Ferrari 12Cilindri Spider review

Early. In the past, Ferrari made you wait to get a sun-tan in one of its front-engined V12 super-GTs. Cars like the 550, 575 and 599 only got afterthought open-top variants right at the end of their lives – with some fairly horrendous roof arrangements hastily patted down over the cabin.

For the F12, you needed your name double-underlined in Ferrari’s little black book to be invited to buy the stunning TRS version, or the F60 America. And though the 812 GTS got a folding hard-top and wasn’t limited to 0.5 units, it came along in late 2019: two-and-a-half years after the Superfast was unveiled.

But that car’s popularity has shunted an al fresco 12Cilindri up the to-do list.

Why is it called Spider, not GTS? Or Roadster? Or Aperta?

Seriously? We’re going down the ‘why are Ferrari names illogical?’ rabbit hole? Ferrari explained at the car’s reveal that while ‘GTS’ used to be Ferrari-speak for ‘targa’ and Spiders had soft-tops, that isn’t really the case any more because the company mixes and matches disappearing roofs across the range. 296 and SF90 get RHTs – Retractable Hard Tops. So did the Portofino. But the Roma Spider is canvas roofed, and limited-run cars like the SP2 and SP3 have a manual roof. Or no roof at all. The 12Cilindri gets a hard-top because Ferrari considers it a ‘more comfortable’ solution that’s appropriate for a GT.

Is the roof especially clever?

It’s not dramatically different to the one found on the 812 GTS. Four hydraulic cylinders and an electric motor work together to silently stow the two-piece top in a dedicated burrow under the twin-peak buttresses. The entire operation takes 14 seconds and can be completed at speeds of up to 28mph.

Meanwhile the rear window can be operated independently to allow more exhaust noise into the cabin on rainy days. We suspect a British customer suggested that. Just a hunch.

What is innovative are the tiny elephant ears in the pillars just behind the cabin. Those small plastic lobes control the air rushing down the car’s flanks and stop it crashing noisily in the air spilling in the rear deck, which would create buffeting. The 12Cilindri team has the F1 wind tunnel to thank for that. Underneath the tonneau assembly there’s a new aluminium alloy roll bar for extra strength should the worst happen.

Let’s have the numbers then.

Under the ‘cofango’ clamshell bonnet (dramatically hinged at the front) lies the 6.5-litre naturally aspirated V12, nestled behind the front wheels. It develops 819bhp and revs to 9,500rpm, but you can call up the vast majority of its 500lb ft torque reserves from a dawdling 2,500rpm. All as per the coupe, of course.

In the Spider it has to haul along an extra 60kg of roof gubbins and sill-strengthening, but you’ll need a police laser speed gun to spot the deficit. The Spider claims 0-62mph in 2.95 seconds (the coupe’s official time is 2.9s dead), 0-124mph in 8.2s and a top speed of 211mph, roof up or down.

It doesn’t feel like it’s lost anything dynamically from the fixed-roof car, and indeed there’s a 15 per cent rigidity uplift from the 812 GTS. The same razor-sharp turn in, uncanny agility and searing pace as the regular 12Cilindri are all present and correct.

Presumably it’s no bargain?

V12 Ferraris are top-dollar machinery and this is no different: the Spider commands a £30,000 premium over the coupe for a total RRP of over £366,500, and that’s obviously before you’re introduced to the avalanche of options. Stitching. Paint. Carbon. Side shields. It’s easy to splurge thousands on all of them. There will be 12Cilindri Spiders with final sticker prices north of half a million pounds.

Does it have any rivals?

The closest competitor is Aston Martin’s upcoming Vanquish Volante, which chooses a soft-top roof. It has an even brawnier V12, albeit assisted by twin turbochargers. There’s also the Bentley Continental GTC, which no longer offers 12 cylinders but is the best it’s ever been to drive thanks to electric hybrid boost. Certainly a heavier, more luxury-focused experience than the Ferrari, that.

It’s not a given that taking a can-opener to a Ferrari roof makes for a better experience. The SF90XX Spider is unforgivably wobbly for a £750,000 track-inspired special edition. Driving the screenless SP2 Monza is like being slapped in the face. By a jet engine.

The 12Cilindri is, however, a very successful conversion. You get a car that doesn’t lose its handling edge, uncorks more of the main event’s trademark noise, and looks a little more conventional from the rear, which might appease the sizeable portion of onlookers who seem affronted by the 12Cilindri’s radical restyle.

There’s no doubt that losing the roof also exposes inherent flaws in the ultra-minimalist interior design, which customers are going to find irritating. Just two or three buttons would make a world of difference to the state of user-unfriendliness present inside.

And you can’t escape the character shift: this is a less savage animal than an 812. Some will revel in that slightly more relaxed attitude, which promises to make this a genuine daily driver. There will of course be others who think the likes of Aston Martin, Bentley and Maserati have the whole gentlemanly GT thing covered, and a Ferrari V12 ought to be just that bit more heart-in-mouth to hang onto.

Our lasting memory of the car is simply being glad and grateful Ferrari’s engineers have kept an 800 horsepower V12 alive and breathing atmospheric pressure for another generation. And since you’re that much more aware of it here than the coupe, the Spider is probably the ultimate way to get your V12 kicks.

But unlike the F12 or 812, you can see where the gap has been left for a more hardcore version this time. Roll on the ‘GTO’, huh?