Italian Car shopping

Motor Valley, Emilia Romagna, Italy

We have always had a love for Italian design, especially when it comes to cars. Our 1992 Cadillac Allante, that we still own, is as close as we have come to owning one. The body and interior were designed and built in Italy by Pininfarina, then shipped on a 747 to Detroit to be mated with a Cadillac drive train. So while she may not speak Italian, she looks the part.

With Berkeley East so close to Italy’s Motor Valley, and time to kill waiting for sails, we decided to take a few days and go car shopping in Italy. First stop was Pagani, a Italian manufacturer of carbon fiber super cars. The company was founded in 1992 by the Argentinian Horacio Pagani, and currently makes just 50 cars made per year. With very few being exported to the USA, these works of art are hard to come by. But that didn’t stop us from looking. We spent the morning checking out the first Pagani model – Zonda

We also got to tour the factory where they are building the new Huayra, a sub 3,000 lb carbon-titanium fiber car with over 750 HP. This was more of a race car than a daily driver for Cornelius, NC. Unfortunately, we were not allowed to take pictures inside the factory.

The two-year wait was longer than we wanted, and there was also that 2.3 million dollar price tag. So it was off to Lamborghini.

Having driven a Lamborghini before (when he was 16!), Larry has a special affinity for these cars. And there, in the museum, was the Miura from his youth.

While the current V12-powered Aventador and the V10-powered Huracán are beautiful cars, they don’t have the smooth curves of the Miura.

But maybe the new SUV would be a good replacement for our aging Hummer. We will have to wait until 2018 when it is released.

Our car shopping trip really began with the idea of finding, and driving, the perfect Ferrari. The museum in Maranello is amazing. It brought us back to 2011 when we watched the Monaco Grand Prix surrounded by Italian Ferrari fans who had to stand up every time a Ferrari came by.

So which one would it be? The California was nice, but who wants a Ferrari with a back seat? The yellow and blue cars were stunning, but we believe a Ferrari must be red. And a hybrid Ferrari just isn’t right. Besides, we already have a hybrid boat.

So it was a new 488 Spider – twin turbo V-8 with 660 HP and a dual-clutch 7-speed F1 gearbox. In bright, shiny red of course. While we never got a chance to get her up to the top speed of 200+ mph, we did prove that she will do 0 – 60 in under three seconds, and saw over 100 mph very quickly. Nothing sounds as good as a Ferrari screaming down the back roads of Italy.

Ok, so we didn’t really buy one, just took her for a spin. And Larry got a shirt. 🙂