Ferrari 296 GTB is rewriting the fast car rulebook and leaving so-called rivals in its wake, says Chris
“I CAN’T QUITE GET MY HEAD ROUND THE PERFORMANCE A FERRARI 296 OFFERS”
I haven’t had the chance to fully eulogise about the Ferrari
GTB because my cricketing friend drove it when we were in Germany filming It is many of the things we now blithely expect a new Ferrari to be beautifully developed and offering so much performance you really do wonder how much more any human being could need But what struck me when I had the car in the UK was how it comprehensively exploded the existing gap between supercar and hypercar Of course there is no definitive line of demarcation between such random categorisation but my backside has alway considered it to be the difference between “Crikey that’s rapid” and “Woah what just happened there?”
What happens when cars like the appear is they cause geeks like me to stop and rethink what we had assumed were accepted ‘classes’ of cars This happened to me when I was driving the and following Paddy in the Pagani Huayra BC Because he was driving something that looked like a livid insect I assumed it would simply disappear in a straight line It didn’t
What we now have is an ‘entry level’ Ferrari that is as fast as one of the craziest hypercars ever sold It’s a remarkable reset in the history of fast cars yet it seems to have passed most people by Perhaps that’s because these machines are so competent that people expect such things to happen But I can’t quite get my head around the level of performance a offers And that leads me to the next thought how does Ferrari see the world of fast cars looking for the next decade if it has set the initial bar for itself at a tick over bhp? The last time I felt like this was when Merc launched the SL in You’ll think that’s a random car to pick but I remember driving one and thinking “This car has nearly
bhp more than anything it is supposed to compete with ” The SL totally altered what we thought a quick open top GT should be
These moments always stick with me The first time I drove a Mitsubishi Evo I just couldn’t fathom how any car could cover ground so quickly An S spinning beyond rpm seemed crazy how was it even possible to offer that car with a warranty? The Turbo S felt like it was ripping the asphalt from under all four wheels but now would feel utterly pedestrian
The is even more mind bending than those because as I’ve said it isn’t a statement of ultimate performance it’s the new introductory level from which the company will now build It’s a car that feels as fast as a LaFerrari I no longer know what a supercar or a hypercar is perhaps what the has done is push the categorisation into more subjective areas like noise and the ability to be seen and heard?
It also leaves me concerned for brands who think they rival Ferrari because right now the gap between Maranello and the rest is at its greatest in the quarter of a century I’ve been testing cars The Artura is a honey but plagued with problems and doesn’t have the explosive acceleration and Aston Martin just isn’t in the same league now It could take them a long time to catch up Presently it doesn’t feel like it will ever happen
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