How old where you the first time you drove a Ferrari - and what model was it?

Thanks Onno! The only other story that comes close to this one in my life is the first car I owned/purchased/restored with my dad at the age of 12. This 430 brought those feelings of excitement for a machine back which I thought would not be possible.
Aloha,
Gil

 

I was 28 and had just purchased my 328 'garage find' earlier that evening. I couldn't help but change the oil, charge the battery, and see if she'd run.

I proceeded to put about 30 miles on the odometer within a few miles' radius of home. It's a night I'll never forget!
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31. Spoke to Ferrari LI about my misgivings of the 360 F1 and they said you need to test drive the 430 F1, that it was night and day. Test drove it. Bought it. Haven't looked back since. (was told not to look forward either - i.e. don't drive the 458 because I'll instantly want one!)
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18. I was able to borrow a friend's 348TS every Friday of the summer after high school before I left for college. Awesome car to drive around in all day long!

No F-car yet, but I'd have to go for a F355 Berlinetta in TDF Blue for my first purchase.

 

18... back in 1987. The car was a 1980 or 81 308GTSi, and driven under the supervision of a rep (Jeff, I believe?) from "Classic Ferrari" in Richardson, TX. It was a dream car at the time, but well beyond my means at 18.

I did return to the same dealer five years later and purchased a Lotus Esprit that had been traded in on a Testarossa. It took me another 15 years to complete the cycle and buy in. A 348... I still find myself drawn to mid 70s to late 90s designs.

 

Just a month ago I drove a red on tan F430 spider for my 17th birthday! Don't think I'll ever forget that day. Had my girlfriend in the passenger seat and my best friend in a Murcielago next to me! Was a good day, now just need my own to drive whenever I'd like didn't realize it but I made an identical thread to this one after the drive, maybe an admin will catch this and join the two? Don't know if that's possible.


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46. Test drove a MT 430 spider. I have one in the garage now but not the car I test drove.

 

26, it was an '87 328 in Honolulu, HI.

 

I was 30. It was the weekend of my wedding. July 23, 2005. See my profile for the pic!

Money well spent. I was hit with an excess mileage penalty (yes it was a rental). I said "here ya go, it is worth every penny". Great weekend. My wife enjoyed driving Sunday with me, and her thrill was taking the Ferrari through the Tim Hortons drive through ; )

Chris

 

I was 42 when I bought an 83' 308gtb in 1995. Sold it to author Cormac McCarthy.

 

I was 36 and it was a 430 Scuderia that I tracked at Road America.

A week before this particular event and after a nice long conversation with its owner I was invited by him to take it out on track and put it through its paces. There was no way I was saying 'no', but I also understood the responsibilities and risks bestowed upon me by agreeing; plus I had plenty of time to prepare. Unlike the vast majority of people whose first experiences with these cars is on the street, this was on an actual racetrack. The Scud was the 'hot' car in that session, so there were alot of people watching it- besides the owner and his family. The circumstances were perfect: at Road America- I track I already have thousands of miles on in both my own car and instructing, perfect weather, and a somewhat controlled group to run in. Plus most of my freinds were packed into the Turn 5 stands, so I also had the oppertunity to work the car for them with cameras rolling.

I spent the early moring hours of that day driving it around the infield & paddock getting used to it- the acclimation to it came rather quickly and it all felt natural to me. Once our session got underway I quickly got used to the shifting & braking capability and was constantly finding more speed with it. Having alot of time in higher HP cars and knowing that track so well, there wasn't any surprises or sensations I haven't felt before.... except for those carbon ceramic brakes. 'Unreal... friggin unreal' I kept saying aloud as I worked it more and more in the braking zones. My passenger was giggling like a little girl and I may I may have been too! I don't have any laptimes but we were seeing 140's into T1 and almost that into T5. Not too bad for the first time out in a Ferrari I thought.
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22, 512 BBI from Koenig, I got so hard from driving that my Girlfriend had to open her legs right away, it was short and intense and right back driving the car.

 

15, 308gt4, wish I still had it.

 

42. when I bought the CS. Drove it home.
wasn't as awesome an experience as I thought it would be. It is actually a lot more enjoyable now than then, as I come to learn more about the car's quirks, limits, strengths.

 

I'll be 30 in ten days and haven't ever driven one. I'd never ask to drive someone else's car though. Even if offered, I don't know if I'd accept if I couldn't write a check to replace the car in case anything happened.


Mark

 

20 a TR

 

23 and a California for 20 minutes. It was early this year.

 

16....(5 years ago) fathers 1990 TR with 700 original miles....also that year dad's 88' 328 GTB (my favorite) and 90' 348 TB

 

330 gtc on a rally, I was 22 or 23

 

33, f355. I ended up buying it.

 

The first time I drove a Ferrari I was 17. It was a 360 Spider, stick shift car, the owner had just picked it up. It had 350 miles on it. Incredible.

 

27. I have not driven one yet. However, I am on track to purchase in the future and I look forward to the day.

I have a GT3 right now and it definitely satisfies me... for now

 

18 or 19, a friend of mine's dad had a Testarossa and generously let us try it out a couple of times. We were actually very responsible and non-idiotic as teenagers go, so I suppose he figured he could trust us. He had a lot of neat cars in his collection that his son grew up driving from time to time, and he always took proper care of them. I will never forget the way that drive felt, and I was hooked permanently!

 

I was 8 when my father "made me" learn to drive(was scared snotless at the time), I benefitted-in retrospect-by living in a "gated" neighborhood in the 1960's when such things were much rarer than today...and frankly as kids, made us feel a bit uncomfortable, as all the other kids' parents would frequently be heard whispering that: "they have family money"...
The REAL benefit was a driveway that was 8 miles with untold miles of other "roads"...
needless to say, by age ten I could drive almost anything, and quite fast as we all now started buying and building go-Karts, mini bikes and motorcycles...since all old english sports cars had non stynchro first gears, learning to drive a semi-crash box was a neccessity, thus became reflexive in nature...all the other kids used to love coming to my house and spending all afternoon driving all over hell's half acre...
There were only 2 cops in town, and they knew everyone..I was driving a pals 1954 toad of a speedster(1 of first 200 cars) around all over town-to his horror: " we are going to get arrested and thrown in jail!!!"
To which my response was: " they never, ever seem to pull us over-no matter what-even when he looks me in the eye as we blow by at 5000rpm!"
As an adult, I now realize the poor SOB was probably fearful for his job if stopping the wrong guys kid and tossing him in jail....Boy, was the world a different place in those days...frankly, thank god...

As fully infected gear heads, we all, somehow found the other local guys(older men) who raced(usually without the knowledge of the rest of the local townspeople, as this was socially-in New England-largely considered to be playboy activities for the idle, and would guarantee that eventually it would lead to a life of leisure and "no-good nik,"no account, bum dom). When really, really exposed up close and personal to Ferrari racing cars(weren't they ALL racing cars?) in 1960s, THAT WAS IT-I WAS INFECTED, it was a terminal case...

The guy let me drive his funky old 2 door coupe(now known to be an SWB)-with peeling paint, smoked like hell, 2 packs a day, clouded plastique windows, etc...but what a sound...and it pulled like a train when you put your foot in it...
I was at least 13, almost 14 years old-it was spring, the dogwoods had bloomed, and it was getting hot...probably 14(6 ft tall and 180 with a mustache-so I LOOKED at least 20 already)
The next year, he introduced me to a guy with what he called "the 375"...that's a story for another time...
The most ridiculous part to this story was that I found out that summer that I had a neighbor with SEVERAL "old" Italian sports cars which had been sitting for a number of years-after the 4 sons had gone to europe-almost certainly Harvard "junior year abroad", brought them home, they died(the cars) and remained parked in the heated flagstone "carriage" house for 25 cars, and would I like to earn some money that summer cleaning out "all those old junk cars and tyres and boxes of engines?"
Hard to beleive, but a true story, but remember: NOBODY had EVER heard of George McGovern yet...perspective IS important...
In the end-as it was for me then-these are just cool "old" cars...

 

17, brand new 575 in Tokyo.