The 612 Scaglietti is the first Ferrari 12-cylinder to be built entirely from aluminium. It is no coincidence therefore that it has been named after Sergio Scaglietti, a Modenese coachbuilder who worked closely with Enzo Ferrari in the early years of his great adventure and excelled at the art of sculpting this high quality material (its specific weight is just a third of that of steel) into the bodies of some of the most glorious racing and road cars of the past.

"We started with a blank sheet on the design of the F 137, but we did have a very specific objective: we wanted to create a car that would be a break with the past in terms of its performance and roominess, one with a highly innovative character that would open the way for a whole new generation of Ferrari GTs.

"The decision to go for an all-aluminium chassis and body seemed completely in tune with the design as a light, rigid structure guarantees weight reduction, great dynamic handling, and passenger comfort and safety all in one. We brought this advanced technology to even more sophisticated levels in the 612 Scaglietti, thanks to Ferrari’s previous experience in the area and the fact that we had a centre of excellence in the Scaglietti Light Alloy Technologies complex in Modena."

Moving a step forward from Ferrari’s experience with the 360 Modena, aluminium is used both in the chassis and the body of the 612 Scaglietti. The sophisticated technologies used in the manufacture and assembly of the various structural components were developed in collaboration with American company Alcoa. They significantly cut the car’s weight and improved its torsional stiffness, both of which were essential to achieving the kind of breathtaking performance that Ferrari was determined to deliver in its new model.

The 612 Scaglietti has a space frame chassis.

Its structure is made up of straight aluminium extrusions (38%) connected by casts (34%) which act as joints. The sheet aluminium (28%) reinforces the structure.

The chassis architecture also includes four large castings on which all the suspension and steering mounting points are CNC machined.

This guarantees the correct dimensioning of the structure in the area of greatest stress which in turn improves the car’s performance. Another two robust castings for the A-posts interface perfectly with the doors.

The aluminium alloys used to build the 612 Scaglietti are extremely ductile during the pressing and extrusion phases and then become incredibly resistant and tough once they have been subjected to special heat treatment.

In addition to this, each casting has different mechanical characteristics in its different areas as a result of differentiated heat treatment. This means they are highly resistant at the entry points of the forces and highly ductile in the areas subject to deformation in the event of a collision.