Down On The Street

Pedaling down Carlsbad Blvd. (aka Coast Highway) on this misty morning, this searing yellow Giallo Modena Ferrari definitely caught my eye. I've seen it buzzing around Carlsbad the past few months, but it has always been in motion - until now.

So naturally I had to stop and whip out the camera/phone. Even though I'm not a big Ferrari fan, I do appreciate the storied cars. This one is a new 458 Italia, with a base price of about $230k. You want the "Scuderia Ferrari" fender badging? Cough up an additional $1600 (or 80% of a 21 year-old Miata).

 Gigantic carbon composite rotors, squeezed by oversized calipers.

 And the masterpiece under glass.

Adios.

Just Another Day in Rancho Santa Fe

The Rich Guys Car Club®* was out in full force this morning in Rancho Santa Fe's town square.

 That electric green Porsche? Yep, a $190k GT3RS,

parked behind this out-of-place ragtop Beetle...

 ...which was behind this ≈$190k Mercedes-Benz SLS

 ...which in turn was parked behind another one.

And in front of the brown SLS? An original, black-plate 427 Cobra.

 

 

 

 

Halibrand magnesium knock-offs (w/safety wires) always look good on Cobras

Pity the poor, boring yellow Cayman parked across the street.

 I'll take the E-Type.

A ≈$250k Bentley Brooklands:

 BMW 2002tii:

 Mustang GT350:

 Another GT3RS, I prefer this color:

 

 GT3RS scoop detail

Ferrari 308, Lamborghini Gallardo Spyder, 900 Turbo, yawn.

 MG, Aston Martin, another Ferrari (575 Maranello?)

*I don't know what this cars-and-coffee type of meet is really called, that's just my name for it.

Down on the Street

While farting around on the computer this morning, my ears perked up at a vehicle with a unique exhaust sound coming down the street. Hmm, too deep to be a crotch-rocket super bike, better take my eyes off the monitor to see exactly what it's coming from. Sounds like it has a flat-plane crank - why it's a Ferrari - and it's making a three-point turn right in front of the house. Better take a look outside to see if it's going to be still for a moment.
Yup! And just beyond it, at the top of the hill on the right side, you can see one of my favorite neighborhood cars, a 1991 Vanagon Carat.
Not being a Ferrari aficionado, I was unsure whether this was an F360 or F430. I did find an F360 in the 'hood back in August.
Checking out the mirror, it's quite obvious that this is not an F360:
I like the dark grey metallic. Most Ferraris seem to be the classic look-at-me/arrest-me-red. And don't those brakes look a bit unusual?

Carbon ceramic brakes - frightfully expensive when it's time to replace. How does $7,000 PER ROTOR sound to you? I could come up with a lot of better things to spend $28,000 on than brake rotors for one car. That's more than 10% of the cost of the $218,000 car.

And like the F360, Ferrari places their 483 HP V8 art under glass.
Now I'd just like to hear this screaming towards it's 8,500 RPM redline.

Down on the Street

Okay, so here's the first "exotic" I was able to snap in the neighborhood.
Why it's a Ferrari 360 Spider. Overall I'm much more of a Porsche guy, but you don't see rolling scuplture from Maranello in our "working class" (ha!) neighborhood every day.
And it's refreshing to see a Ferrari in a shade other than arrest-me-red. Note the (okay, I'm going out on a limb here with the assumption) guy's vanity plate. TAIL.

kinda cool seeing a palm tree reflected in the glass

My favorite design element - a beautiful 3.6l Italian V8 under glass. No crappy plastic shrouds covering this masterwork. The only thing better - the symphonic exhaust note.