Once the unvailing had been done, the guy from Ferrari UK (and AutoSport magazine) gave a presentation about the car. It was pretty comprehensive and took him almost 40 minutes to get through. Some of the details were fantastic. For instance, the car weighs about 16 stone lighter than an “ordinary” F430. But you can lighten it further by fitting lighter seats 1.5kg, do away with the Alcantara radio panel cover and fit a carbon fibre one (I think it was 2 ounces or something silly like that). I could go on but it would take to long. One significant point about the paddle shift gearbox though is worth noting. A 2007 Ferrari F1 car changes gear in 30 mille seconds, the Scuderia does it in 60 mille seconds. An Enzo does it in 120. That’s how close the gearbox is to the F1 cars these days!





When the presentation finished it was time to get into the car and to see what all the fuss is about. WOW! The whole package just screams “RACE ME”. No carpets. Bare welded aluminium. Carbon fibre and Alcantara everywhere. The steering wheel has change up lights on the top of it and the knob to change the setup of the car for road, race, traction control levels, etc. The dials to me look just perfect. And no radio in the car, “so you can hear the music properly”. Think about it.







And that’s the moment when my boy hood came flooding back to me. Sitting in front of our black and white TV when I was about 4 asking my Dad what the cars were with the horse on them. Being taken out for my first drive ever in a Ferrari Dino 246 on my 17th birthday that my dad arranged for me. Things I will never forget. I swore that day I would work hard and save hard and some day I would have a Ferrari of my own.
I doubt I’ll ever be fortunate enough to experience a “Scuderia” or probably any other of today’s Ferrari’s (F40 especially) but as I sat in the Scuderia looking around at some of the people who clearly knew nothing about Ferrari’s history and the car would only be a toy to them, all I could think about was my 27 year old 308 GTS. About how it’s taken me 20 years to save up for it, and about just how much it means to me.
Ferrari’s are my passione.They are amazing machines.

I decided I wasn’t EVER getting out of this car as I was soaking the history and Passione of the most famous Sports car maker in history. Reality hit though and had to be dragged out by my mate and one of the sales men screaming and kicking. “Damm them”.