With the release of the 599 GTB Ferrari is proud to present its most powerful V12-engined production car of all time.

The new car is a concentration of Ferrari’s most innovative and technologically advanced engineering solutions applied to a mid-front engined two-seater coupé. The result is a new benchmark for performance and driver involvement.

The 599 GTB boasts class-leading power thanks to its 5,999 cc V12 - derived directly from the Enzo Ferrari supercar – which produces no less than 620 hp at 7,600 rpm for a weight/power ratio of just 2.5 kg (5.5 lbs) per horsepower. Torque figures are just as impressive.

Ferrari has adopted the latest evolution in its tried and tested all-aluminium construction technology for the chassis.

The unmistakable Pininfarina design gives the 599 GTB aggressive yet elegant lines which are perfectly integrated with the advanced aerodynamic solutions adopted to reach the performance figures attainable.

This new model is the symbol of Ferrari’s production – the V12 berlinetta – and represents the latest interpretation of a theme that has seen such classics as the 250 GT, the 275 GTB, and the 365 GTB4.

The new car replaces the last in that great line of berlinette, the 575M Maranello, of which – together with the 550 Maranello introduced in 1996 - no fewer than 5,700 have been produced, a record for this type of model for the Prancing Horse.

The 599 GTB will be officially unveiled on the 28th of February 2006 at the Geneva Motor Show.

When the all-new Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano rolls into view, onlookers gasp the same way audiences did when a clingingly attired Sophia Loren emerged from the ocean in 1957’s “Boy on a Dolphin.” Chalk it up to the Curves Reflex, the primal human response to an overdose of tumescent contours and mesmerizing proportions. But the Fiorano’s zaftig front wheel arches and Loren cat eyes don’t provoke the last gasp-at least not for those fortunate enough to experience the confident embrace of its deeply pocketed,leather-trimmed driver’s seat. You see,this Ferrari’s sensuous physique and luxury conveniences-including optional navigation and Bose audio-are an elegant smokescreen, jellyfish tendrils to draw in and devour the world’s unsuspecting sportscar sucker fish. For at its heart the Fiorano is a ravenous beast, a fire-spewing dragon, the most powerful regular production Ferrari of all time. Fast? Head to head, it would leave Ferrari’s legendary F40 supercar choking in a cloud of Pirelli dust.

For those of you who lament not being around to see the unveiling of the 1962 250 GTO, considered by many to be Ferrari’s masterpiece, cry into your racing-red hankies no longer: The 599 Gran Turismo Berlinetta Fiorano is a GTO for the 21st century, a front-engine, V-12-powered twoseater of uncommon beauty, outrageous performance, and consummate balance. Mark the date: The Fiorano may well prove to be another watermark model for the Italian maker-and you’re alive to see its debut. Let’s be even more bold: Based on our preview drive in Italy, the 599 Fiorano may soon come to be known as the finest all-around Ferrari ever.

Hyperbole? Let’s review the evidence. Under its fetching hood-and even these splendid photographs don’t convey how stunning Pininfarina’s design is in the metal-the Fiorano boasts a powerplant based not on the unit in the outgoing model, the 575M Maranello, but on the same 48-valve, 6.0-liter V-12 that first saw duty in the limited-edition, mid-engine Enzo. Compared with the Maranello’s V-12, the new engine produces 14 percent more power per liter, a blistering 612 horsepower at 7,600 rpm (just 39 down from the almighty Enzo). Maximum engine speed - 8,400 rpm - is 900 rpm higher than the Maranello’s twelve. The Fiorano’s V-12 is also eight percent lighter than the Maranello’s, and it’s more compact, allowing a mounting point further back under the hood. Ferrari says 85 percent of the Fiorano’s weight is contained within the front and rear axles.

While a six-speed manual is standard, the vast majority of 599 buyers will opt for the paddle-shift F1 gearbox. For Fiorano duty, the transmission sports Ferrari’s first-ever use of Grand Prix-inspired F1-Superfast technology in a road car. Rather than shifting the box in a conventional clutch-in/gear-select/clutch-out sequence, F1-Superfast partially combines clutchwork and gear selection - reducing total shift time to just 100 milliseconds (closing in on the 50-millisecond shift time of Schumacher’s F1 racer). A full Auto mode allows paddle-free gear changes, aided by a new twin-plate clutch that improves shifting smoothness.

The 599’s suspension is revolutionary for a Ferrari, boasting the same Delphideveloped magnetorheological shocks available on, among others, the Corvette (while Ferrari admits the hardware is largely the same, it’s quick to point out that it codeveloped its own software with Delphi). Each wheel on the so-called “SCM” at its heart the fiorano is a ravenoUs beast, a fire-spewing Dragon… suspension is controlled by a damper filled with a special fluid; the viscosity of the fluid can be modified almost instantaneously via an electronically generated magnetic field. A sensor at each wheel constantly monitors wheel and body movements; the computer reacts to changing road conditions (altering shock damping accordingly) in as little as one millisecond. Ferrari claims that SCM reduces vertical excursions on bumps by 30 percent compared with the 575M.

The Fiorano is also the first Ferrari road car to feature F1-Trac, an enhanced traction-control system previously seen only on the company’s single-seaters. The system monitors front- and rear-wheel speeds, constantly comparing incoming data with a stored vehicle-dynamics model. F1-Trac then modulates power delivery as needed (Ferrari says the system improves the Fiorano’s lap times around its namesake home circuit by 1.5 seconds compared with traditional traction control). F1-Trac operates when the steering wheel’s manettino control is set in Sport or Race modes; the manettino also offers settings for Ice, Low Grip, and CST Off, which deactivates all of the car’s stability and traction-control systems.

This amalgamation of technological wonderfulness resides inside a car that’s significantly larger than the Maranello it replaces. Wheelbase has grown a full 10 inches, length has increased 4.6 inches, and width is up an inch. Yet thanks to allaluminum construction, the 599 weighs roughly 100 pounds less than the 575M.

Press the red Engine Start button on the steering wheel, and the Fiorano’s V-12 lights off and settles into an idle so smooth you can barely detect the rotating crankshaft. Blip the throttle to be sure it’s really alive; the engine zings past 6,000 rpm so effortlessly it seems twirled by electricity, not detonating gulps of fossil fuel. Cruising out of the Ferrari factory gates, the Fiorano immediately feels more composed than its V-8-powered, mid-engine F430 sibling. Shifts are smoother, there’s no backfire in the exhaust, the cockpit is calm and relatively quiet. You could drive this car to work without feeling like you should be wearing Nomex shoes.

Then you give it the gas. Instantly, the 599 rips off its Valentino sports jacket and transforms into a screaming, frothingmouthed grizzly. Wham! The grizzly slaps you into the seatback as if it were swatting away a nosy chipmunk, the redline LEDs on the optional carbon-fiber steering wheel light up, you flick the right shift paddle, and - wham! - the grizzly slaps your sorry skull back against the headrest where it belongs. Ferrari claims the 599 will hit 62 mph in just 3.7 seconds; it’ll do 124 mph in 11 flat. Top speed is - hang on - somewhere north of 205 mph. Oh, and forget about calm and quiet: The sound of the V-12 at its 8400- rpm redline could wake a dinosaur.

Crushing acceleration is merely the antipasto on the Fiorano’s menu. Despite the big V-12 up front, understeer is all but nonexistent. With F1-Trac activated, you can plant your right foot almost anywhere in a corner, and the 599 will simply power through, no slips, no slides. The system is almost too careful. Switch it off, and the 599’s tail steps out under throttle - but usefully, not frighteningly. The big Pirelli PZeros - the 599 is the first Ferrari road car to offer 20-inch rims - deliver gobs of grip and break away with plenty of warning and control. And despite gunning the car through the Italian hills as fast as we dared, we never ran out of brakes; the pedal never even softened.

Ferrari has done it. The Fiorano is an Everything supercar - unholy fast, gorgeous, comfortable, refined, forgiving, and well-mannered. The Italian maker will charge around $280,000 when the 599 GTB Fiorano goes on sale in the U.S. this fall. About 250 are headed to our shores each year. In addition to the prancing horse, each of them, we’re predicting now, will wear an invisible label: Milestone.