THE FXX-K IS “BEST OF THE BEST”
Red Dot Awards for product design also for LaFerrari and California T
Maranello, March 30 – Three Ferraris have won the prestigious Red Dot Award, the world’s leading product design competition which celebrates its 60th anniversary this year.
The recent FXX-K has been named Red Dot Best of the Best for the top design quality and ground-breaking design, while both the California T and LaFerrari were also singled out by the international jury for Red Dot Awards for the high quality of their design.
Approximately 5,000 innovative entries from 56 nations were in the competition. The work of the Ferrari Style Centre headed by Flavio Manzoni was selected by an international jury made up of respected designers, design professors and specialist journalists from 25 countries. The awards ceremony takes place in Essen, Germany, on June 29 next.
FXX K: THE BEAUTY OF PERFORMANCE
The story of the design of the XX programme’s latest product, named Red Dot Best of the Best
It was designed and built specifically for the track with spectacularly efficient aerodynamics and an exceptional engine. Even Sebastian Vettel uttered an unforgettable “Mamma mia!” when he got his first taste of its power. Ironically, however,it has now won its first prize – the prestigious Red Dot Best of the Best Award – for its design rather than its performance.Because form is as vital as function even in a beast of a car like this.
We’re talking, of course, about the FXX K, unveiled officially at the last Finali Mondiali in Abu Dhabi and the fruit of a symbiotic partnership between Ferrari’s GT and GES racing divisions. Arriving almost two years after the launch of the Prancing Horse’s most powerful ever road car, LaFerrari, this is extreme version was designed exclusively for track use.
For Flavio Manzoni and his team at the Ferrari Styling Centre, it provided the perfect opportunity to unleash the full power and potential of the original design. As ever, the car’s good looks are absolutely functional and every single line has been designed to enhance its performance. The FXX K’s striking good looks and meticulous detailing are entirely the product of work done hand-in-glove with Ferrari’s aerodynamicists.
All of the bodywork panels have been radically modified to generate extra downforce but, of course, without impinging on the car’s aesthetic. For instance, flaps are mounted on top of vertical rear fins that recall the tails of fighter planes. The fins are integrated into the tops of the rear wings and reinforce the dynamic arrow-shape side profile.
The eye is instantly drawn also to the horizontal LED stripes that replace conventional headlights and broaden the front view of the car. The car’s lines are masterfully underscored too by an aggressive racing livery, an integral part of its style. All of this combined with a lower set-up, wider track, higher camber and slicks on lighter wheels underscore the FXX K’s vocation for the track.