SPY PICS: Ferrari 458 M and FF caught

Ferrari's engineers are working overtime on the two cars shown here – a successor to the 458 and a facelift of the FF.

The 458 replacement is not a clean-sheet design but is expected to be marketed as the 458 M (for 458 Modificato), although it's also speculated that the new car may be named 398 Italia T. The alternative name has been mooted due to the car's power being derived from a 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8 it will share with the California T, but in an unaccustomed location for the powerplant – behind the cabin.

In the mid-rear application the engine is likely to produce higher output than in the California T, and improve on the performance of the current 458, although the forced-induction set-up is likely to increase throttle response times, courtesy of turbo lag. The spy photographers at Automedia captured two examples of the new car; they report that the yellow car is more or less a complete pre-production car, but the black vehicle wears more camouflage and is missing production headlight and tail light clusters.

More will be revealed at the Geneva motor show from the first week of March.

The other Fezza Automedia has been stalking is a facelifted FF; Ferrari's polarising model with four-wheel drive has been under test in northern Sweden. Most of the car, as the pictures show, retains sheet metal from the current model, but the front bumper has been camouflaged. Despite that one superficial change, it's speculated that the FF will continue with its current engine, but adding a hybrid-drive electric motor for more (combined) torque – possibly in lieu of the current Power Transfer Unit for drive to the front wheels. And rumour has it that the current seven-speed dual-clutch transmission will be replaced with a new eight-speed unit.

So there seems to be more going on underneath this car than on the surface. And there may be more to come, besides...