The most exciting care I ever owned was a Ferrari 360 Modena. It was the perfect car to own during my many years living as a permanent resident in Northern Italy.
The engine, chassis, and body were all aluminum. Even though it had a mid engine V-8 making only a tad over 400 hp, it was a good performer with a top speed of 189mph because it was both very light and very aerodynamically slippery. A Ferrari is exciting to drive, not only because they look good and perform well, but every time you hit the 8700 rpm red line, you wonder if the engine is going to blow up. And every time you stop, you wonder if it will start up again. That spice of danger is part of the experience. By the way, mine never failed me although I must be said I spent a lot of time keeping it in perfect operating condition and I hate to count the hours I spent keeping it looking good. I did all the work myself and it never saw a professional mechanic in all the time I owned it.
The roads at the foot of my driveway were wonderful, as are most of the roads in Italy. Everybody loves a Ferrari in Italy. Because most Ferrari owners are tax dodgers, La Guardia di Finanza (the money police) stop every Ferrari the see on the road and conduct a mini IRS audit. Therefore, you hardly see performance cars on Italian roads these days. When you cruise through small villages at a reasonable speed but in a low gear to show off the fantastic exhaust sound, little kids scream "Ferrari" as do the old ladies dressed all in black. It really was a "grande macchina".
Unfortunately, the car wasn't old enough to bring back to the U.S. so I was forced to sell it. That was actually a good thing because here in the U.S. people have been taught to hate success and I'm not convinced I could stand the typical pecker-heads "keying" my doors out of pure spite. I'm sure I'd wind up in jail sooner rather than later.
But during my stay in Italy, it was fantastic. If you think zipping over to Monaco for lunch in a Ferrari is a thrill, you are absolutely correct.
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