It’s 10 a.m. and I am sitting in the latest front-engined Ferrari supercar, screaming down a semi-deserted highway looking for an exit. All I can hear is the howl of the V12 ahead of me, the rush of the wind over the cockpit, and the GPS telling me to turn off at the next ramp, while my co-driver tells me that the map shows straight on. What is one to do? Why, just keep the pedal to the metal to hear that magical motor, of course. It's so addictive, the sound of this engine: pure music and such a beautiful noise!
Just the evening before, I found myself in Ferrari's hometown of Modena, where at twilight of a lazy Sunday myself and a few other Tifosi boarded a bus that took us through the gates of the Ferrari factory. We were thinking that this was going to be one of those boring product launches where they hand you a spec sheet, some publicity materials, and leave you to read for yourself. Little did we expect what we were about to experience.
In past the arches of Ferrari's production plant, nothing moved. A security guard stood in the driveway looking and grinning at us as we passed in the coach. A long driveway led us to the wind tunnel and at 6pm the sun was shining just behind us. Something red was winking at us some 200 meters away. Something that looked like an F599 in the pictures, but somehow different. “Is that what I think it is?,” asked someone behind me.
Silence… We walked out of the bus, still silent. The F599 is simply breathtaking in the metal. All the pictures released by the press department did little to prepare us for the looks, proportion, and emotional presence of this car in its trademark Rosso Scuderia paintwork. Perhaps the lack of food or water since lunchtime was taking its toll on my deprived senses, but this V12 Ferrari was just beautiful. Ferrari couldn’t have timed our arrival better, with the evening sunlight bouncing off the bonnet and reflecting at all angles. The lines, the rear buttress where the air curls past the rear glass - there are so many things to take in. You need just the right amount of space and light to really see this car for what it is. Out in the open this car shines and oozes the performance, design, and emotional expression of what Ferrari is all about.
The visual introduction over, we were unceremoniously herded inside to become students, torn away from the treat that we really wanted and sent instead into the classroom. There was only one thing on my mind: where are the keys? I want to start it up and drive off into the sunset. Where are the keys!
But, my silent cries went unheeded, and it was off to the classroom for some serious stuff. It was there where we realized that there was more to this Ferrari than just outward beauty. Ferrari always incorporates the latest technology that it develops into their street machines, and there was definitely something more at work here.
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