Customer Reviews

Standard Catalog of Ferrari 1947-2003

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

this book provides great pics of ferraris, and gives a good historical backround about enzo. it also has stats of all the cars. but it is missing some models and some of the data is wrong, it could be better but it is a cool book.

Mike Covello is a real car guy and a Ferrari owner. He loves the marque and his passion shows in his writing - I follow his work as a regular contributor to Auto Week and Forza Magazine. Yes, this book does have a few warts probably the result of time pressure, the difficulty in confirming details and simple human error. But it's still one of those "must have" books that Ferrari fans need on their book shelves. I have a signed copy and consult it when I need to understand the differences between the many confusing (to me) models. This book is priced well and rich enough in detail to make it a worthwhile investment.

While I do think that this book has many great pictures of beautiful Ferraris, I find it lacking in the technical data it attempts (extremely poorly) to present. Many of the production specifications do not even match data published by Ferrari itself. Some of the dates of manufacture for certain models are inconsistent as well and do not account for many of the major modifications that certain cars underwent as they evolved. Just to pick one, the car I am most familiar with-the Ferrari 456 has a starting date of manufacture that is both correctly (1992) and incorrectly listed (1995). There were 3 evolving versions of the 456 that were produced over the years, each improved version replacing the previous one. The original 456 (mentioned only as a footnote), the 456 GT (which appeared in 1996, not 1995), and the 456M GT, which began production in 1998 and is not directly mentioned in the book anywhere. The 456 debuted in 1992 and is not mentioned until the 1995-1996 section of the book and is then presented in this section as if it were a new model, incorrect. Technical data is also sloppy. For instance, the Ferrari 456 GT (the only model directly mentioned in the book) is listed as being outfitted with a 5 speed manual transmission (the manual transmission option offered on the 456, 456 GT, and 456M GT has always been 6 speed, this is true for ALL year models). The book also makes little distinction other than cosmetic improvements in the transition of the 456 GT to the more refined 456M GT (it does not even mention the 456M GT distinction anywhere). For the 456M GT, the engine was retuned to increase brake horsepower (bhp) from 436 to 442 (an improvement which stayed with the car until it was discontinued in 2003 and is not reflected anywhere in the technical stats of the book). I am only listing verifiable inconsistencies for ONE car mentioned in this book. Based solely on these facts alone this book is reduced to a well thought out picture history of the Ferrari line. It should not be utilized as a technical reference tool (as the author clearly intends it to be) for any specific model as nearly all of them are also riddled with similar errors.

the book is generally perfect for knowin about ferraris but its not high quality book...
if you wanna know about ferrari dont hesitate to buy it..

This is an excellent companion to the standard catalogue series.