One of the Best Days of My Life!!!

Huge, huge thanks go out to Armen & Rick today.

Armen PM'd me the other day to go on a cruise in my favorite car - The 288 GTO!! To top it off, Rick drives me down there in the F40 - My 2nd favorite F-Car!!! Holy Smokes! I think that makes 4 turbos!

So we get over to Armens and I get out of the F40 and man the co-pilot seat of the 288. First impressions - Wow, what a car. Reminds me of a cross between a F40/308/328. It's just a gorgous car. Love the Daytona style seats. Once we get out on the road things get exciting! Armen's 288 hides 2 F40 turbos under the hood, instead of the normal 288 turbos. The car is a beast. It wants to break loose at every chance, but Armen gently eases it in the right direction. Once we get some room, the F40 and the 288 square off - What a great site! The 288 keeps up with the F40 - Just 2 beautiful pieces of Italian machinery speeding down the highway, neck and neck. Looking out the window of the 288, the F40 just looks crazy. Looks like a rocket screaming down the pavement - The body just inches from the road.

We pull over and I hear something I never thought I would hear as I am sitting in the passenger seat of the 288 - "I'm going to let you drive." Good lord. I respond, "Are you sure you want to do this???" lol

I jump in the driver's seat & away we go. I take it pretty easy out of respect for Armen's car, but I do get a feel for what the turbos are like. It is such a fun car because it drives a bit like my 328 & then BLAM! WHRRR! lol It was just sheer joy - Something I may never forget. Thanks so much Armen!

Then on the way home (Like I haven't been spoiled enough) Rick offers me up the BEAST. I hop in the driver's seat of the F40. Seems like just yesterday I saw an F40 on the road. Just wanting it to slow down so that I could get another few seconds of watching it - Now here I am driving this machine! The first thing I notice about the F40 is how truly different it is than the 288. The clutch and brake pedals are much heavier. I do a real poor job of getting the car off to a start. Once I get it going, I find out this car is fast!!!!! Rick - I am very sorry about that rubber I left on the road at that one stoplight.

Armen, Rick - You guys are what Ferrari ownership are all about. Huge Thanks! My 2 favorite cars in the world, & I drove them both today - Total seat time was about 40 minutes - Wow!

I'll have a video of the event up hopefully by tomorrow.

Enough with the words, here are some pics :
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Nice pictures, you lucky bastard

I must say I'm very impressed with the generosity of the owners (Armen, Rick, my hat is off to you) on this website, truly a remarkable thing. I just wish I could make it down to a CC meet (too, damned early and too far) to actually see some of the people here and their cars, one of these days I'll pull it off.

 

Great story. Awesome pics, too. I like that white Bentley convertable, and especially like that marbled garage.

 

I've never met the guy, but I've got to confess: Armen qualifies as the nicest, coolest, person on the planet. Generous with his collection, generous with his knowledge. It's an privilege to be in this community.

 

Holy Mother of Godzilla... all my friends ever drive me is Crazy.

 

You lucky dog. Geeze, all my friends (as if I have some) drive SUVs and pickemup trucks.

Serioursly, though, when you come back down, can you post your impressions on a 288 v. a F40 from a driving perspective. It sounds like Armen's 288 has been hot rodded a bit. (BTW, Armen if you ever come to H-Town, feel free to contact me. I can't even come close to matching your collection, but I'm sure that there are a lot of Houston car nuts who would love to meet you.) But, what I'm interested in is whether the 288 is a more livable car than the F40. From what I have heard, the F40 is definitely the car for the track. Since I do most of my driving on the street, I'd like to know which one is more enjoyable on back roads and such.

And here all this time I thought CPAs were boring...

 

What pics and what a story! You've got some great friends.

 

Wow, Jerry... that is quite a story... leave it up to these two class-acts to knock your socks off!!

Forza Ferrari, fellas!!

B.

 

WOW - what a great way to spend a Wednesday evening.

Armen, Rick - very generous of both of you. I have seen elsewhere but will repeat that stuff like this is what makes this a community.

Jerry - thanks for the thread and sharing the pictures. THIS kind of stuff is what I joined for.

Cheers
Kevin

 

Wow, great story Jerry, Rick and Armen are truelly some of the coolest guys on this chat. I don't have much to say, because everyone has already said it, but congrats. It is very cool of you guys to share you success and you joy with others. We are all very greatfull just know you guys.

-David

 

UN...BELIEVABLE...

Totally awesome... Jerry, congratulations... That is too cool...

Armen, Rick, you two are class acts... Real stand-up folks... Wow, this is too cool...

 

Dude, congratulations. That is amazing. The 288 GTO is one of my favorites as well.

Armen and Rick- You guys are great!

Now, to truly round out your experience, I'm going to have to let you drive the most amazing of supercars, my GT4...

Dom

 

Thanks for comming down. We did have ALOT of FUN!!!!!! Pictures are great.
Rick, Thank you for bringing your F40 down. It just confirmed that the F40 IS my favorite Ferrari (and the Daytona Spider)!!!!! Driving side by side with you at 140+ sure was fun. At one time, I looked over probably at around 80mph. I can't discribe how beautiful your car looked. Jerry, good job driving. Happy you enjoyed it. I was VERY impressed with the GTO. after putting the F40 turbos on it, I always wondered how much faster it really is. I got my answer yesterday!

 

Armen could probably give you the most perspective on that as he also has driven F40's quite a bit.

I think I was most surprised at how different these cars were. The 288 was much easier to drive - Lighter pedals, etc. I really had to step on the F40 brakes to get them going - Keep in mind, I'm small guy - Bigger guys probably can handle the F40 easier. They both shifted awesome and the steering was great, so not that much difference there. The visability on the F40 is tough - Forget about the rear view mirror - May as well just take it off to save the weight. The lexan window has a solid piece running down the center (as oppossed to the slots on the side) which make it more difficult to see. Also there is that metal reinforcement bar blocking your view. Each car was a little scary until you can figure out when and how those turbos kick in - The last thing I wanted to happen was be in for a surprise! So I tried to take it easy off the line and kick in the turbos once I was rolling. Bottom line is they are both amazing cars. If I had to pick one to drive every day (Like that would ever happen) on the street, it would be the 288 - I don't know how hard it is to find repair parts though. They both would be amazing cars on the track.

Armen made an interesting point about the 288 also - Most people don't know how special it is, so it doesn't really draw a crowd. The F40 gets more attention! The styling is so awesome & over the top, it commands more attention - Another reason the 288 would be easier to drive every day. It's funny that the 288 looks similar to the 328, but the extra details on the car make it so beautiful - The back lip, the wide fenders, the slots in the fender, and the great looking rims. Plus the rear end is just gorgeous. Looks a little like the 355 from behind.

The best site of the day was looking over at the F40 at high speed from the 288 - That is the pic that is screen captured from the video. It is just an amazing site to see that F40 rocketing down the highway.

 

That is too cool! Thanks for the pics & story!

 

Thanks for sharing the pics and the story...
They're great! Must have been a wonderful feeling...

I'm already extremely happy when I get the opportunity to drive a "normal" Ferrari... but this??? Wow...
I guess there aren't a lot of people around who can say they drove that kind a beasts... Lucky you...

A lot of respect to the owners...

Greets, Alexander

 

Very cool...Armen and Rick are both class A individuals.

Hell, I'd be tickled just to get a ride, let alone drive. Was never into cars, but at 16 working at a book store, loading up the magazine, sure enough Motor Trend 1987 had cover story on the new F-40. I instantly was into cars, and the F-40 has been at the top of my list of favorite cars.

BTW Rick, everyone loved the Pizza!

 

I agree - It was more than enough to just ride in the cars. Truly special individuals!

 

Nice - pix are great and you are clearly getting comfortable in the 288 given your ability to look at the camera instead of the road!!!

Cheers
Kevin

 

lol - Yah it looks worse than it is. On the video, we were rolling up to a stop light & once I knew I was good, I looked over at Rick to see him filming (while driving the f40!). lol

The pic is just a screen capture from the video.

 

Jerry,

Congratulations! Glad you had fun! I assume that is Armens garage? Beautiful floor and layout. Would love to see more of a zoomed out picture. By the ways, is that stunning Bentley Armens too? Love that car!

Also how come the 288 has dealer plates? I thought Armen didn't own Newport F dealership anymore? I am confused about the plate.

Also I noticed the driver was wearing blue shirt, your favorite color Jerry

So Jerry, when are you stepping up to the plate and buying the blue F50?

 

Jerry, THATS AWESOME!!!! Congratulations!! Armen, Rick, you both rock! Man the F40...what a car.

 

Great story to tell. The mark of a true car person is generosity. That should serve as a shining example to all of us to follow.

Thanks for sharing this with us.

Brad

 

My heart melts at the thought of the awsomeness of those cars. Great post, great pics. Congrats on some great driving Jerry. Hats off to Rick and Armen, you guys are alright in my book.

 

I heard a rumor that a 288GTO and an F40 where cruising side by side at 150mph down a two lane street in Newport. I'm sure it HAD to be an urban legend...
If it weren't I think the cars would look like this.....
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