What makes the Ferrari F80 tick? We seek answers on a tour at the house of the Prancing Horse

The gray skies are spitting rain at the fabled factory gates of Ferrari in this small town just outside of Modena but suddenly, they metaphorically brighten.

Low. Long. Impossibly wide, and covered in a crazy quilt of black and white camouflage circles. Could it really be the new F80, Ferrari’s recently announced supercar whose 799 examples, each fetching a cool $4 million, were long ago snapped up by the brand’s most exclusive clients?

Could it be? An F80 glides into view at Maranello's gates

With deliveries of this once-in-a-decade flagship vehicle still many months away, the magicians of Maranello continue to tweak and refine this ultimate exemplar of their craft, hence the occasional stealth blasts around town. Seeing this car under power and in the wild like this could only happen in Maranello, which is essentially Ferrari Town given the firm’s massive footprint physically and psychologically. But actually catching an F80 live like this feels a bit like seeing a UFO.

In fact, with most of Ferrari’s exotic offerings also taking on low, sleek dimensions, it would be easy to confuse this camo machine as perhaps a customized SF90. But a quick exchange with the driver, who awaits a green light, erases all doubt.

Ferrari is a welcoming place, just don't take any photos

”Ei amico, e’ la F80?” I ask. "Is it an F80?" The driver, impossibly cool with his three-day stubble and piercing eyes, just grins and nods. The light turns green, and he roars down Via Abetone Inferiore, just past the restaurant Il Cavallino where Enzo Ferrari himself would take his daily lunches.

An hour or so later after a walk around the Ferrari campus, I return to those gates and its nearby reception area, where Ferrari officials immediately ask if I have any business with them. There’s no messing around here. No loitering and definitely no photos.

The new car magic happens inside Ferrari's gleaming Centro Stile building

Once it’s established that I indeed have an appointment, the smiles appear. A few minutes later, I’m introduced to a tall elegant man by the name of Paolo Valenti, whose official title is Ferrari’s head of pilot project line but is perhaps better known as being project leader on the SF90, Ferrari’s first foray into hybrid powertrains.

Valenti greets me inside Ferrari's Centro Stile—Italian for design center—a beautifully crafted space where, if you're lucky enough, you can have your bespoke Ferrari tailored to your exact specifications. In the lobby is a beautiful green example of Ferrari's recently released 12Cilindri Spyder. As stunning as that model may be, we’re here for what’s around the corner.

”Eccoci qui,” Valenti says, “here we are.”

The F80's DNA hails from the company's storied F1 program

In front of us is an F80, only without its undulating, stunning, and painted carbon fiber skin. Stripped bare as it is, this showcase model makes it easier to see much of the tech that makes the F80 a successor to its then-state-of-the-automotive-art predecessors, namely the 288 GTO, F40, F50 and LaFerrari.

As Valenti begins his presentation, his passion is infectious. He rattles off all manner of developments that brought Ferrari's racing DNA to this car, drawing inspiration from the company’s Formula 1 and Le Mans-winning efforts alike.

Between 1,200 hp and 2,200 pounds of downforce, the F80 is more land-bound jet than car

Those developments include but are not limited to, an obsessive focus on weight reduction through extensive use of carbon fiber, the adoption of three electric motors that help the V6 produce a total of 1200 hp (split between 900 hp from the V6 and 300 hp from the motors), and aerodynamic refinements front, rear and beneath the car that create a whopping 2,200 pounds of downforce at 155 mph.

As if that wasn’t enough to glue the F80 to the road, the car’s fully active suspension gets a hand from the electric motors that essentially makes any sort of body roll non-existent.

At the back of this half-completed F80, two giant piston-type protrusions extend from what will be one of the most monstrous and high-tech wings to appear on a road-legal car. This wing will rise and pivot as needed to better keep the rear end thoroughly glued to the tarmac. Thinking back on the camouflaged F80 that we spotted exiting Ferrari's entrance, it all amounts to a vehicle that looks almost as otherworldly as the Lamborghini Countach did went it first landed on Italian roads from seemingly outer space.

Don't call it a two-seater! The F80 is a unique 1+

“I wouldn’t say that somebody would go out and get their groceries in this car, but if you wanted to, you could, when compared to something like the SF90 FXX Stradale,” says Valenti, referencing the extremely track-focused version of the SF90 that is offered to customers as a street-legal track toy. “We certainly want to make this car a missile on the track, but also something that you might go on a trip with. Although maybe not with much luggage.”

Valenti laughs as he says this, then looks into the compact passenger area of the car. Here again, the F80’s race-heritage is apparent. The cockpit is deliberately driver-focused, with all the controls tilted towards the fortunate driver. The seat is also more substantial and set more forward than the slightly more narrow, fixed, and basic passenger seat, by design. In fact, Ferrari doesn't call this car a two-seater, but a 1+.

F1 driver Charles Leclerc was among those who helped sort the new F80

“When Charles Leclerc (Ferrari’s wunderkind F1 driver) tested the F80, he said to us, ‘Finally, a car that works for the driver,’” says Valenti, adding that in particular the very low-slung, almost reclining position of the F80’s driver, was also derived from the world of auto racing. “You see just over the dashboard, and if you need to move the steering wheel, the instruments move with you. Your feet also are somewhat elevated at the pedals compared to many other cars. You’re more laid back. It’s all about the driver.”

Valenti has other pressing meetings, but can’t resist pointing out just one more thing. He kneels beside the front passenger wheel and touches an elegant suspension A-arm, which looks more like a beautifully hand-sculpted wishbone than a hunk of machined metal.

“We are very proud of these,” he says, grinning. “They were carefully designed and then 3D printed out of aluminum, so that they not only are strong but also contribute in their own special way to the manner in which air is directed around and through the car.”

If you want to dive into the F80's tech, there are 14 pages of Ferrari details at your service

The overwhelming sensation of this briefing is unmistakable. This isn’t a car, it’s a grounded fighter jet. The level of engineering and scientific sophistication in the F80 is borderline incomprehensible to most of us.

For proof of that as well as more minute details, just glance at the Ferrari website’s 14 pages of press materials on the car, much of which features language such as, “to take the performance of the diffuser to extreme levels, the expansion volume of the diffuser itself has been maximized by inclining the engine-gearbox unit by 1.3 degrees in the Z axis.”

Ferrari makes its previous supercars seem almost quaint with the F80's introduction

But Valenti knows better than anyone that a mountain of tech details doesn’t amount to much unless the result is a groundbreaking automotive experience, particularly in the hands of skilled drivers, whether amateur or professional.

“Charles also told us that the car, for all its power, remains amazingly neutral at speed, something that can be fully controlled with the throttle,” says Valenti, clearly relishing the fact that one of Formula 1’s preeminent talents was left with a boyish grin after logging time behind the F80’s squared-off manettino-filled steering wheel.

Indeed the sum of this car’s high-tech parts remains the same: pure joy. Whether it’s Leclerc at the wheel or Valenti in the passenger seat, who has apparently happily logged many miles riding shotgun, the F80 promises to be a mix of many magical things: part halo car, part scientific showcase, part collector bragging rights token. And fully Ferrari.