Ferrari 12Cilindri Spider – Tailored for the Select Few

EXTERIOR 

With the Ferrari 12Cilindri Spider, Flavio Manzoni and the Ferrari Styling Centre design team set out to radically transform the stylistic codes of Ferrari’s previous mid-front-engined V12s. The car marks a clear departure from the sculptural language that characterised the 812  Competition A, for example, instead favouring a more sophisticated language that retains the necessary formal design rigour to achieve a sense of stylistic unity. 

Clean lines dominate the car’s geometry, underscoring the volumes that make up a seamlessly interconnected whole. The ultra-clean flanks sweep back along the entire vehicle from a dihedral section. Although retaining a signature Ferrari sensuality, the wings have been sculpted with extreme geometric precision; all the lines result from intersections between the volumes, and a more functional approach to form eschews nostalgia. The muscular rear wing is imposing yet also perfectly controlled geometrically. On the front wing, that muscular tension extends slightly, resting along the flank and further accentuating the car’s monolithic aesthetic. 

The sculpted bonnet is exceptionally sleek and incorporates the front wings. Removing the cut lines from the wings gives a smooth, uninterrupted surface to the muscularity of the design, lending the entire bonnet a sense of ultra-clean fluidity, interrupted only by two vents to cool the engine bay. One of the objectives of the Ferrari 12Cilindri Spider was to explore design languages only tangentially related to the car world. The front has lost certain signature elements, such as the elongated form of the headlights and the traditional grille shape, in favour of geometries and intersections innate to the car’s design. The headlights are integrated into a single wraparound band, from which the DRLs emerge like blades. 

This car differs from the Ferrari 12Cilindri in the boldly expressive character created by the two buttresses at the rear, behind which an element with a black-screen effect is set. The crease lines on the buttresses echo the motif of the flank, accentuating the expressiveness of the design of these elements. Set into the flank is a ‘quarterlight’ in back-painted polycarbonate. 

A similar approach has been taken with the rear architecture: rigour is the order of the day with the shape obtained by the volume subtraction. Consistent with the front of the car, the taillights are set into a blade that traverses the entire concave rear section and also provides what is possibly the Ferrari 12Cilindri Spider’s real signature theme. This demonstrates once again how cleverly the Ferrari Styling Centre’s designers are able to meld technical and functional demands with beauty. 

Instead of adopting a rear spoiler, the designers have used two active flaps integrated with the rear screen, creating a signature delta theme. The overall perception is of a seamless whole, making the idea of a very high-tech form. The development of this concept allowed the designers to treat the Ferrari 12Cilindri Spider’s cabin in a new way, tracing the frame of the surface in body colour to echo the rear screen theme and integrate organically with the rest of the cabin, which itself is characterised by a black screen effect. 

The tail section also ends in a spotless, monolithic volume in body colour. The lower section of the tail, in black or carbon fibre, features the prominent diffuser keels. The car’s body appears suspended over this element, creating a floating effect. This zone also hosts the sensors and two twin tailpipes. The four tailpipes themselves also feature an all-new shape, with a metal surround to reduce the perception of their size and create a more compact look. 

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