Bucking the trend: Wallpaper* talks SUVs and more with Ferrari's Flavio Manzoni
Porsche has long offered them, Bentley’s just launched one and Lamborghini and Rolls-Royce are soon to reveal theirs. But archetypal sports car brand Ferrari still says it won’t make a luxury SUV – despite the segment being one of the fastest growing in the world. Wallpaper* caught up with Ferrari’s vice-president of design – the 51-year-old, Sardinian-born Flavio Manzoni – to discover why he won’t be joining the SUV party, why design students need to be more imaginative and how he manages to remain curious...
W*: How long can Ferrari keep resisting the ultra-luxury SUV trend?
FM: Ferrari doesn’t want to make anything that follows a trend. We are not followers. I don’t think an SUV can be a supercar. Every time we work on a new Ferrari we try to improve every aspect, including the centre of gravity – so an SUV is not a Ferrari. I don’t understand why so many other brands are doing them. In my opinion it shows a lack of courage.
Does Ferrari have a design philosophy, and if so, what is it?
We never follow one philosophy like ‘kinetic design’, ‘flame-surfacing’ etc. These are slogans. Design is a form of language, that needs to transmit the soul of the project, so we’re not so strict on the use of a ‘family feeling’. We don’t want to have to apply the same design criteria, repeated one hundred times. This doesn’t work. We have to be more free, to take care of the processes of the brand. It’s a subtle balance.
With your enlarged in-house team do you still work with independent firm Pininfarina to design new Ferraris?
It’s a combination, but I have to say the results of the Ferrari design team are so high, it’s almost natural to develop most of the production projects in-house. Pininfarina is maybe going back its roots working as a coach-builder for one-offs and limited edition projects where the skill is to create a new body for an existing Ferrari. Due to the increasing complexity of our cars it’s much more useful to take advantage of the synergy of working in-house with the departments. Geographically there are a lot of advantages too; we can meet immediately to discuss design engineering issues, it’s so fast. We work at the same speed as a Formula 1 department.
What abilities do you seek when recruiting new designers?
Normally what I look for is a really gifted designer, able to imagine, not to sketch, to find something. The capability to dream and think about something that is completely new is not easy. Most of the students today are too cautious. There is a mental pollution.
How do you find inspiration for new designs?
Curiosity about the world, not just cars, means you have a more creative mind. A humble approach is really important too. I’m a bit upset about so-called novelties that are not new. I would like to see more boldness. We never make fake things. Every air intake we make is because we need it. Look around and there are so many fake air intakes, even closed ones. This is not design.
INFORMATION
Excerpt from Car Design Review 3, published by Ultima, £50, out now
Photography courtesy Ferrari
Wallpaper* Newsletter
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox
Guy Bird is a London-based writer, editor and consultant specialising in cars and car design, but also covers aviation, architecture, street art, sneakers and music. His journalistic experience spans more than 25 years in the UK and global industry. See more at www.guybird.com
-
Utilitarian men’s fashion that will elevate your everyday
From Prada to Margaret Howell, utilitarian and workwear-inspired men’s fashion gets an upgrade for S/S 2024
By Jack Moss Published
-
Gerhard Richter unveils new sculpture at Serpentine South
Gerhard Richter revisits themes of pattern and repetition in ‘Strip-Tower’ at London’s Serpentine South
By Hannah Silver Published
-
Vipp’s Scandinavian guesthouse offers a sleek setting amid a wild landscape
Vipp Cold Hawaii is a Scandinavian guesthouse designed by architecture studio Hahn Lavsen in Denmark’s Thy National Park
By Sofia de la Cruz Published
-
Restomod Italian cars: Lancia, Alfa Romeo, Fiat and more classics reborn for modern roads
In the world of restomod Italian cars, everything from 1960s race cars to cult city vehicles can be restored, reshaped and updated for modern driving and fastidious collectors
By Jonathan Bell Published
-
Year in review: the top 10 cars of 2023, as selected by Wallpaper’s Jonathan Bell
What were the best four-wheeled offerings of 2023? Transport editor Jonathan Bell takes us through the year’s most intriguing automobiles
By Jonathan Bell Published
-
Zoute Grand Prix is a car fest like no other at a pristine Belgian beachside town
Amy Serafin takes to the well-heeled streets of Knokke-Heist to experience the Zoute Grand Prix, its annual cavalcade of classic car-related events, from a rally to an auction
By Amy Serafin Published
-
Ferrari Roma Spider is a tonic for the senses
The new Ferrari Roma Spider is a throwback to the glory days of open-topped motoring and a sublime drive, as Jonathan Bell discovered
By Jonathan Bell Published
-
The Little Car Company’s garage of pocket exotics are small, speedy and beautiful
The Little Car Company specialises in bespoke ‘junior classics’, exacting, scaled-down reinterpretations of iconic (and expensive) automobiles injected with electric driving delight
By Jonathan Bell Published
-
Aston Martin DB12 is the latest and greatest in a 75-year lineage of sporting GTs
Billed as the brand’s first ‘Super Tourer’, the V8-powered Aston Martin DB12 marks a new high point in marque’s signature mix of beauty, brawn and sophistication
By Jonathan Bell Published
-
Ferrari takes the top off its glamorous Roma to create its newest Spider
The Ferrari Roma Spider is designed to embody La Dolce Vita in automotive form, a ‘2+’ soft-topped sports car for roaming around the Riviera
By Jonathan Bell Published
-
Flavio Manzoni gives Wallpaper* an exclusive insight into the new Ferrari Purosangue
The Ferrari Purosangue marks a radical departure for the Italian sports car brand, bringing four doors and everyday practicality to the fabled badge for the first time. Ferrari's chief design officer Flavio Manzoni describes the design approach
By Jonathan Bell Published