FERRARI 812 COMPETIZIONE

Does internal combustion get much better than this?

- DAN GARDNER

PILIFEROUS POET Scroobius Pip once said “You see a mousetrap, I see free cheese and a challenge” and after driving the Ferrari 812 Competizione, I understand what he meant. Apathy has no reward because it requires no action, whereas hard things hold the potential for great satisfaction – even if they look a bit dicey.

In this particular analogy, imagine the cheese is the latest in Ferrari’s line of exclusive special-edition front-engined V12 sportscars and the trap is the Fiorano test track in the pissing rain. Intimidated, I was.

Take for example, the new Competizione’s ancestors; the F12 TDF was a wild iteration of the front-engined, rear-drive coupe that was a handful at the best of times, and before that, the 599 GTO was a savage interpretation of the donor model that really should have been fitted with an ejector seat. And now the limited-edition Special Series bloodline continues in the form of a car that takes the 812 Superfast as its basis.

What has resulted, however, is not simply a liberal application of stickers and carbon fibre but a comprehensive weaponising program that probably violates the Hague Convention.