I am in Italy. It is my birthday. Time to drive a Ferrari!
I can’t think of a better “car guy” dream then to drive a Ferrari in Italy. It is even my birthday, which makes it even more incredible.
As I mentioned in my previous post while at the Ferrari Museum, directly across the street was a company called Push Start. They rent various Ferrari and Lamborghini models for a short time with an instructor.
There were many cars to choose from, the Ferrari 296 GTB, Portofino, GTC4 Lusso, and the 812 Superfast GTS. They even had a Lamborghini Huracan Performante. I really like the Performante and wanted to drive it. I ultimately decided against it since I have already driven a Huracan LP610-4, which is fairly close to the Performante. Also, I am in Italy and I always think of Ferrari before Lamborghini. So I decided on the 812 Superfast GTS with a V-12 engine producing 788 naturally aspirated horsepower and a red-line of 8,500rpm.
I got the final wife approval and off I went. The instructor started the car to warm up the engine and had me jump in the drivers seat. As he walked around to the passenger side, I snapped a couple of pictures of the interior as fast as I could.
The instructor showed me the basics of the car, the shifting paddles, the turn signals, and reiterated how wide and long the front of the car was. He wanted me to stay off the white lines on the edge of the road, and to carefully take turns. We pulled out of the parking lot and I was driving a Ferrari in Italy.
We drove through the area where Ferrari produces and tests their cars. We got to our first open straightaway and he signaled with his hand and said “gas, gas” with an Italian accent. You don’t have to tell me twice, I floored it. The V-12 came to life and the power just kept building, faster and faster we went to the 8,500rpm redline and a lightning quick shift. Before I knew it I had to hit the brakes for an upcoming turn. Here is one of those videos.
We made our way out of the city area to the country side. The roads were bumpy, narrow, but beautiful. I would play around downshifting with the paddles, listening to the exhaust crack and pop. The instructor seemed to enjoy it as well. When I asked him how he liked his job, he said it is not a job, it is a passion and I love it.
We continued for some time behind very slow moving cars and trucks. We got a long straightaway and I caught the hand signal from the corner of my eye. I said “pass?” and he said “yes, go go”. We zoomed by cars like they were standing still.
This continued for a few more times, but I all needed was the hand signal and I knew what to do. The drive quickly came to an end, but I enjoyed every second.
It was a dream of mine for as long as I can remember and I will never forget it. I got a video of the entire drive, so I definitely wont forget it :) My wife is amazing and let me do this. She sat and waited for me to return from my 30 minute drive, even getting a video of me returning.
After the drive, my wonderful wife and I headed two blocks down to a Pizzeria and I had the best Pizza I have ever had. Was this because I just had the best day ever or was it just that good, I will never know.
We had our driver take us back to Bologna so we could hop the train back to Florence for the night. We arrived back in Florence around 4pm. We had dinner at the Orvm restaurant inside the Westin and it was delicious. I had Veal Milanese with fries and my wife had the special which was a Spaghetti dish.
