Ferrari The Evo years

It’s 70 years since Enzo Ferrari put his family name on a Tipo 125, and for 19 of those evo has been on hand to put you behind the wheel of the marque’s finest creations

- Richard Meaden

​​THE FIRST FERRARI WE DROVE in evo was an F355 Berlinetta as part of our inaugural eCoty, held late in 1998. However, the first all-new Ferrari launched under our watch was the 360 Modena. We were first invited to Maranello early in ’99 for a technical briefing on the car we would return to Italy to drive later that same year. Looking back, the 360 was a radical car for Ferrari: the first with an aluminium chassis and body, the first where aerodynamics were a major influence and the first to deliver genuine usability. If we’re being harsh, it was also the moment Ferraris ceased to be classically beautiful, but then the F355 was a tough act to follow.

The 360 was bigger than its predecessor, which masked the weight benefits of aluminium. Fortunately the larger motor (up from 3.5 to 3.6 litres) had increased power, from 374 to 394bhp, and a fatter spread of torque. It also had a drive-by-wire throttle, second-gen F1 paddleshift as an option and faster steering – an indication of the role technology would play in Ferrari’s quest for ultra-responsive dynamics.

Of course, there was a subsequent Spider version (in which we retraced the Mille Miglia route), but the 360 would also be the spark for a more explicit and exciting breed of track-biased Ferrari, the first of which being the delectable 360 Challenge Stradale.

This would serve as a blueprint for faster, fiercer creatures to come, its simple recipe of less weight (110kg lighter than the regular Modena and just 20kg more than the Challenge race car), wider rubber, lower, firmer suspension, a faster gearshift and a more potent engine focusing the performance of Ferrari’s mid-engined V8 model as never before.