Another dream drive in Africa.... | FerrariChat

Another dream drive in Africa....

Discussion in 'Ferrari Discussion (not model specific)' started by Ferrari 360 CS, Sep 3, 2005.

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  1. Ferrari 360 CS

    Ferrari 360 CS F1 Veteran

    Dec 4, 2004
    6,707
    Cape Town,SA
    Full Name:
    Jacques
    Yes well living in Africa has its upsides, clear country roads being one and another being that one doesnt have to drives miles to get to them. Oh and maybe a third advantage is that speed camera's and the like arent all that common out on these country roads.

    Anyway this event was for a good cause, we would be leaving Cape Town and going to a small town about 200 km's away, we were going there to raise funda for the local hospital, its small but they didnt even have decent curtains.

    I managed to bag a ride in a 2000 model Ferrari 360 fitted with a Challenge kit, exhuast, grill and very comfortable supportive sports seats fitted with should straps, I found this arrangement very comfortable. This was to be the first stick shift manual Ferrari I had been in for about 5 years. More about that later.

    Well other cars in the convoy included, 2X Porsche 993 Turbo, 996 Turbo, Lamborghini Gallardo, Honda S2000, Holden Commodore VX SS Stg1, few other Porsche and that supercar that every little boy of the 80's had/has in his wall, a red Lamborghin Coutach 5000.

    The drive...well firstly the challenger exhaust sounds superb, quiter than the Stradale but awesome all the same. We were cruising around about 200 km/h most of the time but one one longer stetch we hit about 270 km/h or so. IN front of us was the Countach, what a sound as those carbs slurped fuel, the crackle on overun, total magic.

    Now my comments on the manual, this is the only stick shift 360 I have seen in South Africa, its a high miler about 48 000 km's but it felt dead tight, no rattles nothing. It was good to see that gated gearshift again, hear the clack when the driver changes gears, great to feel no jerk that is always a problem with the F1 shift, it was magic, somehow it just added to the Ferrari experience.

    We arrived at the town to find the main street cordened off, so that we could well show the local what supercars could do....My driver decided that a 180 degree spin at low speed would be cool, no actually we did a donut before we turned onto the main street, rev limter in 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th, we must have hit 240 km/h by the time we hit the slow down point, we had wheel spin in 1st 2nd and a squirm into third(ASR off).

    I wish you could have seen the people faces, every little boy comming up to us and mouthing "Ferrari", the joy in there eyes. All the car had a run up the main street, the Gallardo threatening to shatter windows, dunno how they got that through noise regs.

    Later that evening it was time to go play again, taking our kind hosts for their first spin in a supercar. This town only has a population of about 5000 and it was dead quite when we started, that changed when the Gallardo, followed by 2 993T's with no silincers blasted down the road, this went on for about 40 mins, by which stage the whole town had woken up.

    Stayed at a guest house that evening....let me tell you its pretty special to get up, walk outside and see 3 Porsche, Ferrari and a Gallardo.

    In the end we managed to raise money for the hospital and have fun which was great.

    Pics to follow.
     
  2. ernie

    ernie Two Time F1 World Champ
    Lifetime Rossa Owner

    Nov 19, 2001
    22,574
    The Brickyard
    Full Name:
    The Bad Guy
    Nice. Sounds like you had fun. The only problem is that you were on the wrong side of the road. LOL ;)
     
  3. Ferrari 360 CS

    Ferrari 360 CS F1 Veteran

    Dec 4, 2004
    6,707
    Cape Town,SA
    Full Name:
    Jacques
    Yip suppose we are..!
     
  4. PaulK

    PaulK F1 Rookie
    Silver Subscribed

    Apr 24, 2004
    4,603
    Michigan
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    Paul
    Awesome pics. Do you have any more to post? Driving in Africa must be amazing to say the least. As Johnny Clegg would say, "In my African dream..."
     
  5. otaku

    otaku Formula 3

    Aug 12, 2005
    1,391
    Boise,Idaho
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    Josh
    Nice work! YOu had fun and helped someone as a result. Wish I could have been there sounds like it was great!
     
  6. Ferrari 360 CS

    Ferrari 360 CS F1 Veteran

    Dec 4, 2004
    6,707
    Cape Town,SA
    Full Name:
    Jacques
    Yip there is plently of open space.....

    I will post some more pics....
     
  7. Ferrari330P4

    Ferrari330P4 Formula Junior

    Aug 4, 2005
    739
    Bay Area
    Full Name:
    Karl
    Its amazing how a car as old as the countach makes most supercars look boring even 20 years later
     
  8. vlamgat

    vlamgat Formula Junior

    Jan 9, 2004
    776
    Where were you - area looks like Tulbagh? I notice no front plates - will the WP license guys let you go without them?
     
  9. Looney

    Looney F1 Rookie

    Jul 1, 2004
    2,767
    Gold Coast
    Full Name:
    BB
    Hey dude,

    not to put a dampener on this thread, but being from Perth Australia, we have quite a lot of South African's here in Perth who hace 'escaped' (for lack of a better word) South Africa due to the high crime etc.

    A plumber who just did work for me, was from Jo'burg, and he showed me a bullet wound and a stab wound both of which he received at different times by attempted car jackings for his Volkswagen Golf.

    Surely driving a car like this would amplify the risK? wouldnt your chances of making it home alive be extremely slim? surely people would be too scared to drive cars like this in SA?

    (this post is a question more than anything)
     
  10. Bimmerista

    Bimmerista Formula 3

    Feb 7, 2004
    1,765
    Carrollton, TX
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    Mike
    Great pics!!
     
  11. Ferrari 360 CS

    Ferrari 360 CS F1 Veteran

    Dec 4, 2004
    6,707
    Cape Town,SA
    Full Name:
    Jacques
    Yes we were in Porterville, which is about 20 km's from Tulbagh. As for the number plates, one can be fined for not displaying a plate but the chances of being pulled over are slim, most guys would rather pay for not having a number plate thanh for doing say 180 km/h in a 120 km/h zone....
     
  12. Ferrari 360 CS

    Ferrari 360 CS F1 Veteran

    Dec 4, 2004
    6,707
    Cape Town,SA
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    Jacques
    This is an interesting question, one thats hard to answer really. I do hear that there are lot of South Africans(escapees) living in Perth. Hijacking is a real problem here, particularly in Joburg, here in Cape Town its less of a risk and by and large hijackers arent interested in exotic cars at all, as there isnt really a huge market for them in chop shops. For example our South African Ferrari distributor is unaware of a Ferrari driver ever being hijacked of having his car stolen. In a way driving an exotic is a bit less of a risk than driving say a VW Golf.

    Add to this the sheer stupidity of some criminals, for example one tried to hijack a Saab, he couldnt drive the car as he couldnt engage gear!

    Crime is bad here but for the most part one puts it our of ones mind, if one were to become paranoid and forever worry about ones safety that to me would be letting the criminals win. Joburg is another story though, I would live there to be honest...far too dangerous but Cape Town is much smaller, only about 4 mil people and the natural beauty makes one forget about the hidden dangers...
     
  13. Looney

    Looney F1 Rookie

    Jul 1, 2004
    2,767
    Gold Coast
    Full Name:
    BB
    thanks for the honest reply, i never thaught of it in that sense that an exotic would be less risk??

    I wasnt trying to put a dampener on anything, but it is a concern of mine, I would love to see SA, however am actually too scared to even get off a plane there, especially after the people i know from there tell me they wouldnt either?

    but there again, most of them are from Jo'berg, which as you said is probably a slightly different kettle of fish compared to the likes of Cape Town (which does look like such a beautiful place)
     
  14. Ferrari 360 CS

    Ferrari 360 CS F1 Veteran

    Dec 4, 2004
    6,707
    Cape Town,SA
    Full Name:
    Jacques
    Nah I didnt see it as a dampener. You should come and see SA, just bypass Joburg, its not that dangerous really, if you are vigilent and careful its ok. Thing is I imagine you only really hear the horror stories from South Africans living over there, not all the positive things. Also if you have Aus dollars exchange rate isnt too bad either.....

    Reality is most countries have crime, differance is here in South Africa the crime is more violent than in most other places in the world.

    BTW most SA's that have been to Aus love it, like being home except there is no crime and they all comment on how clean the place is.
     
  15. v15ben

    v15ben Formula 3

    Aug 12, 2004
    1,364
    Yorkshire, UK
    Full Name:
    Ben
    Looks like a very good run and a nice selection of cars!
    I have to echo the views on crime in SA though as my uncle has been there several years now and both my cousins have been carjacked at gunpoint (one outside their house entrance!) Luckily both were unharmed and the cars were both returned.
    A very beautiful country especially around Cape Town but Jo'Burg isn't number 1 on the places I'd like to visit right now!
     
  16. vanimal

    vanimal Formula Junior

    Mar 19, 2003
    380
    UK
    Full Name:
    Vaughan
    Great to see a few exotics in South Africa and that the owners are sharing the exprience with the public where possible. On a related note, I see from the pictures that some of the cars are running minus number plates, this I have also noted on various vists to South Africa, especially on high powred bikes. I have to say this angers me as a large contingent of South Africans (both loacl and ex pat) constantly complain about the lawlessness and general attitude to crime in South Africa, but seem to think its fine to disregard certain laws as and when it suits them. I cannot see how these individuals think its OK to run around on roads at very high speeds without numberplates and then complain about the mini-taxi business breaking road traffic laws.


    OK, rant over - lovely pictures and thanks for sharing.
     
  17. Ferrari 360 CS

    Ferrari 360 CS F1 Veteran

    Dec 4, 2004
    6,707
    Cape Town,SA
    Full Name:
    Jacques
    I have to disagree, there is a differance, huge differance between taxis certified to carry 15 people and those that carry 27 or more, further there is also a big differance between unroadworthy vehicles travelling at 120 km/h and supercars having no front number plates, further our number plate dimensions here are so ridiculous that in some cases the number plates are too large to fit into the designated place on the front of the car, having a smaller plate is just as illegal as having no plate, hence some guys just have no front number plate.

    In the grand scheme of things here, having no front number plate is no biggie when one considers the large percentage of people who drive without licenses or the huge ammount of unroadworthy vehicles here, unlike te UK we dont have an MOT.

    But yes in a way I can see your point.....
     
  18. Doug.

    Doug. F1 Rookie
    Silver Subscribed

    Apr 16, 2004
    2,948
    Las Vegas, NV
    Sweet!

    Thanks for sharing the awesome pics.
    I especially love the one of the guy cleaning the windows of the Gallardo.
     

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