A grey Ferrari 812 Superfast sat on a Ferrari dealer’s workshop floor in Solihull recently, waiting for a piece of equipment its owner hopes never to use. Autosecureshop’s engineers were there to fit a Global Telemetrics S5 unit as a dealer direct installation. A Ferrari 812 Superfast tracker is a dull job from the outside: a small box goes somewhere in the car and nobody is meant to find it. On a car like this, though, the choice of tracker and the quality of the fit decide whether that box is worth anything on the night it matters.
The 812 Superfast replaced the F12berlinetta at the 2017 Geneva Motor Show, and it now looks like the end of an era. Its 6.5-litre V12 has no turbos and no hybrid assistance. It makes 800cv (789bhp) at 8,500rpm, and Ferrari quoted 0-100km/h in 2.9 seconds and a top speed of 211mph. The 12Cilindri replaced it in 2024.
An 812 is a car owners keep, and one thieves notice. UK list price at launch was over £260,000, and used examples are still serious money. Nobody steals an 812 on impulse. A theft like this is planned, the car is usually wanted by a specific buyer, and the aim is to get it out of sight before the owner wakes up.
Like most modern cars, the 812 starts on a button as long as the key fob is inside. That suits the owner, and it suits anyone who has taken the key from a hallway or copied its signal.
DVLA figures obtained by What Car? through a Freedom of Information request show 54,830 vehicles reported stolen in 2025. That is 11% down on 2024, but still more than double the 2015 total, and works out at around 150 cars a day. Ferraris do not appear on the most-stolen lists, which are full of Fiestas and Golfs. The methods behind those numbers are the same ones used on supercars: relay attacks on keyless systems, key programming through the diagnostic port, and burglaries where the keys are the real target.
A tracker does not stop any of those things happening. What it can do is shorten the time between the theft and someone noticing, and that gap is where most recoveries are won or lost.
Thatcham Research certifies UK vehicle trackers in two categories, S5 and S7. Both include a 24/7 certified monitoring centre, GPS location, a backup battery and a roaming SIM for coverage abroad. The difference is driver identification. An S5 system knows who is driving, because each authorised driver carries a tag or uses a phone app. An S7 system does not.
That one feature changes how a theft plays out. If a thief starts an S7-tracked car with the genuine key or a cloned signal, the tracker sees normal use. If the same thing happens to an S5-tracked car without the driver tag present, the control centre gets an alert straight away. An S7 tracker tells the owner where the car went. An S5 tracker can tell the control centre the car has gone before the owner knows.
Some specialist insurers make an S5 tracker a condition of cover on high-value cars, and an 812 sits firmly in that bracket. Owners should check their policy wording rather than assume.
Global Telemetrics is based in Coalville, Leicestershire, and sells its S5 hardware under the SmarTrack name. Its Secure Control Centre monitors every device around the clock, every day of the year.
Driver identification works one of two ways. The first is a Bluetooth driver detection card, about the size of a credit card, which lives in a wallet and recharges. The second is D-iD, which runs through the GTE Track app on the owner’s phone. If the car moves without a recognised card or phone, the control centre contacts the owner and any approved contacts to check the car is where it should be. It also flags battery disconnection and low battery, useful on a car that may sit for weeks between drives.
The same app shows the car’s live location, so the owner can check it from anywhere. The one habit owners need to learn is carrying the card. Forget it and the phone will ring. Most people find that mildly irritating once and then never forget it again.
The fit took place in the dealer’s own workshop in Solihull, in the West Midlands. An 812 is packed with electronics, and a tracker fitted carelessly can bring up warning lights or cause arguments over warranty later. Autosecureshop’s engineers do not publish where they place trackers on any model, for an obvious reason: a tracker a thief can find in ten minutes is no use.
The device is hidden, wired, then tested live with the Global Telemetrics control centre before the car leaves. Driver cards are paired, the app account is set up, and the owner gets the Thatcham installation certificate the insurer will ask for.
For a car like the 812, an S5 tracker is the minimum sensible protection. The subscription has to stay live, because a lapsed subscription leaves a box doing nothing. Keyless fobs belong in a signal-blocking Faraday pouch at home. Owners who want another layer can add an immobiliser, either Global Telemetrics’ S5+ with immobilisation or a separate system, so that a car without its driver tag will not start at all.
Autosecureshop supplies and fits trackers, immobilisers, alarms and dash cams across the UK, including dealer direct installations like this one. For an 812 owner, the fit is a short visit to the workshop. Recovering a stolen V12 Ferrari from a container port takes a great deal longer.
Contact us today Call-0121 330 0145 / sales@autosecureshop.co.uk. To read reviews, CLICK HERE.
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