Is it possible that Italians have an issue with round numbers? I only ask because Ferrari’s latest hot-rod has just been released and, evoking names from epochs gone by, it’s called the “296 GTB.” Now, according to Ferrari, that jumble of numbers and letters breaks down thusly: this is in fact a Gran Turismo Berlinetta (literally, “little saloon” in Italian) that is powered by a 2.9-litre engine (the first two digits on the nameplate) and six pistons (the last digit). OK, fair enough; you coulda got that last bit all by yourself.
The reason I ask about the round numbers, however, is that, according to Ferrari’s own spec sheet for the new plug-in hybrid — yes, yet another electrified supercar from Ferrari — the new V6 (a novel 120-degree affair, by the way) displaces 2,992 cubic centimetres. That means, with but the simplest of math, that the 296 is just eight of those cubes shy of an even 3.0 litres, while also being 92 cc away from being a true 2.9L. According to everything I know about rounding errors, those 2,992 cc should have been approximated as 3.0 litres.
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