If you believe the legend, all red-blooded Italian men will immediately stop what they are doing when two things pass them by. One is a pretty woman; the other is a pretty fast Ferrari. They say it’s in their blood.
Driving through a tiny village nestled in the foothills of the Apennines, overlooking what is commonly known as the Supercar Valley, I saw first hand that the legend was in danger of becoming a myth.
Oh, there were plenty of beautiful woman enjoying the early summer sun, but they didn’t even rate a glance from a road gang of big burly blokes, although a waitress from across the street gave a two-finger salute to a bloke on a bike in front of me; he appeared to be the local postman. Perhaps they knew each other.
As for the stunning 559 GTB Fiorano Ferrari I was driving. It too didn’t raise any interest from the gangers busy fixing potholes, not even when I blipped the throttle — the 599’s exhaust bark is nothing short of magical as it echoed off the centuries-old stone and brick walls.
This was serious. What’s wrong with these Italian blokes — or perhaps they were itinerant workers from Eastern Europe. Were they blind, were they deaf, were they dumb? How could they not be impressed?
Negotiating their wheelbarrows and traffic cones was the fastest V12 coupe Ferrari has built; the fastest naturally aspirated two-seat production car in the world and probably the most technically advanced car Ferrari has crafted. How could they ignore it?
This is a $650,000 bespoked supercar with buyers lucky enough to get into the queue being forced to wait for at least 18 months to take delivery.
Perhaps it was the that Ferrari was painted in a less than spectacular metallic grey/silver, not one of the several shades of traditional Ferrari red, or even their bold yellow.
My faith in the legend was partially restored in the next village where two old men sharing a fag and a morning coffee on the footpath, stood and waved in appreciation as the Ferrari, the replacement for the 575 Maranello, squeezed through the narrow streets. They were old enough to know the true history of Ferrari and the value of this, a Pininfarina-penned supercar, which has helped to further define Ferrari’s fiery spirit.
Perhaps up here in the hills overlooking the home of exotic brands like Ferrari, Maserati, Lamborghini and Pagani such cars are commonplace. Oh, surely not.
Earlier that day I had been asked the question most car enthusiasts only dream about: would you care to take the 599 for a couple of hours for a run in the countryside?
And there it was parked in the forecourt of the Ferrari factory, a resplendent brooding beast with a cockpit displaying a plush mix of tan leather, carbon fibre and alloy. A massive bright yellow tacho between the spokes of the steering wheel dominates the dashboard. The carbon fibre race seats look thin and hard but turn out to be wonderfully supportive.
But this is a big car and hard to get a clear view of its surroundings. With nerves on edge, not helped by so many people looking on, it was time to go; remember which buttons to push first in the starting sequence and fire up the V12.
Ferrari is the life blood of Modena; the factory dominates the otherwise lack lustre town. It’s important enough to rate its own set of traffic lights so one of the town’s busiest streets comes to a halt as you drive out of the famed gates. About 100 metres down the street there’s speed radar with a huge display mounted on a lamp post just to remind you to keep the throttle under control until you get out on to the open road.
The guard at the gate had already warned me the local police were getting a litte tired of the street being used as a supercar pit lane, but 50km/h in the 599 is torture.
Out of town it was time to head for the hills with its narrow twists and turns, its off-camber corners, farmers on slow-moving tractors and hordes of fit looking blokes in brightly coloured Lycra suits on pushbikes. It was a couple of days before a major bike tour wheeled through the district. Just my luck.
On these narrow roads you quickly appreciate just how wide the 599 GTB is. Blind corners, the lack of guard rails and buildings set right on the roadside call for absolute concentration. But the 599 is, surprisingly, an easy car to live with, once you master its Formula One style controls.
Shifting is done by flappy paddles either side of the steering wheel; the wheel itself has various buttons to vary the 599’s traction and control settings including sport and race modes — and one which switches them all off, if you dare.
By now the villages have been left behind and the road twists and turns into open mountain country. We have set, for me anyway, a cracking pace, although the sky is darkening by the minute. The car beckons to be pushed a little harder, to go a little quicker. Power comes on fast and furious, the car swallows up the corners with consummate ease.
Then came reality. Around a tight left hander was my undoing — a stream of runoff water covered the road. Too late to select the rain mode setting on the steering wheel as the 599 gracefully aquaplaned sideways before finding grip again, neatly parking itself almost sideways in a driveway leading to a farm.
Time to stop, pry my fingers from the wheel, catch my breath, restore the heart rate. Plenty of mud but not a scratch on the car.
I pretended to be admiring the view as one of those orange and green suited cyclists caught up and peddled past. I’m sure he was smirking.
The next problem, how to get the 599 back on track. Apart from some advice on don’t bend it, the factory had been a bit light on showing me how the gear selectors worked, or perhaps I wasn’t listening.
Finding reverse was simple enough, there’s a big R on the centre console just ahead of the full automatic switch and the launch mode button. But how to find neutral? Ah, try pulling both gear leavers backwards at the time. OK call me stupid.
Perfect timing, the phone rang. It was the Ferrari PR bloke asking where I was and how long before I bought their precious car back. After all they were waiting for me so they could go to lunch and next to high performance motoring, eating is the next best Italian past-time.
Time to wind down to the valley below and to explore the 599’s power on a blast along the valley floor back to Modena. The mountain roads had shown off the 599’s handling strengths - pin point accuracy, wonderful flexible delivery of power, superb quick change six-speed gearbox and eye popping brakes. It also gave hint to its weaknesses, not that the 599 has many. The steering is too light for my liking and a perhaps a little vague and in full auto mode, gearshifting is not as smooth as manual changing.
On the straight valley roads the 599 is equally at home as a long distance grand tourer.
Get it right and, according to Ferrari, the 599’s launch control can get this front-engined two-seater with its all alloy body and frame from a standstill to 100km/h in a mere 3.7 seconds. The 6-litre V12, a development of the famed Enzo motor but made more compact for its front end installation in the 599, develops a thumping 456kW at 7600 revs, matched by peak torque of 608Nm at 5600rpm. Top speed, three times the Australian legal limit at 330km/h.
The heart of the 599 is its F1-inspired gearbox, with manual shifting taking a mere 100 milliseconds — that’s the time it takes for the car’s electronics to lift off the power, declutch, select the next gear, re-engage and apply the throttle. It’s not the quickest system on the market but it is impressive.
It almost feels seamless, only the slight movement in your body reacting to changes in acceleration forces. It is the same system Ferrari uses in its F1 cars, but tamed for standard road use.
The switches on the steering wheel to control the car’s dynamics are also liked to the 599’s adaptive stability control system, called F1-Trac which is smart enough to predict the maximum grip available in advance and tailor the amount of power delivery for best possible traction. In the real world that equates to almost slingshot acceleration out of corners without wheelspin. This is one smart car.
The other smart device on the 599 is its adaptive suspension wait for it, it’s called the magnetorheological fluid suspension system. In simple terms it can change the viscousity of the fluid in the dampers by applying an electrical charge to it. The result is a suspension which quickly reacts to different road surfaces far quicker than a conventional oil-filled damper, with its single viscosity. On the road that equates to a car which sits wonderfully flat whilst cornering.
On the high speed autostrade the 599 happily cruises at speeds I don’t dare discuss. Take my word it is quick.
Ferrari says there is more stick-to-the-road suction created under the car because of its design than lift generated by the bodywork and the flying buttresses either side of the rear window are designed to channel the air flow, producing up to 190kg of downforce at maximum speed.
The surprising thing about driving the 599 at speed is just how eerily quiet it is. It is a car you can easily drive all day — providing you can afford the fuel.
Three hours in the 599 seems like a lifetime. All I need now is $645,000 for the car plus $7000 for the Daytona trim, $13,000 for the extra carbon fibre in the cabin, another $13750 for the special paint job and $12,750 for the ball-polished 20-inch wheels. That lifts the price to $691,500. Add on on-road costs and it’s a million dollar car. That’s a mere $333,000 for each hour I had it. Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano
How much: $645,000; $691,500 as tested
Power: Naturally aspirated 6-litre 65 degree V12; 456kW at 7600rpm; 608Nm at 5600rpm
How quick: 0-100km/h 3.7 seconds; 0- 200km/h 11 seconds
Co2 emission: 490g/km
Fuel consumption: 21.3l/100km combined
Transmission: 6-speed F1 paddle shift
Suspension: adaptive magnetorheological dampers
F1 Trac stability and traction control system
Tyres: 245/40 19-inch front; 305/35 20-inch rear with tyre pressure and temperature monitoring
Brakes: 355×32mm front; 330×28mm rear
Weight distribution: 47% front, 53% rear
Kerb weight: 1690kg
