Ferrari 849 Testarossa: is the SF90 replacement a hit or a miss?

Tom Ford: “I like it, mainly because it’s different”

Did you ever get the feeling that the SF90 never really hit the spot, despite being a twin turbo V8 with nearly 1,000bhp? I did. I always felt like it was a gamechanger wrapped in the skin of an NPC from a computer game.

Not so the 849. OK, so the Testarossa name is a stretch – and I think what makes people so aerated – but the car has influences... F80, Daytona, even 308.

And I like it, mainly because it’s different. I get a lot of 1970s vibes, and it honestly looks great in a subtle colour. Why the hate?

Rowan Horncastle: “The 849 Testarossa has no visual rhythm or confidence”

Ferrari’s chairman, John Elkann, may have been sweeping streets for tax evasion, but the design team should have been shackled behind him for the 849 Testarossa.

This isn’t heritage, it’s cosplay – a clumsy lure for purists after the SF90 bellyflopped. I think the SP3 Daytona unexpectedly nailed the Testarossa’s slatted brief without trying – this has no visual rhythm or confidence.

Maranello once sculpted poster cars, now it clings to old names like a drowning man to driftwood. I’m sure the coming EV era won’t make its identity crisis any easier either.