With the edging towards production of Ares Design’s Lamborghini Huracán-based ‘Project Panther’ it’s time to focus on another limited production Italian-rooted project that the Modenese-based company has in the works, this time it’s one that seeks to reinterpret Ferrari’s 'Tipo F101' family of 4-seaters from the 1970s and 1980s, namely the 365 GT4 2+2, 400 and 412, which it's dubbed 'Project Pony'.
The company, which was founded nearly four years ago by former Lotus CEO Bahar, has come out with a succession of bespoke projects as it sees and exploits clear space in the automotive industry for a company that can meet the unique dreams of individual clients.
At the end of last year ARES Design took a step forward with its brand-new design and production headquarters in Modena as well as a couple of one off projects – the X-Raid and the Design Coupe for the Bentley Mulsanne, as well as course as the eye catching “Panther” project which will be built from October to a run of 21 vehicles.
It also has an exciting project currently on the go to build convertible and station wagon versions of Tesla’s electric cars. Another project underway at ARES Design this summer is the creation of 53 special units of Land Rover's Defender which is being realised in partnership with a British tuner that's a long-time specialist for the off road brand, JE Motorworks.
Arguably the most interesting, certainly from the renderings that the company has issued, is reinterpreting the angular and somewhat forgotten Ferrari sedan. The 365 GT4 2+2, 400 and 412 generational succession of 4-seaters are probably amongst the least loved Ferraris of the 70s and 80s and certainly haven’t thus far grabbed the eye of collectors, and by knock on effect they haven’t seen their values climbing. However, that makes them especially interesting and immersing in and then unlocking their values in a contemporary setting breaks new ground – it also demonstrates that Ares Design isn’t just pandering to current fashions, but is trying to stake out its own ground.
Ares Design offers its thoughts on why the angular ‘3-box’ styling of these cars should be reinterpreted for today. “The four-seat Ferrari has been an established part of the company’s DNA since the debut of the 250 GT/E in 1960 but perhaps the heyday of the breed was during the 1970s and 1980s when Ferrari produced the closely related 365 GT4 2+2, 400 and 412,” says a company statement. The original design of the ‘365’ was in fact the work of legendary designer Leonardo Fioravanti when he was at the peak of his powers at Pininfarina, the longtime design-house choice of Ferrari.
“These machines were a radical departure for Ferrari thanks to their more angular Pininfarina-penned lines and three-box design but the passing of time has been kind to them and today they have a classical elegance that typifies the era,” Ares Design continues.
To tackle this project Ares Design needed a current model from the Ferrari range that would provide the right sort of platform to bring out these cars’ dimensions and that naturally fell to the current 4-seater “gran tourer”, the GTC4Lusso which is the work of the Ferrari Styling Centre under the leadership of designer Flavio Manzoni and was launched in 2016 to replace the 'FF'.
Unlike the 365/400/412 breed the GTC4Lusso is a 3-door and comes in a “shooting brake” format, rather than a “3-box” sedan design as well as featuring four-wheel-drive. The GTC4Lusso still uses a big V12 engine in an era where downsizing has long since taken place, and just like the earlier “F101” generations it’s a niche product that hasn’t exactly set the world alight.
But for certain discerning customers there is much affinity for this breed of “gran tourers” from Maranello and clearly Ares Design must have had one knocking on its door.
Taking the project a step further, Ares Design says: “In contrast, the Ferrari GTC4Lusso is the pinnacle of the modern era of Ferrari four-seaters, packing a 6.3-litre naturally-aspirated V12 with an output of 690 PS. With the onward march of the turbocharger in today’s engine designs one could ask whether this will be the last of the line of this kind of Ferrari?
“With this in mind ARES is planning for the Ferrari 412 to be the second halo model in its 2018 “Re-imaginations” category’ after its Project ‘Panther’, seamlessly fusing the best of modern engineering with its design and manufacturing skill with bespoke carbon fibre construction,” the company adds.
Adding these ingredients together, the Italian company says that it’s going to create a vehicle that’s pretty special, in fact “phenomenal” is the word it robustly uses. “Using ARES Design’s experience with the ‘Panther’ it will design and build an exquisite carbon fibre coach-built Ferrari with the style and panache of the 412 but the modern underpinnings of the GTC4Lusso,” the statement concludes. “ARES will deliver a phenomenal vehicle, representing the exterior grace and poise of the iconic Ferrari 2+2 with the chassis from one of today’s most exceptional vehicles.”
Photos: Ares Design "Project Pony"
