Photos and observations on my "new" car

Well, after 18 years of Ferrari ownership and 3 years of lustful waiting, I now own a 599! I'm the proud second owner of the low-mileage example shown in these photos.

A few observations after three months of ownership:

Things I knew I'd love: the obvious (locomotive-like power, no-fade ceramic brakes, beautiful lines), LED steering wheel, Daytonas, Cuoio interior with lots of charcoal accents (including upper dash, sides of steering wheel, A-pillars, carpets, Daytona accents, stitching); the sound of the exhaust with the butterflies open above 4000 RPM; the 100 ms shifts, especially in Race mode

Things I didn't know I'd love, but do love anyway: Grigio Titanio paint (If I'd speced a new car I would have gone for Nero Daytona, but the Titanio is both gorgeous and practical -- very stealthy), the stereo (why do people hate it? It sounds great to me and the active noise cancellation really works); the pentagram wheels (I'd have bet you a thousand bucks that I'd have the Challenge wheels, but to me these really suit this car -- and the ride on the road is substantially improved vs. the car with Challenge wheels I drove without sacrificing much if anything on the track); the yellow calipers and yellow tach (again, not what I would have speced, but really cool looking)

Most useless feature on any car ever made: the display on the screen after you start the car up (with the exhaust butterflies open) that reads "engine on" -- good for deaf Ferrari owners, I suppose...

Items I could do without: Leather seat backs (who looks back there, anyway?); poseur shields (at this point I guess I should just give up on this, as I'm apparently the only one left who doesn't like them)

Items missing on the car that I will need to add: electrochromic mirror (you got leather seat backs, but didn't spend the extra 300 bucks for a feature that's been on every normal production car since the '80's?); navigation software (yeah, I know -- but I've gotten addicted on my 612 and M-B, and need to have it)

One item that I won't be able to get and that will sort of drive me nuts: factory rear sensors (yes, I understand that the first owner didn't like the round sensors on the rear bumper, but I'm now paranoid every time I back up -- and the retrofit is apparently prohibitively expensive); not to mention the fact that my wife's new Audi wagon has a rear camera that steers her into parking spots.

That said, until the end of 2007 I drove a 512TR that had neither ABS nor power steering! Can't complain too much about small things, especially given the (very very attractive) price point relative to a new car.

Bottom line is that the car exceeds my very high expectations, on road and track. It's a big boy car for grown-ups -- 12 cylinders or walk, baby!

Last picture below is courtesy of Steve Souza of the FCA Pacific Region, from the recent track day at Laguna -- thanks, Steve!
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V.nice car, Congrats!

One day I'll go w/12 cylinders...

 

Fantastic car! 12 cylinders are the only way to go...

I had a rear-view camera installed on my 550, it wasn't cheap but not prohibitively expensive. I'm not sure how you would solve that problem in the 599 if you want to keep the stereo, but I'm sure there must be a solution. One thing is for sure - I don't want to go without that camera! You can see b*gger all out the back of a modern Ferrari. I feel so happy when I drive my 330GTC and you can just look over the boot... such luxury!


Onno

 

absolutely gorgeous!

 

LOVE THE SHIELDS!

Ok, just rubbing it in...actually, I do like the shields.

The color is gorgeous. Have fun and make sure you squeeze all the ponies out of those 12 cylinders!

 

That looks fantastic. I'm looking at stepping up to a 12 in the next year. That color is beautiful.

I could never understand the shields thing either. But I have them on mine just in case I forget what kind of car I'm driving and I need to get out and look.

 

Steve- Gorgeous. Beautiful exterior color and Cuoio is one of my two favorite interior colors, charcoal being the other. From what I understand from other FChatters, the rear parking sensors are not that hard to do, but the fronts are.

I am ambivalent on shields, just like you. I have no tatoos, either.

Taz
Terry Phillips

 

RE the Nav - get a TomTom or a good Garmin. They are less expensive and outperform the Ferrari factory unit by a factor of 1000:1
They are also portable and the TomTom is preloaded with all US and Euro maps ready to go. I have used my TomTom in Europe extensively and any unit that can get around ancient cities like Florence is worth having.

The car is beautiful BTW - enjoy it often and drive it like it was engineered to driven - HARD!

 

beautiful car! love the color combo. put a set of polished challenge wheels on her and she'll be perfect.

 

I saw this car in person, in the show room at the dealer several times. It is really a great color combo, really gorgeous and very tastefully done. Congratulations!

 

Thanks, Kenny -- I appreciate the good wishes. The torque is unreal!

 

Cool idea, Onno -- I will seriously consider it. Agree with your view (no pun intended) on the 330!

 

Rather than continuing to post one-by-one responses (and seeing a bunch of messages from me in a row) please forgive me for this group response to the kind comments so far.

The idea of a TomTom or Garmin makes a lot of sense -- especially as it can easily be removed should I ever want to show the car (I know that I shouldn't live my life visualizing a concours judge scowling at me 8 years from now, but I do like to keep my cars correct, for better or worse).

Great comments on the shields! I really do suppose that I should just give in at this point -- my dealer has taken to calling them "resale shields," so I suspect that they are here to stay. No ink or piercings on me, either...and I love the comment on being able to get out of the car and look in case I forget what I'm driving.

Ball-polished Challenge wheels would be pretty sweet -- although at this point I think I'll stand pat for a while, especially as the devil's wheels seem to provide a good ride on the public roads and the track performance (even on the Sport setting, which I used exclusively at Laguna) is outstanding.

I"m glad that someone else who saw the car several times liked it as well -- it is fairly low key (first owner is apparently in his 70s) but I was really drawn to it and it was in perfect condition (I crawled around underneath, among other things) and Ferrari-certified (will save me a few bucks by avoiding the pre-inspection for POWER next year). Seems to me the best of the GT and sports cars -- if the forces of evil hadn't eaten 40 percent of my retirement fund, I might have kept the 612 and gone for a Scud, but this was not to be -- and I'm really delighted with the 599!

Thanks again to all -- please be assured that I am driving it often and with vigor!

 

LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE the interior!
Don't really understand how you couldn't like the shields though.

 

Stunning!!!

 

+1, fantastic colour combination that really suits the 599 very well.

 

Congrats...what a beautiful color combo

 

GORGEOUS car!!! Congratulations on purchasing a beauty!!! Are those black inserts or dark grey inserts on the Daytonas? Wither way, it is a BEAUTIFUL car! Congrats and enjoy it in good health!

-G.B.

 

Congrats! Beautiful car. Enjoy it!

--Grant

 

Thanks, G.B. -- all of the interior accents, including the Daytona inserts, are in Charcoal (slightly better photo here). The steering wheel is particularly trick, with cuoio at the bottom, charcoal on the sides and in the center, and CF across the top.

Hard to get the color/white balance right taking a picture inside of the garage (cuoio isn't really that orange) but you get the idea. Thanks for asking!
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Another beauty on the road again! Normally not a big fan of the charcoal inserts/interior but the contrast here works really well! That really is a striking combo.

Love that first overhead shot. It really shows the car's presence and glow.

 

Beautiful!!! Congrats

 

beautifully spec'd 599

great job and congratulations on ownership

 

Your car looks like my cars sister. My 612 is Titian Grigio with curio as well and it also has daytona's with incerts. I also love the low key look.

 

Thanks, gentlemen -- and I'm pleased to read that there's a "sister" 612 out there. Looking forward to seeing more photos (static and action) of others' cars!

On that overhead shot: all I have to do now is to Photoshop out the storm drainage grate...