Formula Berlinetta

The 296 GTB picks up where the F8 left off, and as Ferrari's first plug-in hybrid with a V6, it had to live up to every convention that it broke

- Dipayan Dutta

Ferrari's first move to downsize and make a polar bear-friendly Berlinetta is the 296 GTB. It's got a V6 hybrid that has a full electric mode which lets you drive 25km in e-drive mode feeding of its 7.4kWh battery pack. Let's not forget that this is the first production car to sport the prancing horse with a V6 in the back, so it was going to be put under scrutiny. It had to measure up to everything the 488, and the F8 were and still be better. Not just quicker in a straight line, but also more agile around corners. To compensate for the smaller engine that is down a full litre and two cylinders from the F8's 3.9-litre V8, the 296 is armed to the teeth with F1-inspired hybrid weaponising tech that ensures that it's not only just as fast as the F8 to 100kmph but also half a second quicker to 200kmph. But while the 296 has a silhouette that is reminiscent of the F8, it is a very very different car.

It's based on a ground-up new chassis with a slightly shorter wheelbase. But it's the design that's inspired by the Pininfarina 250 LM race car that really catches the eye. It's a polarising design, especially among the Tifosi but design lead Flavio Manzoni knew exactly how to break out of the shadow of the 458 and stand out in a lineup of its predecessors. The answer to that lies in that svelte tail section. Specifically, the section that has the V6 under a glass housing. This is one of the things that peeves me about the design, the engine is packed so compactly into the bay all you really see from the glass housing is the plumbing that feeds the turbos inside the 120-degree V of the motor. That said this is also the section that brings back the infamous buttresses, a very Pininfarina-style detail that has been inspired by the 250 LM. The rest is surgically minimal but despite the svelte form, you'd be surprised at how much of it is functional.