The "MAGIC" of a Ferrari!

Driving most any fast car in the mananer intended will get people excited. Fearrari maybe more so than others because its alsoa n aural and visual delight. The real issue is in todays world there are limited opportunities for spirited drives, especialy fort he young and a vidoe game is a less risky easier outlet.

 

The think I enjoy most about driving my Ferrari is that everywhere I go, people smile. I let kids sit behind the wheel at car shows and more than one father has whispered in my ear, "You've made his day".

If I had wanted an easy-to-use exotic, I would have bought an Acura NSX. (After all, I've been a Honda owner since 1978!) But as good as it was (better in most respects), it wasn't a Ferrari. The "MAGIC" really does exist!

 

You're simply living in the wrong place.

I frequently make the 25km drive to my local supermarket in my Ferrari using the main road which just happens to be a fantastic two lane secondary highway featuring wonderful curves, beautiful hills, and breath-taking scenery. i don't drive on the limit of course but certainly a sane person can get sufficient kicks on this very typical Italian road to put a smile on his/her face without putting the car or other people in serious danger.

When I slow down for the several small towns along the route, people frequently wave and yell out "FERRARI". I always obey the 50km speed limit in these tiny Italian towns, but I make sure I keep the revs up as I do so.

In fact, there is hardly a place I can go in my Ferrari that doesn't involve a satisfying, spirited drive.

The day I buy my first video game to satisfy my driving itch is the day I slug down a fifth of Scotch and try on the big plastic bag with a rubber band around my neck.

 

Having driven in Italy I understand where you are comming from. I learnt to drive in a Fiat Jolly while visiting friends at a town called Fubine between MNilan and Turin.

One of the nicest roiads I have evers seen was outside florence called 228, made a mental note of that. There is also the Grimsel pass in swutzerland that is fantastic.


Having grown up in South Africa I was lucky enough to have open roads with good view sights of what lay ahead and on sundays all the good peopel were in church so we had the roads to ourselvs. Plus there were lots of old alfas to buy and mtorcycles to play with.

In the USA I am in the wilds of connecticut, so not quite Italy, but they called it new England for a reason, think lake country int he UK and its pretty close. But still drives must be planned, early am and as you say, its a function of driving sanely.

Most kids I see dont have any type of acess to a fun car to drive these days. Even an old fiat 500 was fun and challenging. What do the kids have these days a toyota. Then most people, live in suburbs connecteted by trafficky highways. So there are not the cars or roads for kids to be inspired about.

The spirit for speed lives in Kids, look at all the snowboarders, skateboarders, to name a few activities. Its just that realisticaly there a re few road outlets and close to no cars kids can get their hands on that are inspirational, at elast int he USA. Plus yes video games offer such a low barrier to entry that many just get stuck there.

lastly in the gren world Driving is seen as mildly antisocial.

I see imm my daughters boyfriend a love of cars, but he has had noe exposure to nice cars or roads. The car of coice in most suburbs is a crossover. Cars are appliances, kids dr4eams dont involve cars so much.
I guess the subarau BRz is supposed to offer something for young people.

In some ways its tyhe same as flying, the costs and barriers became so large less and less peopel did it. Now with LSA licenses we see a plethora of new aircraft anbd growth in pilots again.

 

Getting rid of the third glass medical would do far more to bring back aviation. The LSAs are pricey and have next to zero utility.

 

Tort reform would actually be the best thing for aviation.

Ridiculous lawsuits destroyed most of the industry years ago. Technology and the experimental aircraft industry (EAA) has helped bring a small, but limited, renaissance.

I believe less than 2% of the US population has a Pilot's license; except for Alaska, of course.

I got mine back in the early '90s, just before the GPS revolution; ah, we could easily start a "Real pilots navigate by x-referencing VORs vs by GPS" thread.

 

I started flying with ADF then Loran C plus VOR/DME so I guess that I am now "that old"

 

A lot of us are "that old"! Still miss those days when you could fly all over North America with just an ADF. Great memories but the new glass panels are fun too. I love old Ferrari's too but who doesn't want to drive a new one?

 

OK - I'll play the old pilot game for a second. Anybody remember what a range orientation is (or was)?

Now back to our regularly scheduled programing. It starts with the name: Fer-ra-ri. It sounds almost like the exhaust sound.

 

FWIW, I appreciate you sharing the "magic" with others.





PDG

 

This thread needs photos.

Cheers,

George

 

Well done sir!

 

This is indeed one of the best parts of the whole ownership experience. You just gave me an idea: I will make a list of all the people I had a ride with in my 308. I had the car for less than 9 months, and for the moment the list counts 18 people. Not a bad start, although it probably won't increase that fast from now on, most of my friends having already tested the passenger seat!

 

Two months of ownership=7 on the passenger seat plus one on the driver seat (a really trusted one)