Posted on 04/10/2016 2:36:04 PM PDT by MtnClimber
In 2014, my son, James, and I drove up to Watkins Glen International, a storied racetrack, to watch a Ferrari race. We did not, however, make the drive in a Ferrari. Last year, Ferrari kindly lent us a California T, the company's "entry-level" car its base price is $198,000 to make a sort of return visit.
The Cali T is now an important vehicle for the prancing stallion now that it's a public company and need to grow beyond its current 7,000-cars-per-year in sales. At the New York Stock Exchange in 2015, when Ferrari ticker symbol RACE began trading, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles CEO and Ferrari Chairman Sergio Marchionne said that many of the 9,000 cars the Italian sports car maker will sell in 2019 will be Cali Ts.
Ferrari shares have endured a slide since the IPO, down 30% since last October. But of course there is Ferrari the stock and Ferrari the cars. So what is the California T like to drive?
When James and I went to the Glen in 2014, we watched a Ferrari Challenge race in which the contestants run in Ferrari 458s. In 2015, we attended the Six Hours of the Glen, an endurance race featuring teams from a variety of automakers Porches, BMW, Aston Martin, Mazda, Corvette alongside Ferrari. It was an interesting weekend with a long drive in a cool car and a race that was heavily affected by the weather.
(Excerpt) Read more at businessinsider.com ...
Interesting article about father and son with Ferrari test drive to the 6-hours at the Glen race. Interesting story and lots of photos. I think the Ferrari 488 is also a key to Ferrari’s future too. They have a two-year waiting list. I checked.
It doesn’t do much for me. I liked the one Magnum drove.
sigh I’m getting old.
Give me a good old Countach 500S or Testa Rossa if it must be a Ferrari. Vector even better, if you can keep the thing running long enough.
Very nice lines...but those headlights are U-G-L-Y.
That was the 308. *cough -poop box- cough*
328 looked similar and much better car.
This is better. Aston-Martin DB9:
The Ferrari 308 that magnum drove only had about 150 hp. The California T is claimed 552 hp. The new 488 twin turbo which replaces the normally aspirated 458 makes 660 hp. Magnum’s car would be eating dirt, but the lines on the 308 were great.
At least it’s not some electro POS.
Make mine the Lambo Huracan:
I have been looking at the also brand new McLaren 570S:
I MIGHT trade my ‘11 Porsche Cayman S for one..........
IIRC, wasn't that one actually a Fiat? Thought one of those cheap V-6 ones was. Sort of like Porsch putting their logo on what was sold as a VW in Europe when they sold it here. The 914 I think it was called.
I like the Lambo Huracan too. The Huracan 610 has the Audi R8 V10 Plus Engine and dual clutch gearbox for better reliability and AWD acceleration. I keep asking myself, with the closest McLaren dealer in Dallas and I am in Golden, CO I would have to ship the car for service while there are Lambo, Porsche and Ferrari dealers locally. Not too much price difference between Mclaren 570S and the Huracan, 911 Turbo S and 488.
Zero-to-arrested in 3.5 seconds!
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