Driving a Ferrari As a kid I always lusted after Ferraris, ogling at them in pictures and movies and in my mind an elaborate web of what this marque represents got built up over the years. The first time I saw one was in the US. It was a red 308 GTB from '81. I remember the owner always took her out on a Sunday, lavished a lot of care in shampooing the car and then took it out for a drive. Funny I never mustered the courage to ask for a test drive. Later in Dubai I had a chance to see F40's, an F50, many 308's, 348's and the 355.
One lazy after noon at work in Dubai a local showed up in a Testarossa...you can imagine the drool quotient. I waited 2 hours while he finished his work and then he offered to take me out on a drive. Although from a passenger seat what struck me most was the feel of the car. The Testarossa felt like a racehorse...very sharp edged, very direct and crisp, the whole feel of the car was one of nimblefooted movement. Not to mention the delicious bark...yes Ferrari's have a barking sound to their engines..resulting in a magnificent howl as you go up in revs. It was a short drive but one that remains forever etched in my memories.
Many years later, last year, out of the most inexplicable twist of fortune a 1979 Ferrari 308 GTS came into my home for a month!!! The owner had bought this car and left it in a garage gathering dust. When I offered to clean the car up and return her to her past glory the owner happily obliged and sent the car to our dealership where I had an army of technicians completely transform the old lady into a stunning beauty in a week. We meticulously wetsanded out all the old grim and orange peel of many years of careless painting and polished it to a level that when the owner saw the car he couldn't believe it was his. He was so bowled over by the job we did he asked me to keep the car and use it.
Now as much as many of us don't like using what's not ours...do you seriously think I could have refused???? No way Hose!
And what a car it is. The smell of the leather, the whine of the motor as it barks into life, the rumble of the V8 and this one had four double barreled Webers. Yes Sir...a carbureted Ferrari is something you have to hear. The induction howl is something I rank as the most deliciously spinetingling sounds any thing alive or inanimate can make.
I had always read that Ferrari gearboxes are very unforgiving and had read countless tales of nasty crunches as you miss gears...well perhaps it was all the years of driving vintage cars and ambassadors and fiats it was such a natural thing for me and I found myself going through the gears like butter (some advantage to growing up in India..hahaha) The mechanicalness of the gearbox, the directness of its feel as you engage the cogs and the ratios give the car an amazing character as using the gears is one of the most important aspects of enjoying the most out of a Ferrari.
I did 500 kms in the beauty on 3 early Sunday mornings, with a dozen superbikers around me for company...what an experience. Being a targa the experience of the 308 was simply mindblowing. With wind in your hair, the smell of leather, the howl of an amazing twin cam 4 weber tractable V8 good for 250 bhp, a razor sharp steering and the most amazing feel of a gearbox as I blasted down winding roads lined with 200 year old trees, the Indian landscape seemed transformed and I rank that experience as one of life's greatest. I stongly recommend to all petrol heads, whenever possible, even if we can't afford to buy one, one should rent a Ferrari abroad and do a road trip. It simply is one of the greatest experiences you can treat yourself to.
Ferraris are an amazing creation. I had the pleasure of a 27 year old Ferrari and I was blown away. The feel, the looks the smells and the sounds of these cars invariably bring a wide smile to my face any time any place any where. Long live Enzo's legend.
I am told the V12's are an even more mindblowing experience!!!! |