Best Ferrari to Drive...

Joined
Dec 5, 2003
Messages
3,719
Location
New England, USA
...is someone else's!

Brief road test report.

Friend rewarded himself for many years of hard work with a California T. Got some seat time in it over the weekend. Impressive, immensely capable, very very well finished compared to the antique Ferrari's I am more familiar with. Silly fast, great brakes and a surpassingly stiff ride with the Manettino switch in sport mode. Steering had little feel, bit disappointed there. All this, but the car is surprisingly docile, this could be a nice weather daily driver...felt like my Wife's M4.....except for the speed...did I mention the speed? This is a GT, not one of their real sports models. It actually had rear seats.

It is also a big car, for a GT. The engine is behind the front 'axle' line. Helps with handling, but I'd also guess that allowed Ferrari to have a very low nose and still meet the recent pedestrian protection regs that resulted in the bulbous noses that many vehicles have now.

Beautiful car and I will never turn down some seat time, but I thought I would be more excited. One problem is that if you are having any real fun with this off the track you are probably endangering others and should be jailed... The car is just not me though, well outside of my $$ comfort zone and I guess I prefer a simpler experience. For the same money I'd buy a 308GTSi or 930 and take my Wife somewhere nice:)

That said, the engine is beautiful, and for this crowd, Ferrari recommends Shell and the oil filter is accessible(y)

FCTe_LI.jpg
 
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For me the 458 Italia. Nothing like it before or after (not that I've gotten many chances at others...)
 
Had a friend in the early 60s who had a Ferrari in Italy, loved the drive, but it had to be tuned-up constantly if not driven hard, he changed to a Maserati and no more problems. That was in the era of the dinosaurs (Before ECUs) ;):eek:
 
My sister and BIL had a Ferrari California. It was nice to drive. The kind of car you'd take for a cruise on Highway 1. My BIL prefers his Porsche 911 Turbo S cars. He just got another one of those. It's definitely faster than the California.
 
If I could buy any Ferrari, it would still be a 612 Scaglietti.

Here, a perfectly spec'd 612 with matching luggage sold for $205,000

 
If I could buy any Ferrari, it would still be a 612 Scaglietti.

Here, a perfectly spec'd 612 with matching luggage sold for $205,000

They are very pretty cars.

I almost bought a 456 GT w/ a 6 speed a while back. Thought it would be a nice 'family Ferrari' that is more capable and (IMO) better looking than a Mondial. May be a possibility as I rethink the entire fun fleet.
 
They are very pretty cars.

I almost bought a 456 GT w/ a 6 speed a while back. Thought it would be a nice 'family Ferrari' that is more capable and (IMO) better looking than a Mondial. May be a possibility as I rethink the entire fun fleet.
Mondial... 🤮

Wouldn't the 456 have "sticky buttons?" That's a hard thing for me to ignore
 
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