Total number of F-cars I've seen while in Italy???

I'm sitting in Rome getting my baggage together in preparation for a 3AM pickup, and I was just thinking about my week. I flew into Rome last week with my family then drove to a port city about an hour NW of Rome to board a cruise ship. My ports of call included Genoa, Palermo, Barcelona, Tunis, Marsailles...then back to Rome here for a couple days.

The total number of F-cars I've seen?

One

Walking back with my family from a tour of Vatican City, waiting to cross the main street on the bank of the Tiber, a gray-haired gentleman cruised by in a Rosso Corsa F355 Berlinetta. It had red four-point harnesses contrasting the Nero interior. Also seemed to have a Tubi exhaust, but I'm basing that only on the sound of about 2500 RPMS.

The only other interesting car I've seen is last night walking to dinner, there was an Alfa coupe -- roughly 1968. Very pretty classic dark Alfa red in pristine condition just parked among zillions of scooters, Mini Coopers, Lancias, and throw-away Fiats, Seats, and Smarts.

On Sunday I'll be back in WA, where I'll probably see two or three F-Cars parked at Sea-Tac alone . Beautiful city here, though....and probably the most confusing to navigate of any city in the world. If you can get from point a to point b without getting lost (or using an iPhone) in Rome, you're amazing.

 

Okay...make that TWO.

Just decided to go with the family to dinner. Walking by the Spanish Steps on the far side there was a red 360 Modena parked in the shadows. With all this great weather, why don't Tifosi go for the Spiders??? (Hey, I live in rain central, and I swear by convertibles and targas )

I'm guessing I won't see any more, since the next time I go outside it will be 3AM.

Ciao Roma!

 

Yeah, I was a bit surprised at how few Ferrari's I saw last time I was in Italy. I didn't see any up north, and only a few down south. Only one day did I see three or four in a day, and that was on a six hour ride from Rome to Calabria.

If you want to see a lot of Ferraris, go to London or Monaco.

However, I do have a few memories of cars in Rome...
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I've seen a few around Rome over the years on various visits, but not many. An Enzo passed me one time when I was walking up Via Veneto. In Europe in general, I see more of the nice fast cars on the highways outside the cities, not as much in the city center areas.

 

I was in italy (rome) a couple years ago and didn't see a single Fcar.

 

Two weeks traveling around Italy and the only Ferraries I saw were being driven around Marinello by Ferrari test drivers!

Al

 

Try Milan

 

I don't recall seeing any in Italy on my trip. On the same trip I saw a 250 GTE with an Italian tag on it in Munich. Also saw as said above in Monaco.

 

Two weeks in Tuscany and Florence, and noticed only a 328 and 599 on the roads.

 

Not surprising. Jeremy Clarkson's little tidbit last year was that something like 170 accidents occur in Rome every day, and the roads are terrible. It's not the place for supercars.

I did see a couple Ferraris, a Murcielago and a Corvette in Rome, though.

I spent a four-day weekend in Milan a few years back. The only notable cars of any kind I saw were my cousin's Audi TT and the Formula 1 Ferrari I got to sit in at Milan's 5-story Ferrari Store.

 

We saw a lot this past July when we made our way to Bologna and then Maranello.

 

On top of the risks involved in driving round Rome, check out the level of tax levied on these cars in Italy!

Plus, take a look at the number of Ferrari/Lamborghini/Zonda etc., drivers in Italy who are now having their finances gone through with a fine tooth comb by the authorities!

Up until recently they'd gone unnoticed, but there was a crack down on owners of exotic cars and it turns out an awful lot of them have been less than truthful about how much money they had (and therefore how much tax they should pay).

I'm pretty sure Italy has always had less Ferrari owners than the rest of the World imagines!

 

Craziest drivers I have ever seen were in Rome. Rules? What rules? It was like everyone was playing grand theft auto knowing the police won't do a damn thing if you are driving on the sidewalk or driving on the wrong side of the road because there is to much traffic in your lane.

 

You've never been to Sao Paulo I take it. They make Roman drivers look tame.

 

:O) Nope, not sure I want to!

 

Craziest thing I've ever seen. Including driving the WRONG WAY on a highway. But taxi drivers in Rome scare me, for sure.

 

A low profile is prudent in Italy for many reasons, including rampant under reporting of income. I have seen F cars registered with export or foreign plates to stay under the radar

 

Driving in Rome is akin to what it used to be like driving through Kenmore Square in Boston before they installed traffic lights...or doing a Jersey City roundabout in rush hour. No lanes and you have to be aggressive. Honestly, I didn't think it lived up to the hype.

I haven't been to India, but I've long known about its horrible drivers. My first Indian friend back in high school visited family in India one summer and wound up with multiple broken bones from an accident. Top Gear had a great India special that showed how this happens.

I've also heard Sao Paulo is nasty!!!

 

You mean the latest 'scape goat' that Europe and now the US (thanks to our class warfare president) has. In WW2, the Germans blamed all the financial woes of Germany (and everything else) on the Jews. Now, the West is blaming or holding responsible the so called 'rich' for their overspending socialist BS woes.

You won't see any Ferraris on the roads anymore in Italy. Anyone who has accomplished anything will keep a low profile, for fear of confiscation and persecution. If you really think incompetent governments who are desperate for money (anyone's) will be honest... I have some beach front property for you in Nebraska.

 

I pay the taxes that I'm am legally required to pay.

I have no sympathies for anyone who gets caught out not paying what they legally should!

As far as I'm concerned, anyone who has lied about their finances, not paid their correct amount of tax and then swans around in a Ferrari/Lamborghini/Zonda or whatever, is no different to someone who claims $100,000's in compensation after an alleged accident that has supposedly left them unable to walk, who then gets caught playing golf every other day!

If you lie for financial gain and get caught out: Tough s:censored:t! - Welcome to the real World!

 

Rome's roads are tighter than São Paulo's.

But we have more bikers.

You see more dented cars in Rome.

 

In around 12 trips to Italy since 2007, usually longer than a week and always spending a lot of time on the road, I have never seen many Ferraris if further than 10 miles from Modena and Maranello. They are just not seen often. I usually spot 1 or 2.


Onno

 

i used to live in rome, and return many times per year for business and pleasure.
many of you have mentioned some of the reasons you will not see very many ferraris on the road in italy - tax profiles, rough roads, dangerous traffic etc. all true.

if you want to see ferraris in rome though, just go over to the dealer - he keeps many of them for the owners since they rarely have garage space and just go over on their scooters to pick them up and drive to the beach house or monaco.

if you want to see ferraris on the street, you are better off in monaco, geneva, or london.

 

Traveling through Asia last month, I spotted about 12 over the course of 3 weeks.

I guess we know where all of the money and capital is headed.

 

I saw a few ferraris in Rome, but the driving is so bad there I don't blame anyone for not taking the Ferrari through it. Milan was a bit more prevalent with ferraris. Saw an f40 there in 2006 that was an absolute 'shed', looked like someone used it to carry his cattle it was so beat up and dirty.... Each to their own I guess