Detailing a Ferrari

Detailing a Ferrari is probably every start-up detailers dream. I’ve been fortunate enough throughout my career to have worked on several, ranging from Daytona’s of the late 60’s and 70’s, through to F40’s, Enzo’s, and newer cars like 488’s.

Ferrari’s are the pinnacle of design and sportiness, but it comes at a cost. Part of the fun in owning a Ferrari was that you never really knew if it was going to work or not… and by that I mean they were quite unpredictable (read ‘unreliable’). You stick the key in the ignition, and it wont go, but it worked this morning when you fired it up?! However this isn’t 1973, or indeed 1989; they’ve come on a long way since then. The newer cars come with a whole host of technological advances in performance and design, but in detailing terms that’s not necessarily a good thing, for the aerodynamic advances over time are making these cars increasingly tricky to tackle when it comes to routine washing, and detailing. Intricate vents and active aero parts can sometimes cause a small headache for detailers, especially if you don’t have every possible piece of detailing equipment.

Sanding haze on the nearside air intake duct.

Not only do these cars have beautifully designed, air flowed bodywork, but they are also hand painted. Sure, robots are consistent, but they have no soul - and Italian cars always have a soul, it’s just the Italian way. This brings about it’s own set of problems, as with all things built by humans, there’s always an element of human error. In the case of the 488 we’re using as our subject matter for this article, the air intact ducts were showing signs of hand sanding, a method used to ‘flatten’ the paintwork for, ironically, a clearer and better finish. Here we can see the sanding marks haven’t been polished back enough to reveal the full effect of the truly stunning Nero Daytona paintwork. But why does this area cause a problem for a detailer? well it’s a very small ‘scooped’ area designed to maximise airflow, there’s not much of flat surface area to polish, nor is there enough space to work in without the right tools - however it’s not as cramped a workspace as a dentist finds! This is where having the correct equipment is key, and having a little patience helps, too.

The same air intake duct following machine polishing to correct the paintwork and reveal it’s true beauty.

After these cars are painted, they go through a finishing process where any specs of dust or contamination that may have come to rest on the paintwork as it was baked, are removed. Usually most of this is fully removed, but as it’s done by hand, sometimes the finish isn’t as clear as it could be, as I’ve shown. Another downside to this quite crucial phase is that it can often leave the car lacking a little bit of gloss in certain areas, if not the entire car. That sharp crisp finish is what every car connoisseur craves, but what can be done to give you the best finish possible? Lets take a look at another section of this 488, the rear quarter panel.

The passenger side rear quarter panel as finished by the factory in Maranello.

What we can see above is the factory finish you can expect on your new Ferrari. If you’re new to the concept of car detailing and paint correction, this image might look like there’s nothing actually wrong. What it does show, is that the clarity of finish isn’t ‘perfect’, under a microscope it has millions of fine abrasion marks from machine polishing. But how can we improve on this? can a detailer really extract any more from the paint? In short, if you understand the mechanics behind machine polishing, yes. The compound used back in Maranello was likely to have been slightly too coarse, or most likely, used on a tired polishing pad. Good pad care is critical, I’ll regularly spur my pads panel by panel, and clean every pad after use - not only does it increase their longevity, it also gives you a better finish! Have a look at our paint correction blog to find out more.

The same panel after machine polishing to correct the paintwork to the Magic Detail standard.

You’ll have noticed that the image is much sharper now, especially around the light source. The more you look, the more you see… there’s also more metal flake present, the colour appears deeper and richer, too. So how come the cars don’t leave the factory looking like this in the first place? Time is the biggest factor, as these cars are built to increasingly tight deadlines, so the finishing process is one which can save time if needed as the finish provided is acceptable for 95% of clients.

Would you be surprised to hear it takes me around 2-3 days to achieve the results you can see in this article?

So what of detailing a Ferrari, is it all glitz and glamour? Re-finishing one of the worlds most prestigious marques is a massively rewarding job. It can be tricky at times when having to overcome the perils of modern aerodynamics, however the finish we as detailers can achieve on hand painted cars is truly stunning. From a physical perspective though, not only are some aspects of the design awkward to work on, but they are so incredibly low, polishing a bonnet of a 488 without a ramp is taxing on the body.. and let’s not talk about the sills!!

What to do when the paintwork is ‘perfect’? Check out our article on ceramic coatings to see how and why we choose such coatings to preserve the finish.

Ferrari 488 fully prepared for handover, protected using GTechniq Crystal Serum and EXOv4 ceramic coatings.

And the cost of this? To achieve near perfection? in this case, £850. Less than 0.5% of the car’s value. I'm sure you’ll agree, an insignificant sum to make your supercar look its best for years to come.