2018 Ferrari Portofino Reviews

Ferrari has continued its two-decade long line of ‘special’ versions of its smaller mid-rear engined supercars with the arrival of the 296 Speciale, a fire-breathing 647kW version of the twin-turbo, V6 plug-in hybrid.

With a 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8 in the front driving the rear wheels, the Roma is a classic Ferrari two-door 2+2. We leapt at the opportunity of driving the Coupe version in and around the iconic Italian brand's home town of Maranello, Italy.

If we offered you a free Ferrari or free Toyota which would you take?

You can thank/blame (take your pick) Scottish engineer James Watt for the confusing way we measure engine performance in cars. He was the person that came up with the bright idea of measuring power based on a horse.

Ferrari will launch its first-ever electric car in October, CEO Benedetto Vigna has confirmed.The announcement was made at Ferrari’s Q4 and full-year financial results conference, where Vigna refused to give any details of the combustion-free model aside from stating that it would be launched in a “unique and innovative” way.Five more models will launch alongside it next year, one of which will include the 12Cilindri Spider as well as a Roma replacement, which went out of production last year.Prototypes of the electric supercar have been previously spotted testing in Ferrari’s hometown of Maranello, Italy, giving some details of what to expect in terms of design.Surprisingly, the four-door model appears to be an oversized hatchback more than anything, with its fake exhausts undermined by high-voltage stickers indicating that it is, in fact, electric.Vigna has previously confirmed that the electric model will stay true to Ferrari’s core principle of driver engagement, with the EV set to deliver “authentic noise”, suggesting a program similar to Hyundai’s Active Sound+ that synthesises fake engine noises on the Ioniq 5 N is on the cards.A previous report by Reuters speculated its price tag could be as high as €500,000 ($829,580), although this hasn’t been confirmed directly by Ferrari.The move comes as Ferrari announced that hybrid models, such as the plug-in hybrid GTS 296, GTB 296 and SF90 Stradale, made up 51 per cent of its sales last year.Despite rivals such as Aston Martin delaying their electrification plans, Ferrari remains committed to having hybrids and EVs consisting of 80 per cent of its line-up by 2030.It will still produce combustion-engine models beyond then, with the brand’s CEO previously stating he believes synthetic e-fuels are the “way forward” for the brand.Ferrari’s revenue rose 11.8 per cent in 2024 compared to the year prior, with deliveries up marginally by 0.7 per cent to 13,752 in total.Vigna expects “robust growth” in 2025, bucking the trend of a tough economic outlook that many mainstream car brands are facing.

As the automotive industry's peak body warns of challenging times ahead for the new-car market in Australia due to rising costs and high interest rates, there is one corner of the market that is thriving.

What’s a car without a name? It’s an object that may function superbly well. It might even look impressively tough or beautifully sleek.

Just weeks after the release of the McLaren W1, Ferrari has unveiled its next halo car and next-generation ‘holy trinity’ competitor, the Ferrari F80.

Ferrari’s just-launched 12 Cilindri will be the last naturally aspirated vehicle of its kind, and indeed the last naturally-aspirated Ferrari of any kind, with the brand set to turn to hybridisation to keep its enormous V12 engine alive, and legal under increasingly challenging emissions regulations.

Ferrari is now the only company on Earth crazy enough to attempt to squeeze a naturally aspirated V12 through modern emissions laws, but anyone who buys this spectacular new Ferrari 12Cilindri will be very glad they did. As long as it's not raining.