Karl’s Ferrari 812 GTS

MEMBER’S CAR: FERRARI 812 GTS

We chat with member Karl about his Ferrari 812 GTS, and why to him, a naturallyaspirated V12 combined with an open is top the pinnacle of motoring.

Photographs by: @tfjj

How did you get into cars?

I’ve always been into cars, but I grew up in New Zealand where the car scene was mostly boy racers in modified Japanese imports rather than supercars. It wasn’t until I moved to London in 2008 that I was seeing high-end stuff in the flesh on a more regular basis, especially while working in Knightsbridge! My first car was called brown thunder, a boxy 1980s Mitsubishi sedan. When I was a bit older and had some money, I bought a replica of a BMW M5 — I think it was a 520d underneath. It was murdered out, drug dealer spec and I thought it was pretty cool! Since moving to London, I’ve owned two Maseratis and three Ferraris, although only one car at any given time. I’ve always dreamed of owning a Ferrari; the brand has always appealed due to the racing heritage, the sound, the looks and so on, and to be honest, I’ve never seriously considered Lamborghini or any other supercar brand. I think it’s unfortunate that certain brands seem to attract Euromillions winners and YouTube ‘influencers’ rather than people who are passionate about the brand and the product for the right reasons.

What attracted you to the 812 GTS?

I ordered a Ferrari Portofino new and fell in love with the idea of a convertible Ferrari, but something didn’t quite click with that car and I sold it after six months, trading it in for an 812 Superfast after a short test drive. The sound and power delivery as well as the overall presence of a V12 Ferrari is something else. With the 812 GTS, you have a heavenly mix of a naturallyaspirated V12 and no roof. The fact that they haven’t made a front-engine V12 convertible for 50 years (outside of the special editions) makes it special too. I ordered it new from HR Owen, having bought the Portofino from them also, and I put a deposit

down before even knowing how the GTS looked. I was invited to the launch event in Maranello and I was initially not convinced by the design, especially the rear buttresses, but those have really grown on me and I love the way the car looks now. With a flat rear section, the car would look like a generic convertible; the buttresses add a distinctive profile, and the design is a lot more coherent and dramatic in the flesh.

The car was delivered in September 2020, around a year after I put in the deposit — that is pretty quick for Ferrari! It was one of the first few GTS in the UK, so I’m very glad to have it already.

Tell us about the spec.

I already had the Superfast so it was quite easy to decide on the spec since the interior and exterior are pretty similar, and the FerrariChat community is great for ideas and advice. I opted for Grigio Titanio for the GTS which was the same as my Superfast. It’s a bit boring to get the same colour twice, but I love it — it’s relatively subtle and classy but shows off the curves and lines really well, especially if the car is clean, and the dark red interior adds some drama.

The GTS has lots of carbon on the inside and outside I think it looks great but you’re almost forced to spec it because the standard black plastic looks cheap. For the seats, I had to order the carbon-backed race seats because I’m too tall to fit in with the more padded standard seats. I think they look great but they aren’t very comfortable unfortunately — you need regular breaks after a few hours!

Unsurprisingly, a lot of the options are ridiculously overpriced and some are borderline offensive. Why should you have to pay £5k for a decent stereo in a car at this price point? I ordered that but drew the line at paying £2,400 for Apple CarPlay, which is standard on most Skodas!

What is it like to drive?

Every time you hit the engine start button is an event and driving it is an amazing experience — the sound it makes and the linear power delivery is awesome. I know modern turbocharged cars have a stronger mid-range punch, but the buttery smooth delivery of a V12, culminating in a frenzy of noise and power as you get nearer the 9k rpm redline is epic! Sound is very important to me. I’ve spent way too much time and money on tweaking the exhaust on my Portofino, Superfast and now the GTS! The GTS sounds decent in stock form, but the Novitec version is epic — it sounds like an old school F1 car! MrJWW did a YouTube review of my car if you want to hear what a car should sound like! The GTS has a cool feature where you can lower the rear window with the roof still up, great for letting in more sound without the wind buffeting. The car is loud above 5k or so revs, so you need to drive sensibly in built-up areas, and the cold start is brutal — thank god it’s in an underground garage now! The car handles very well. The electronic stability control is magic; the fact that you can drive an 800bhp, rear-wheel-drive car in the rain without having to be overly cautious is a real testament to that engineering feat. It almost gives you a false confidence, but it’s important to remember that ESC can only do so much, and at some point, the laws of physics take over! I haven’t ever switched off the traction control completely — I would need some wide open space to try that.

What is it like to live with?

I’ve driven 3,000 miles in the four months of owning it, starting with a week-long road trip around Scotland immediately after collecting the car. The boot space isn’t too bad, fine for two large bags, and the ground clearance is decent so it’s not a hassle over speed bumps.

The main annoyance is just the size of it. Its length, width and long bonnet mean it’s difficult to park and an unnerving experience on narrow lanes and busy London streets. I would love it if it was around 20% smaller and lighter. Ferraris like to be used frequently and they can throw up issues if not. I think it’s mostly an issue with the OEM battery, where if you leave the car for more than a week or so, the charge drops and the car can throw up weird and worrying (but false) error codes like ‘transmission failure’. I keep mine on a trickle charger now, which seems to solve the issue.

Any plans with the car going forward?

I have lots of events planned for 2021, including with . Various UK-based drives and a blast down the German autobahn. I’m not sure derestricted sections will be around much longer, so I need to experience full-throttle acceleration on a motorway! It’s all Covid rule dependent, unfortunately. I also have a track day planned, but last time I got kicked off in the Superfast for being too loud! Plus, the GTS isn’t really suited to a track as it’s too big and heavy, but once would be fun.

Is it a keeper?

To me, this is the pinnacle of motoring and I plan to keep it forever and drive it as much as I can. It will only get harder to use cars like this so I’m going to maximise enjoyment while I can — this is no garage queen! I have zero interest in hybrid or electric; I’m sure they will be faster than mine and they will engineer in some soul (maybe) but it simply doesn’t appeal. I might add an old-school Ferrari (355, 430 etc) to the garage at some point, but for the foreseeable future, my girlfriend has banned me from spending any more money on cars (or exhausts)!