To say this year’s Geneva Motor Show is a hotbed for the most anticipated automobile debuts is an understatement. Despite the relative lot of sizzling unveilings at the event, there’s not a single ride that invited higher expectations than the Ferrari LaFerrari.
Yes, that redundant name is for real. And, no, we didn’t time travel back to the dawn of the 80s, when Duran Duran, Siouxsie Sioux and Mister Mister made redundant monikers hip. Instead, Ferrari says the name came about because they consider the model to be the “finest expression of our company’s unique, unparalleled engineering and design know-how.” Basically, it’s Ferrari’s showcase piece, packing technology that will trickle down to the future cars the automaker releases down the line.
Being a bonafide exotic, the Ferrari LaFerrari puts a premium on aesthetics, sporting a sculptural treatment that incorporate F1-inspired aerodynamics, a sharp sloping side profile, huge fenders, a deeply vented trunk lid, and an uncompromisingly muscular tail section. It’s a showcase for efficient materials, too, using four different types of hand-laminated carbon fiber to create a chassis that’s stiffer and lighter than would have been possible on a similar vehicle.
More importantly, however, it’s built to perform, packing a 6.3-liter V12 engine married to a 160 hp electric motor (yep, it’s also a hybrid). The combination allows it to put out a whopping 949 hp and 663 pound-feet of torque, giving it enough power to do a 0 to 60 in under three seconds and hit top speeds of 217 mph. All that, coupled with massive carbon ceramic brakes, lightweight calipers, active aerodynamics, and innovative control systems turn the vehicle into one heck of a wicked performer that Ferrari justifiably refers to as “the benchmark for the entire automotive industry.”
Only 499 units of the Ferrari LaFerrari will be made. No pricing or exact release dates have been given, but expect this to clear a cool million easy.
