Ferrari 412
Not as flashy as Magnum P.I.'s Ferrari 308, not as fast as Miami Vice's Ferrari Testarossa, and certainly not as extroverted as either, the Ferrari 412 was the marque's subtle, understated, and obscure grand tourer in the 1980s. At least, understated and obscure by the standards of the brand.
In the go-go 1980s, Ferraris were symbols of greed, excess, and audacious ostentation; but what I like best about the 412 is that despite its excellence, it operated below the radar. The 412 wasn't a status symbol of the nouveau riche; it was more like an executive express, like a furtive Learjet for the roads. at incredibly rapid, comfortable transit, it operated below the radar.
Angular lines and a sharp, purposeful prow give the 412 an intelligent, crisply creased elegance reminiscent of the Aston Martin Lagonda; the 340-horsepower quad-cam V-12 gave it urgency. Not as tossable as the 308, nor as exotic as the Testarossa, the 412 excelled at incredibly rapid, comfortable, civilized transit in the European fashion.
Just as the 412 was overshadowed by its more showy siblings, it was replaced by the lovely and sensuous 456--a faster, more modern car that quickly supplanted the 412 as Ferrari's best tourer.
--Chris H.
h2odragon on February 15, 2008 at 03:38 PM
Ooo thanks for the memories! There was a day in the Chicago suburbs in the late 80's where my wonderful, rattletrap, rustbucket, rarely defeated '72 'Cuda and I got our clock cleaned by some anonymous, vanilla looking little sedan thing. I always wondered what that thing was...
RacerS3 on November 07, 2008 at 11:00 AM
I always thought the 412 was a cool, subtle car, for a Ferrari. One intresting tidbit, the automatic version of this car used a GM TH400 transmission. A GM trans in a Ferrari? Yep, Beleive it or not.