The 2021 Ferrari F8 = The Perfect Supercar

Simply saying the word Ferrari conjures vivid Technicolor images of flamboyantly colored cars with sleek curves racing along a coastal road on the French Riviera toward a James Bond mission -- evoking feelings of status, power, speed, and just a pinch of pretentiousness and why not? The pedigree these cars have speaks for itself.  

The F8 is a mid-tier Ferrari, which makes it not quite as powerful as the 812 Superfast with its 6.5-liter V12, which is the car version of a Celestial from the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Nor is it the entry-level Ferrari like the Portofino M or the older California. But the thing we find most compelling about the F8 isn’t the mere fact that it sits in the middle, but why it is the perfect supercar because it sits in the middle.  

The reason we even want to answer the question of why the F8 is the perfect supercar is, essentially, the wealth of choice enthusiasts have in this genre of car. If we were lucky enough to happen upon a buried horde of pirate treasure, and want to celebrate our new found wealth with an amazing  purchase, there’s a dizzying supercar selection of Pininfarinas, Lamborghinis, Porsches, McLarens, Aston-Martins, and so many more, to invest an embarrassment of riches. Ahoy Mate.... 

Aye, Aye -- we get it. There’s no such thing as going to The Cheesecake Factory for a light snack – it ain’t gonna happen. So, we dug deeply into the fantasyland of our gold-plated auto-tuned imaginations, unilaterally arriving at the - shiver me timbers - Ferrari 458 Italia, which would be the perfect choice if this were 2009, but it’s 2021 so we’re going with the F8.  

Now, we haven’t driven the F8 so we can’t give our review; however, like most enthusiasts who don’t have ready access to $300,000 in discretionary income, we do have the unique perspective of having digested most of the reviews that have come out on the F8, the 458’s precocious grandson.  

This aggregate of opinion, kind of like the Rotten Tomatoes of cars, is that this car is fresh. Very fresh.  

When you survey the landscape of subjective opinion on both the Spider and Tributo coupe you find a firm consensus of pros and cons. Which in and of itself is a small miracle, because in the car world, as in any subjective medium, consensus is about as easy convincing a history professor that Rome was built in a day.  

On the con side it’s the usual go-to moaning and groaning:  The price is too high – after all, the $300K price tag only gets you the base model. By the time you’re done adding all the while you’re at it bells and whistles, including but not excluded to Apple CarPlay, ceramic brakes, and countless expensive extras you never knew existed until the Salesman introduces you to it all like Pirates Booty, you’re up to at least $350,000. At least. Then there’s the ongoing complaint leveled against the F8 that its standard brakes are too hard. But as you go down the line these complaints repeat themselves.  

The takeaway being that aside from some obvious complaints that have little to do with overall performance. And of course – Shock! Horror! -- Ferraris are expensive, at least for us mere mortals. 

And on the pros side, well, here’s what makes F8  the perfect car:  The F8 is amazing to drive. Which is all you really want, right? If you read the many reviews we have  you’ll find  there is only one word that is at once a verb and a noun when describing F8’s driving performance:  Praise.  And just on the track.  

In the past supercars like F8 were difficult to operate on the daily, reserved for letting loose on a track or an empty coastal highway on a Sunday only when it’s 72 and sunny. But that’s old salt.  the F8 today is nothing if not a culmination of years of innovation and experimentation – the point being to produce a car that wasn’t just meant to be kept in a hermetically sealed room and only looked upon on special occasion.  

With its super speed, super comfort, and super price, the F8 is built to make the everyday drive a special occasion.  

Now that’s something to Yo Ho Ho about. 

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