Ferrari 458 Italia spotted in the flesh
by Jonathon Ramsey on Aug 8th 2009 at 10:31AM 
A lightly-camo'ed Ferrari 458 Italia has been caught napping by the roadside, and from the looks of it, Ferrari doesn't appear to have pulled any tricks with its renderings: the car's a dead ringer for what was presented last week, right down to the seriously extended mirror stalks and that disappearing back end. This is all very good, and we can't wait to see the 458 Italia up close in Frankfurt. Hat tip to Milad.
Gallery: Ferrari 458 Italia
[Source: iCars]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
skitch 10:51AM (8/08/2009)
now that looks nicer than the other pics....
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floriangoos 10:58AM (8/08/2009)
But doesn`t it look the same?
skitch 11:16AM (8/08/2009)
lol yeah it just looks nicer in the flesh instead of all dolled up
von7homa 11:45AM (8/08/2009)
I think the front lights shouldn't go as high up the car as they do.
It makes the car look a little dis-proportioned.
Lucas 11:01AM (8/08/2009)
How did they only snap one pic?
I think it looks much more subdued than the renderings.... worried.
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Nick 11:16AM (8/08/2009)
The rear quarters look a lot different to me. I would like to see the back; I cannot believe they would really make it with three exhaust tips...
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Hike15 11:31AM (8/08/2009)
This isn't the first Ferrari with three exhaust tips. I'd like to remind you of the F40, go take a look at the rear end of one of those.
artandcolour 11:17AM (8/08/2009)
it's a mess. ferrari should have never stopped using Pininfarina, and the occasional Bertone foray, to style their cars. this looks like the NSX prototype of a few years ago. no class, no style. it could be a toyota.
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Zeph 12:17PM (8/08/2009)
If you take a look at the side panel of the 458 on the official pictures you'll see that it's also a Pininfarina design.
Toyota has some nice cars, like some of the supra, some of the celica, some of the MR2. This looks way better than any of them, have no idea what you're talking about. It looks just like what it is, a new generation ferrari, and probably the best of them, the almost affordable mid engine V8 cars.
You're free to have a negative opinion on the car of course, taste is subjective, but the way you framed it shows some ignorance of the automotive world as well as some ad hoc brand name dropping which only compounded said ignorance.
bgkeen 12:33PM (8/08/2009)
Hahaha, you fail. The car is styled by Pininfarina. Go home.
BoxerFanatic 7:30PM (8/08/2009)
Pininfarina has been slipping on Ferrari design for a while. The 599, The California... even the Enzo could have been better looking than it was.
All are ferraris, and spectacular cars, but the newest ones, the styling is something to get past, not as drop-dead gorgeous as predecessors. They are trying too hard, and pushing too far away from known good aesthetics, without defining new good aesthetics.
The 430 and 550/575 were the newest cars from Ferrari/Pininfarina that I could just look at, and get a great first impression. Pininfarina's most recent drop-dead gorgeous car was the 75th anniversary birdcage Maserati concept car.
The 599, california, and now this 458, are all oddly proportioned, with very narrow waists, and very wide rear hips. The lines and details don't flow well, and the details don't say "refined aggression", they say "pretentious art-school design, regardless of who doesn't like it."
These newer cars, and a lot of new cars in general, look like they were designed in a classroom by people who know technique, but don't know context or reason. They know the motions of directing an orchestra, but don't have the first clue about the music.
Cars of the past were sculpted by people who knew about what had to fit under the skin, how the skin should look, and what that meant for the air flow over it. They knew the context of their subject, not just the motions of how to pen a model that tries very hard not to look like last year's model, for the sake of fashion.
ZachM 11:20AM (8/08/2009)
Well its got some camo, and it may just turn out that black isn't a great color for this car. The studio lighting in that other shot would have helped bring out a lot of the curves too.
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GatorLCA 11:31AM (8/08/2009)
Am I the only that thinks this car looks sub-par compared to the other cars that have come out of Maranello?
I just don't think the headlights fit the car at all....looks amphibious. 2 taillights instead of four, and 3 exhaust pipes??
Call me crazy but I don't see what all the hubbub is about
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IK 11:38AM (8/08/2009)
nsx copy
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ahnuconun 11:45AM (8/08/2009)
I liked the "artist's impressions" circulating through the car mags better than the real thing.
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Venom 12:03PM (8/08/2009)
Looks just fine to me.
I will take that one please, just the way it is.
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Bendir01c 12:11PM (8/08/2009)
This car is NOT an improvement over the F430. It's fallen even further behind the Gallardo LP 560-4.
And I hate cars that have the belt line in the sheet metal drop down at the doors, then another exaggerated crease flares over the rear fenders. But if you must follow that design style, the Artega GT did it last year. Ferrari's is not demonstrably better.
http://www.autoblog.com/gallery/artega-gt/#8
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Quan 5:27PM (8/08/2009)
I'll agree that this is not quite as attractive as the LP560-4. However I think this car is far better looking than the Artega GT. The Artega looks like an originally nice-looking car that got squished to me. The proportions are just a little off. This looks fine for what it is, another modern mid-engined V8 from Ferrari and Pininfarina. I'd still prefer a 430 Scuderia, but at least this doesn't look like the California.
jon 12:32PM (8/08/2009)
it looks more 430ish in the flesh, but that might just be the camo tape
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Viktor 12:59PM (8/08/2009)
It looks cheap and vague.
The turn indicators below the mirrors are rediculous, like some kit car from the 80's.
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