Car Collection

We’ve been waiting for so long that we almost started to think the new Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano was only the foolish dream of a daily commuter half-asleep in the morning traffic. We’ve been on the lookout for its cameo appearances in selected auto shows all last year, catching a glimpse of its silhouette in Brazil and hunting down the footage of its first duel with a F-40 Supercar near Las Vegas. Since November 2006, the 599 GTB is not just a dream anymore, but a new thoroughbred designed to represent the Prancing Horse at the pinnacle of what the Italians call Gran Turismo. Succeeding the legendary 575M Maranello was not an easy task, but the 599 GTB Fiorano cuts to the chase and is simply the most powerful coupe ever produced by Ferrari.

In the early ’90s, the Italian car maker had drastically improved its image and the reliability of its gorgeous machines with the arrival of Luca di Montezemolo at the helm of the company, along with Frenchman Jean Todt and Englishmen Rory Byrne and Ross Brawn in the racing department. Since its beginnings in the late ’40s, Ferrari’s fate has always been closely related to motorsports. When its flagship Formula 1 team, led by German ace Michael Schumacher, started its rise back to the top and subsequently won the Formula 1 World Championship five years in a row, everyone knew the time was up for Ferrari to reclaim its title as the maker of the most exciting cars on the planet. A new generation of models quickly followed, first with the 456, then with the famous 360 Modena, the 550 and the 575M Maranello.

The tremendous success met by this revival wouldn’t have been complete without the release of the Enzo Supercar in 2002, an exclusive and selective creation named after the founder of the prestigious firm. We would have lived happily ever after with this amazing collection, but as soon as 2004, Ferrari was already introducing the 612 Scaglietti as the successor of the elegant 456. A few months later, the 430 was announced to replace the popular 360 Modena. We had been in love for years with the 575M Maranello, having surrendered to the simple but forceful silhouette and the overbearing V12 tucked under the single air intake in the front. Nevertheless, we have to admit that it shouldn’t be too difficult to fall for Ferrari’s newest coupe: the 599 GTB is an astonishing achievement in the fields of mechanics and aesthetics alike. Read the rest of this entry »