The wait is over

Today, I Patrick McIlvaine, recieved my first ride in a Ferrari. But not just any Ferrari, the best Ferrari in the world, the 550 Maranello. This is how my day went.

845: woke up and showered
905: Left to meet they guys at Algar
920: Arrived at Algar to be greeted by a red 246gt, a black 360 spider, and a yellow over gray Maranello.
921: Dm_n_stuff informs me that there are open seats
921 and 5 seconds: I mess my pants for the first time
922: TeenFerrariFan arrives in his XLR
930: Augustine arrives with Jossie in the red 328
945: after talking for a litttle while we decide to head out, I ask labcars if i can ride with him, his response "Sure"
946: i mess my pants for the 2nd time as he starts the car with me in it i had to pinch myself here as well to make sure i wasnt asleep as well.
947: Pull out of the lot of Algar and i already can feel the power of this beautiful example of automotive technology.

The drive:

Lancaster ave is really beat up and choopy so we really dont get much speed here, but i can here the beautiful exhaust note. The fun part of the drive starts now. We turn down onto the first street and i get to feel the real power of first gear, he shifts at about 5400 rpms, awesome. The first turn we head into at a pretty fast speed about 40 or 50, but something incrediable happens. No body roll, none, im used to getting thrown to the other side of my car when taking turns at that speed. Instantly right there is where i decide that i must have this car no matter what. We continue down the street and i still get amazed at how this car shows no body roll what so ever, and we didnt even have the sport setting on. I asked labcars later if the sport setting is even better, he said much better. I didnt know there was anything to improve upon. We continue driving on the rolling farm hills of chester and delaware counties, and whenever we would space ourselves from the leader and then acclerate i would wet myself. the power of this car through every gear is omnipresent, never ceasing. When we eventually got out onto a more open road and we were able to hit the throttle a little bit more, not even Carnut, in his 360 who was flooring it could catch us. Funny thing is, he bought a 575 the day before, when we stopped he said, "Boy am i glad i bought that 575 yesterday cause i couldnt keep up." Our one brush with the law was a mistake, there were 4 or 5 guys on their choppers who were riding very fast, and the cop was trying to get them but they turned off and he lost them, so he pulled up to the lead car and told us to slow it down. A little before that we had pulled up behind the guys on their bikes at a stoplight and i think Jossie put it best that it was the biggest stretch of Testoserone she had ever seen. After a quick stop for something to drink and eat we decide that its time to head back to Algar, dm_n_stuff in his 246 takes the lead. By know i thought i would be used to the car b/c we had been riding in it for about an hour. I was wrong, i was still shaking in my boots at how powerful and well balanced this car really is when we stopped, then when we got back in it started all over again. you just dont get that feeling in any other car in the world.
Now the Maranello was my favorite Ferrari before today, but today only solidified my liking to this beautiful piece of machinery. When i first got sit in it, (which happened to be the first Ferrari i ever sat in as well) the first think i notice is how much better it really is in person than in the countless pictures i have looked at. The smell, the smoothness of the leather, the bolstered sides of the seats, and even the comfort of the seats. When most people are driving and smell something coming from their car they think its a problem, not in a Ferrari, the engine ignites all senses even smell. The transmission is like buttah through all the gears (even though we barely made it out 2nd). The highest we got was 5th, it felt like i was going 40 maybe but we were prob going faster (maybe Les can confirm for me how fast we were really going) because this car is so smooth at any speed. One thing that this car doesnt let u do, is forget you are in a Ferrari. From the sounds of the v12 pumping its way in front of you, to the glorious sound of the exhaust behind you. It never lets you forget that you are in the greatest car in the world. Now that i have finally expeirenced the true beauty of a Ferrari, i may, as corny as it seems, die happy.

I want to thank Labcars again, and again, and again for letting me ride shotgun with you, you truly made this to be the best day of my life. I thank you for that, I hope after we hibernate for the winter we can get the cars out again and maybe do a highway run . To answer my own question, was it worth 16 and a half years to finally get a ride in a Ferrari. My answer withoug the slighest doubt. FORZA!

 

LoL! No morrie couldnt keep up in his puny 8.

 

Totally agree, one of the coolest guys out there (next to me of course), when he let gus drive his car i was amazed, he is now my idol.