RE: Ferrari Enzo

Sunday 4th January 2004

Ferrari Enzo

Robert Farago slips behind the wheel of the ultimate road car


You expect a Ferrari Enzo to be quick; a “slow supercar” is as much of an oxymoron as a “fast moped”.  You also expect an Enzo to be temperamental; Ferrari freely admits that post-delivery mechanical malfunctions are an integral part of the development process.  But most of all, you expect it to be beautiful.  Think of it this way: if the $650k Enzo wasn’t beautiful, everyone who saw one would consider its owner a fool. 

Benny Caiola Jr. is no fool.  Saying that, would you lend your Ferrari Enzo to a stranger?  Before you answer, consider this: the New York property developer owns two of them.  And an F40, F40LM, F50, 333SP, 512BB, 575M, 456, 355, Dino, four 360s, a Lamborghini Diablo and Murcielago, Pagani Zonda, Porsche GT2 and Aston Martin Vanquish. 

Ferrari Enzo

So even if a visiting journalist somehow carved his place in automotive infamy, Benny wouldn’t be taking the bus...

On Cue

Anyway, as I approach Benny’s Enzo, I respect the man’s taste.  With the exception of its round tail lights and the prancing horse emblem embedded in the rear mesh, the Enzo doesn’t share a single design cue with its predecessors.  Yet it’s unmistakably Ferrari.  The F1-style nose gets all the press, but it’s the Enzo’s blend of exquisite details and balanced proportions that creates its brand-specific charisma.  To say the end result is aesthetically appealing is like saying Enrico Caruso could carry a tune. 

Ferrari Enzo

The Enzo’s melody starts with a ferocious bark.  Ferrari’s largest ever V12 (in a passenger car) quickly settles into an idle with so much low frequency bass you’d swear an alien mother ship was hovering overhead.  The cockpit’s eight steering wheel-mounted buttons, seven rev lights, oversized analogue speedo and tachometer, glowing digital display, traditional column stalks and bat-eared paddle shifts present a formidable challenge to a human operator.  Fortunately, the carbon fibre seats provide a comfortable perch from which to sort it all out.

Touch Sensitive

Even before I leave Benny’s drive, I’m surprised by the Enzo’s delicate responses.  The slightest touch on the left pedal and 15” carbon ceramic brakes threaten to hurl me through the windshield.  The smallest input on the wheel and we’re headed in a different direction.  Clearly, thankfully, the days when driving a Ferrari meant wrestling with recalcitrant mechanicals in the world’s fastest sauna ended with the passing of the Enzo’s namesake.  Ferrari’s latest and greatest is a finely balanced precision instrument that doesn’t make you pay [anything except money] for the privilege. 

In fact, the Enzo proves itself as happy trundling around town as a big-engined Beemer.  With 485 ft. lbs. of torque on tap, there’s never any question of bunny hopping or hunting for the right gear.  Parallel parking is a bitch, and luggage space is restricted to what you can put in your pockets, but the Enzo’s user-friendly dynamics at sub-warp speeds make it a viable - if astounding - daily driver.

Warp Factor

When Benny points at the Hutchinson River Parkway onramp, the look on his face tells me ambling time is over…

The moment I give the Enzo’s go-pedal a shove, the 660hp two-seater surges ahead with all the genetic imperative of a race horse bolting from the starting gate.  The thrust is so explosive I struggle to judge my exact role in the proceedings.  Instinct tells me to tap her into third gear before the 48-valve engine blows up, and avoid solid objects.  Five seconds later, I’ve managed to calm things down to a subjectively sedate 150mph.  

As I get used to driving in hyperspace, the traffic ahead can’t get out of my way fast enough - literally.  By the time a driver clocks the Enzo’s yellow prow in their rear view mirror, I’m already waiting for them to move over.  As a result, I’m driving the Enzo in a series of full-bore sprints that bring new meaning to the words “in gear acceleration”.  While the engine note is nowhere near as loud as an F50’s, neither is an F14’s.  Let’s just say what the Enzo’s soundtrack lacks in volume it makes up in drama.

Perhaps you’d like to know how a Ferrari Enzo handles in the corners.  So would I.  When I ask Benny to direct me to an appropriately twisty road, he invites me for lunch.  Oh well.  Suffice it to say, nothing “the Hutch” could throw at the Enzo - off camber bends, broken pavement, lunatic SUV drivers - could disturb the car’s sure-footed poise, at speeds that defy both law and logic.  It feels light, tight and right. 

As we head back to Villa Caiola, I try to make sense of what just happened.  I’m elated to have scored major seat time in an Enzo.  But more than that, I’m relieved that the supercar lived up to my every expectation.  The Ferrari Enzo is both beauty and the beast.     

Links

Text © Robert Farago
Pictures © Samantha Farago
www.thetruthaboutcars.com

Author
Discussion

james

Original Poster:

1,362 posts

283 months

Monday 5th January 2004
quotequote all
I do like this mans choice of cars. Although owning 2 Enzos is possibly being a tad greedy

456mgt

2,504 posts

265 months

Monday 5th January 2004
quotequote all
Marvellous. Excellent article Robert, and you've just got to take your hat off to a petrol head with an unlimited budget

Alex

9,975 posts

283 months

Monday 5th January 2004
quotequote all
Finally! A car that Farago likes.

greg_d

6,542 posts

245 months

Monday 5th January 2004
quotequote all
I take it he has "developed" most of New York then!!!!
what a geezer.

stevenrt

141 posts

269 months

Monday 5th January 2004
quotequote all
I reckon a Radical SR3 would have it beat around a race track, and for the money you save you could run a fully supported Enduro campaign for a few years, having a lot more fun doing real racing. I can understand that, I can't understand the point of cars like the Enzo. Except of course to show off your money, and to possess (for its own sake) expensive things.

People like this are controlled by their possessions, the tail wagging the dog.

rico

7,916 posts

254 months

Monday 5th January 2004
quotequote all
james said:
I do like this mans choice of cars. Although owning 2 Enzos is possibly being a tad greedy


Ah yes, but then it takes away the possibility of him thinking "hhmm, maybe i should have bought the yellow one, not the red one...."

PetrolTed

34,424 posts

302 months

Monday 5th January 2004
quotequote all
stevenrt said:

People like this are controlled by their possessions, the tail wagging the dog.




Oh come on, that just sounds like sour grapes.

If I had enough money I can see the attraction in owning one for pure pleasure purposes.

456mgt

2,504 posts

265 months

Monday 5th January 2004
quotequote all
stevenrt said:
I can't understand the point of cars like the Enzo. Except of course to show off your money, and to possess (for its own sake) expensive things.

People like this are controlled by their possessions, the tail wagging the dog.
Some pretty sweeping conclusions from a single article. Feeling the need for one of Flashers 'special' smilies.

james

Original Poster:

1,362 posts

283 months

Monday 5th January 2004
quotequote all
stevenrt said:
I reckon a Radical SR3 would have it beat around a race track, and for the money you save you could run a fully supported Enduro campaign for a few years, having a lot more fun doing real racing. I can understand that, I can't understand the point of cars like the Enzo. Except of course to show off your money, and to possess (for its own sake) expensive things.

People like this are controlled by their possessions, the tail wagging the dog.

Maybe this guy can't see the point of racing round and round in circles just to end up where you started. People have different ideas of what to do with their money. It's what makes the world such an interesting and diverse place.

People buy expensive works of art for the pleasure of owning them. Because they look nice. It's the same with cars like the Enzo. It's an automotive work of art. If I had more money than God (which this guy obviously does), I'd be out there buying a whole garage full of expensive cars, purely for the pleasure of owning them and being able to drive them. Not to show off, but for my own personal enjoyment.

Cue repeat of the "fantasy garage" thread...

PetrolTed

34,424 posts

302 months

Monday 5th January 2004
quotequote all


Don't see why owning one of these is necessarily materialistic. I'd like to own one because it's bloody fast and makes a nice noise!

elms

1,926 posts

251 months

Monday 5th January 2004
quotequote all
If the guy has got the money...then why not? Ive got two televisions and i can only watch one at once. The similaritys between him and us normal folk are all relative to the amount of spare cash we/he have to spend on luxurys. He proberly has to think as long about buying a $1m supercar as i do about buying a can of Coke!

>> Edited by elms on Monday 5th January 15:35

dazren

22,612 posts

260 months

Monday 5th January 2004
quotequote all
Despite what our friendly antipode (sp?) has to say on this matter if I had the money I'd have a fleet of supercars just like this chap. Lending one of his Enzo's out to a journo strikes me as the act of an enthusiast wanting to share the experience with others rather than a flash .

DAZ

Oh yeah, I'd also have a transporter for shipping my fleet to and from Bruntingthorpe for when the regular hoonatics come out to play.

iguana

7,025 posts

259 months

Monday 5th January 2004
quotequote all
Daz I like the thinking, but if I had that chaps money I'd build my own Brunters just outside me garage.(with less grit, & more runoff!!) Oh and also a full replica of pretty much all the worlds great circuits just beside it and invite me mates round to play at will I'd prob have better food on tap than the Brunters rat burger van too

No actually Id probably buy a little island to play cars on, hmm say the entire South island of New Zealand, ship out the natives and enjoy my own giant several thousand mile Nurburg ring

All PH'ers would be welcome, well as long as we all drive round the same way that is, could tend to be a bit messy otherwise

>> Edited by iguana on Monday 5th January 17:42

Waveboy14

276 posts

243 months

Tuesday 6th January 2004
quotequote all
Iguana, I like your idea! One day, you will have to let me drive on that track!

Kind of agree with the man's choice. Probably one enzo as investment (red one) and yellow one to drive around (town).
However, FOUR modena's?! Does anyone know if this guy's got any kids/teenagers? (lucky b....s!)

If one day, he needs someone to wash the cars, give me a call!

456mgt

2,504 posts

265 months

Wednesday 7th January 2004
quotequote all
For interest, there are some good posts following on from Roberts' article here http://ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=4970 including some from people who know the owner (along with all the requisite drooling of course).

unlicensed

7,585 posts

249 months

Wednesday 7th January 2004
quotequote all
no car collection like that is complete until there is a macca f1 in it. Just the truest of all supercars.

VerdeYork208

1 posts

242 months

Wednesday 7th January 2004
quotequote all
Hi there James!

Would you beleieve that this thread found itself onto the Integrale forum! Whose name should I see contributing to events. How are you doing? On the matter on hand, 'greed is good'. Surely you need another Enzo to drive when the other is receiving servicing attention.

Keith.

dazren

22,612 posts

260 months

Wednesday 7th January 2004
quotequote all
unlicensed said:
no car collection like that is complete until there is a macca f1 in it. Just the truest of all supercars.

In Europe I would agree. I think historically, there has been a problem bringing Mac F1s into the US. Unless of course Larry Ellison's lawyers have now finished browbeating the Government Departments concerned , in which case Mr C needs to get the cheque book out again!.

DAZ

unlicensed

7,585 posts

249 months

Wednesday 7th January 2004
quotequote all
there always seems to be a problem with bringing cars into the us. TVR's, the macca, and the old porsche supercar, which i cant remember the name of for some reason.

maranellouk

2,066 posts

262 months

Wednesday 7th January 2004
quotequote all
959

Yes, very bored here.

Mrs MARA just called me to let me know she has been in our mates Enzo. Aparently I'm not working hard enough and she wants one yesterday. I told her when the bank you work at is owned by you and your family(as our friends is) it's always a little easier to write that cheque to the Luca and the boys.