Ferrari has officially revealed details on its first production four wheel drive car called the FF. The new v12 model, which effectively replaces the quite awkward looking, quite unloved (or unnoticed) V12 612 Scaglietti come with an all wheel drive system which aims to attract a new sort of Ferrari customer. One that usually lives or tackles all sorts of roads and all sorts of weather

I suppose 'FF' stands for Four Seats and Four Wheel Drive. It is Pininfarina designed but with inputs from Ferrari's chief designer Flavio Manzoni. It has a hatchback type design instead of a sloping rear like most of the Ferrari cars we have seen to date. This could be the closest to a station wagon a Ferrari can get but it still comes in two doors; like any true blood Ferrari should..

It supposedly weighs 1750kg and is is still a good 50kg lighter than the outgoing rear wheel drive 612 (of which it is roughly the same length and size). Ferrari seems to have kept its goals on weight loss as a means of gaining performance (and has added all wheel drive as a means of gaining performance too).

The 4RM ('Route Motrici') all wheel drive system preserves the rear weight bias of recent Ferrari V12s and it is also well packaged and light in comparison to other systems of its kind. It combines electronics to its mechanical differentials and sensors to detect slip, yaw and roll. Much like a rally special, but this time you get all the gizmos in an Italian Stallion.

Enginewise the FF comes with a 6.25liter V12 that comes with stop-start and smart charging functions to improve the car's eco-efficiency as well as keep all of the performance that should come with a Ferrari. All weather or not the FF's powerplant still makes 650bhp and close to 700Nm of torque. CO2 is down by 23% (470 to 360g/km) and fuel consumption is up from 13.8mpg to 18.3mpg. Top speed is 208mph and 0-100km/h is 3.7 seconds.

This is a technological tour de force by Ferrari. It replaces the 612 which sorely needed replacing (as it was pretty sedate and some may say ugly or not appealing enough) with something radical yet very, very appealing to most Ferrari enthusiasts. Imagine that, a hatchback (or a breadvan, in homage to the Drogo bodied 250GTO from the 1960s) type of supercar can replace a low slung coupe-like shape. And it works.