Just putting Spring to bed and opening Summer. Who's gonna report the first spotting? My crystal ball indicates strong vibrations on Saturday evening around Oak Street downtown...
Yesterday saw blue 360 Spider in St. Charles, on RT. 64, near Charlestown Mall. Saw the same car/driver a week before on RT. 64 in downtown St. Charles. Also saw a black Mondial in St. Charles on Kirk Rd. on Sunday, and a silver 360 on prospect Ave. in Bartlett two weekends ago. OT: Black NSX in downtown Wayne, and Lotus Elise in Bartlett.
Saw a 430 today for the first time in person. It was parked in front of Arlington Mercedes. Didn't like it at all, Ferrari is losing it's panache! As each new model comes out, they get less and less attractive. JMO At least it gives me good reason to not waste my money on buying a new Ferrari. I hope the 12 cyl. cars don't go the way of the 8s
Yellow Lamborghini Diablo on Illinois and light blue Bently GT on Grand (both by Navy Pier), and also a Lotus Elise on 94 on the way home.
Saw a wrecked Silver 612 by the beach in California. No wait a sec, that was a beached whale being harpooned. Really hard to tell the difference... Wait till you see the test mules for the 550/575 replacement, the Road and Track shots made it look like a bloated Nissan Z. Spot Wednesday: Red 360 Spyder heading south on 294 near 10am. Was it Mike575? RocketBoy
Actually I still like the 430 and the Scaglietti, but I agree, that Ferrari has somewhat lost its touch and become more Japanese middle of the road. It's kinda weird: You have these round looking "regular" Ferraris and then on the other side of the spectrum the edgy Enzo. Almost two extremes, but no middle ground. Look at the Boxer, the TR, the 355: Round formes and sharp edges all in one.
Boy it's a tough crowd in here. I understand that it is a lot easier to be critical of car that costs almost $200,000. In some cases even more than that. The last thing you want Ferrari to do is re-hash old designs. U.S. car companies have been trying to modernize old designs and names because they have run out of new ideas, it seems. The Mustang, Ford GT, GTO and the Dodge Charger are prime examples. As far as the 430 goes, yes it's not radically different (on the outside) from a 360 but it's still pretty to me. Let's remember that that looks is only 1/2 of the package. Just my $0.02 Thanks, Vince
Actually I dig the whole retro idea. I wish Ferrari would bring out a 250 LM retro version or a remake of the 250 GTO. I think the Ford GT is cool as hell. But Ferrari's approach is different and more subtle: The factory's book about the 430 shows all the styling cues going back all the way to the early sixties.
I like the looks of the 430, but definitely not the 612 nor the promise of the Maranello replacement. My big info source Evo mag made a few comparisons to the 250 LM to the new 430, ( most notably the front and side intakes. ) IMO the Maranello always was GTO like to me. Maybe my tough views on the 612 are its odd association to Rosellini and Ingrid Bergman, so I'd rather see it being a little more compact, sporty, and with a more rare feel. This car just looks to massive. But as I mentioned to Vince, you can't ignore that cool interior and massive V12. The docs, lawyers, and people making a poor excuse to the wife that it has 4 seats will make it sell despite being close to $300K. As far as the American retro, I like it. The Ford GT is an awesome idea as long as not every Joe Schmo gets one and drives like an idiot, ( which I sadly admit I have seen a lot of Viper drivers do out in the NW burbs. ) I think a car has its class once you see it cut off a van full of kids on the 4pm rush. The new Mustang looks like a wonderful cruiser with some power to match and the advertising, ( cheapest car with over 300 HP? ) can not be ignored. VW is a bit discouraging. I have talked to a few of my car buddies and we all can't help but see the Pheaton, Bentley GT, even the Veyron being the same car. RocketBoy PS: In the last issue of the DuPont registry one crazy ad listed a Ford GT as having "all 7 recalls fixed!" That and the news that with a cracking suspension arm forcing owners not to drive the car till its towed away and fixed at Ford's expense, ( the recall was issued months ago, ) makes me a little concerned about the car.
Whether they paid $1,500 or $150,000 for a car, it still has one of those blue ovals on it......what did they think they were getting!
red 308 GTS in Glenview (I see it often), nice Fiamm music as we passed each other today. orange Gallardo around Glenview, pops up every other week or so Bentley GT on 94 glad to be leaving .US shortly. Although one tends to see more exotics here, the overall pattern is simply boring compared to Europe. To contradict myself, here is a Euro 360 with American plates in Zagreb from last year. http://www.ilikeu.de/fotos/ferrari/L1030040.jpg http://www.ilikeu.de/fotos/ferrari/L1030041.jpg http://www.ilikeu.de/fotos/ferrari/L1030044.jpg Also in Zagreb saw a group consisting of Murcielago, Porsche CGT, Mercedes etc with rally decals. Nice noise. Have some photos somewhere. yellow Gallardo in Bucharest at hotel Intercontinental. 360 spider on the autobahn around Frankfurt in winter. 1 yellow Gallardo in Germany during light snow. followed by another yellow one less than an hour later. green Murcielago, red 360 Coupe, in BXL. and a bunch of Zastava 650's and Renault 4's in Croatia - very nice
One more O.T. comment,please....IMO,They just don't look as "Exotic" as they used to. Sure,the Performance is great...But,certainly nothing more than you can get out of a New Corvette at 1/4 the price,though. Or a Viper at 1/3 the price. They just don't have that "Italian Design,Cutting Edge,Avant Garde" look that they did. I mean,who here didn't practically freak out the first time that they saw a 308 or a Testarossa? It was like..."WHAT is THAT!!!!!!" Now,it's like, "Uh Huh. Yeah. So. Nice,but...." Personally,if I was going to shell out that kind of dough for an "Exotic Car",I want it to be something that doesn't even closely resemble ANYTHING out there....Like the 308 and TR,and several,(most,really)of the other Ferrari's of the past did,and still do,really. Ford has come out with th GT(40). Why not a Ferrari P4....make it just alittle different....a P5....?....With all of the Modern Equipment and Amenities of a New Car... Or,a 408...a 4 liter version of a 308,but larger,and a little more Modern. Maybe closer looking to a 288GTO....But,big and wide like the 360/430 is.(508,maybe.... )
Red/Tan Mondial Cabriolet,Top Down,headed Westbound on Butterfield Road in Downers Grove today around 1:30PM....Unfortunately,for him,he was headed into the Direction of a Big Scary Thunderstorm,,,, As I was Racing to get home before it started pouring.....which it did out here by 2:00PM
Maserati Coupes are coming out of the woodwork. I saw two recently: A silver one on LaSalle in the Loop on Friday, and a red one at Addison & Cumberland Saturday.
Early morning, 348 TB, Roselle passing Higgins in Hoffman Estates. Red F430 just past the Toll Oasis on 90 going east toward O'Hare around 4:30 pm. RocketBoy PS: Red 360 Spyder Saturday, a neighbor in Barrington?
Surprised to see a lot of Maser Coupes shooting about my hood. Saw two red ones ( one black interior the other tan, ) on Dundee road in Palatine and Buffalo Grove. Saw a Aston Martin like green Maser speeding along Lake-Cook in Deer Park. Saw a silver one just yesterday on I90 heading east. I didn't think they were that popular. RocketBoy
Red/Tan 360 Spider on Eastbound Ogden Av. by Continental today around 4:00PM. Perhaps a Test Drive for a New Car?...
