Richard in the Ferrari 550 Maranello

Richard in the Ferrari 550 Maranello - I’m not going to mess about here: I love the Ferrari 550. Always have. There are those who will forever associate Ferrari with mid-engined supercars, and yes, there is something spectacularly purposeful about a car in which you effectively strap yourself to the front of the engine. But let’s not allow the appeal of the mid-engined Fezzers distract us from those in which the driver sits behind the donkey. For one thing, you get to admire the engine. Five-and-a-half litres of Italian V12 churning away up front makes its presence felt.

The Ferrari 550 Maranello and 550 Barchetta are 2-seat grand tourers built by Ferrari. Introduced in 1996, the 550 was an upmarket front-engined V12 coupe of the kind not seen since the Daytona. It shared its platform and 5.5 L (5474 cc) engine with the 2+2 456 (Engine Code: F133) but was positioned as the company's highest-end model. The car used a transaxle layout, with the 6-speed manual gearbox located at the back, in-line with the driven wheels. The model number refers to total engine displacement (5.5 litres) and the model name of Maranello refers to the town where the Ferrari headquarters are located.

Inside scoop on Ferrari’s new FF

Inside scoop on Ferrari’s new FF - The first thing we were told - this was the marketing man speaking - is that the FF was designed around customers' wish-lists. This made us scared.

Customers have no idea what's possible, or which characteristics are incompatible. It's like asking diners in a restaurant to detail the ingredients instead of letting the infinitely more knowledgeable chef do it for them.

Anyway, apparently people wanted a Ferrari with room for four. And a big boot. And they wanted it to be a whole lot more driveable in the wet (fair enough - a 599 is sphincter-puckeringly skittish in the wet).

This could have resulted in a bulky, ill-proportioned car, an ugly looker designed to fit around the people and the golf bags, as well as the huge engine. It could have been heavy and cumbersome, with a complicated and heavy 4WD transmission.

Which would have met the brief but it wouldn't have looked like a Ferrari should, or driven like one. And the customers, despite having got what they asked for, would have run a mile.

But then we started to speak with Amedeo Felisa, Ferrari's CEO who happens to have come up through the engineering ranks there and is an absolute supercar genius. He explained what's been done to make it agile and fast, as well as manageable in the wet even with - get this - 660bhp on tap.

Can a car have 4WD for security, but still drive like a Ferrari? Can even Ferrari manage that?

Well, the FF doesn't actually have a normal heavy 4WD system with a centre diff and an extra prop shaft. It has a normal Ferrari configuration, with the drive going from the V12 back to a seven-speed twin-clutch gearbox driving the rear wheels. This is good for weight distribution, and in the dry the FF is as fast around a track as a 599 (it's only a little heavier, yet usefully more powerful). Felisa swears it feels like a proper front-engined RWD V12 Ferrari, too. And he has spoken the truth to me in these matters all the 16 years I've been interviewing him.

New pictures of the Ferrari Cars

New pictures of the Ferrari Cars - Ferrari has released new pictures of its four-wheel-drive, four-seat ‘Four'.

So what about the four-wheel drive, then? Uniquely, power is also taken off the front of the engine, which is behind the front wheel centres. It's fed to a compact lightweight unit containing a set of clutches that can progressively feed in torque to a tiny integrated gearbox and front diff. It has only two gears, roughly the equivalent of third and seventh in the main box. How can this be? Because the clutches are always slipping under electronic control, and the front tyres would never be able to make use of all the V12's torque in first or second.

What this means is the car's electronics can smoothly dial up a portion of drive to the fronts if they predict a loss of traction at the back. Yes, they're predictive as well as reactive. And they only do this in the road and slippery-road settings of the steering-wheel manettino. In the more hardcore modes, you can still run it as pretty well entirely rear-drive.

Bentley Mulsanne cars

Bentley Mulsanne cars - is inspired by the company founder W.O. Bentley's crowning achievement, the 8-liter auto first shown at the 1930 London Motor Show. A 6 3/4-liter, V8 engine gets 505bhp; inside, exotic woods, leather hides and solid stainless-steel brightware are hand-crafted for maximum luxury.

Ferrari California range

Ferrari California range - Ferrari has succeeded in making a slightly gentler car, a more usable car, a car less likely to want to smack you in the mouth if you screw up, without diluting the Ferrari experience. Ferrari reckons that this is probably its most useable model to date, and it rings true when you drive it. The new seven-speed double-clutch gearbox is much, much better than the F1 ‘box's auto mode - and it still provides the thrill when you want it. The top is well-insulated and looks great up, and the seats are lovely for touring. There's even decent luggage space. You could do serious miles and get away with it.

Ferrari California Sports Car

New 2010 Ferrari California is the primary hard-top adaptable ever produced by Ferrari and the first to quality a mid-front to be found engine.