Ferrari has maintained a decades long tradition of producing some of the finest hand-built sports cars in the world. It’s earned a reputation for maintaining high levels of commitment to maintaining these traditions with speed, power, and prestige. While the Mondial was the one risky venture that sullied this reputation with its lack of power and unreliability, The question has been asked, “Is there any such thing as a Ferrari station wagon?” The answer might surprise you.
Ferrari’s take on tradition
Enzo Ferrari was known for being a purist. He endeavored to produce the fastest racing car in the world, and for a period of time he accomplished this feat. His formula 1 team has taken many victories throughout the years, most notably, several wins at the 24 hours at Le Mans, until unseated by Carroll Shelby’s Ford design driven by Ken Miles who slowed down to lead the trio of Ford race cars to take the first second and third place finishes. The notion of building a station wagon is something that most during that era would have thought unthinkable.
Changing times
The automotive industry is highly competitive and to keep up in the market and hold your head above water, you must rise to the occasion and offer the public what it demands. The powers that be at Ferrari contrived a plan to produce an SUV that is so close to being a station wagon that it does seem to fit the criteria.
Ferrari’s SUV/Station Wagon
The public demand for SUVs and station wagons has been escalating with the growing number of drivers with families. Ferrari made the decision to break with tradition and design a vehicle that combined the comforts and capabilities of a modern SUV with the prestige, style, and power that Ferrari sports cars are known for. This may have been the biggest gamble that the automaker has made since the ill-fated Mondial 8 that started out badly but gained a bit of redemption towards its end.
The 2018 Ferrari GTC4 Lusso T
The GTC4 Lusso T has the appearance of a station wagon, but there’s a lot more going on than your average family hauler. Ferrari took steps to ensure that this vehicle has maintained all of the DNA of a Ferrari. They learned from previous efforts to provide something out of character that it wouldn’t be acceptable to stray far from the traditions of Ferrari. Notable features include its aggressive styling from the FF mode. It’s classified by the brand as an SUV as they prefer not to refer to it as a “station wagon.” The attractiveness of the GTC4 Lusso T made it an instant hit in 2018. Ferrari had officially thrown its hat into the ring with production of a new body style that would allow them to enter into a new niche in the automotive industry while maintaining its placeholder in prestige, luxury, and power.
Luxury features and loaded with power
The interior of the Lusso T is bathed in luxury for the ultimate comfort of driver and passengers. Premium leathers and other upscale accents are trim make this ideal for taking family road trips in contemporary style. The Lusso T is powered with a 3.9-liter turbocharged V-8 engine tweaked to deliver 602 horsepower. The team finally found a way to take an acceptable version of the Ferrari sport and combine practicality with high performance. Twenty-eight cubic feet of space on the interior tops off the impressive features that make this an impressive SUV capable of performing high on and off the road with room for your gear.This is the most talked about SUV (station wagon) model that Ferrari has produced, and it certainly is worthy of the name.
A vintage Ferrari Wagon
During the 1990s, Ferrari produced the 456 GT Venice designed to be a 2-door tourer. This Pininfarina design is a rare find produced in the 1990s in a coupe style with a shooting brake design with rear doors and a roof extension making it a station wagon, although Ferrari has not ever been able to bring themselves to embrace the term. It’s hard to find this rare model with a 5.5-liter V-12 engine and all the power that you could ever need. The FF with a rear lift gate was close to achieving wagon status, but they’re not talked about much. Only 7 examples were ever made and one bespoke example as made for the Brunei Royal Family. While it can’t be counted as a production vehicle, it certainly was built and sold by Ferrari as a member of the brand. Ferrari has produced a successful SUV that you an call a station wagon within the privacy of your own home, because it embraces the practicality and the functions of such. The GTC4 Lusso T is one of the automaker’s most recent endeavors and although it may sound like they’ve once again departed from tradition, that’s not really the case.
Conclusion
In a well planned new design, Ferrari has risen to the occasion to open up a new line for a niche in the automotive market that appeals to the loyal consumers who love the sporty aesthetic and accompanying power and performance of Ferrari vehicles. They’ve infused practical functions and features that avoid the sacrifice of any of Ferrari’s traditions. This may be one of Ferrari’s most successful experiments when attempting to break into a new market. We’ve not hard any of the criticisms made about the Mondial 8 or other less successful models. It’s off to a strong start and we have every reason to believe that the Lusso T will continue to evolve as the practical powerhouse it was intended to be with improvements one would expect in innovation and design. Perhaps this is evidence of Ferrari’s commitment to provide top notch vehicles without diluting the genetics of the brand.
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