Back to the Future II lied: it’s now 2016, and we’re still no closer to actual hoverboards, self-drying clothes or flying Deloreans. Our only consolation is that today, in 2016, there exists a1036bhp LaFerrari clothed in more aero you could want in this or any other timeline. And it emerged from a very unique series that kicked off way back in 2005.
Because in 2005, we saw the very first fruit from Ferrari’s ‘XX’ programme. That first car, the FXX, was an Enzo like no other. It was modified by Ferrari to be run exclusively on track. You see, Ferrari had the idea to take on board a ‘special group’ of customers in developing future Ferrari road cars.
The idea being they’d drive these hyper-realised machines on Ferrari’s terms, and provide important data back to the engineers to inform thinking around what the company could do for its future customer cars. It also allowed Ferrari to push the boundaries of its technical expertise and build bewinged track monsters that don’t need to adhere to any regulations, and allow wealthy owners the chance to live out a life as a bona fide Ferrari tester/racing driver.
“Their input from the XX programme is going to have an effect on the road car division,” Marc Gene, who works on Ferrari’s F1 Clienti programme, told us. They hammer around the track, while Ferrari logs all the data and discovers what Ferrari customers - the people that keep the cogs of the company spinning - actually want in their cars. You have them to thank, in part, for the company’s current line-up.
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