Ferrari 599 GTB
Discussion
Back in 2012, Chris Harris (of EVO magazine and Top Gear fame) sold his Porsche 997 GT3 RS 4.0 and bought a Ferrari 599 GTB. This short video summarises his views on the car from Maranello. My 599 doesn't arrive from Slade's Garage until mid December, but Chris has already told me what I need to know...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQdpNoPCd9o
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQdpNoPCd9o
I bought one of these back about 5 years ago - off the back of Chris Harris’s reviews.
A gorgeous HGTE. spec with one previous ‘Knightsbridge’ address owner and only 1700 miles on the clock. I test drove it in London and had it transported back to Cheshire.
The car looked a million dollars and so purposeful- however; I hated the thing. I just never bonded with it, always felt it was trying to kill me. The turn-in, the handling, the weight transfer under acceleration and braking I thought was dire.
The biggest disappointment ever and a ‘welcome to Ferrari’ ownership that left me cold. After 6 months of getting on first name terms with the local Shell petrol station, I’d had enough and glad to see the back of it - replacement was a 458......now that’s a different animal!!
Good luck with yours and hope you enjoy the ownership experience more than I did.
Graham.
A gorgeous HGTE. spec with one previous ‘Knightsbridge’ address owner and only 1700 miles on the clock. I test drove it in London and had it transported back to Cheshire.
The car looked a million dollars and so purposeful- however; I hated the thing. I just never bonded with it, always felt it was trying to kill me. The turn-in, the handling, the weight transfer under acceleration and braking I thought was dire.
The biggest disappointment ever and a ‘welcome to Ferrari’ ownership that left me cold. After 6 months of getting on first name terms with the local Shell petrol station, I’d had enough and glad to see the back of it - replacement was a 458......now that’s a different animal!!
Good luck with yours and hope you enjoy the ownership experience more than I did.
Graham.
GrahamPM said:
I bought one of these back about 5 years ago - off the back of Chris Harris’s reviews.
A gorgeous HGTE. spec with one previous ‘Knightsbridge’ address owner and only 1700 miles on the clock. I test drove it in London and had it transported back to Cheshire.
The car looked a million dollars and so purposeful- however; I hated the thing. I just never bonded with it, always felt it was trying to kill me. The turn-in, the handling, the weight transfer under acceleration and braking I thought was dire.
The biggest disappointment ever and a ‘welcome to Ferrari’ ownership that left me cold. After 6 months of getting on first name terms with the local Shell petrol station, I’d had enough and glad to see the back of it - replacement was a 458......now that’s a different animal!!
Good luck with yours and hope you enjoy the ownership experience more than I did.
Graham.
Sorry to hear about your disappointing start to brand ownership. Hopefully mine will be a different experience but time will tell, of course. I’m fortunate to be close friends with local Ferrari specialist and racer who knows everything there is to know about these cars so that gives me huge piece of mind. I plan to move up to an F12 in a couple of years but a house move means I have to compromise! Anyway, I’m still very much looking forward to collecting my first ever Ferrari.A gorgeous HGTE. spec with one previous ‘Knightsbridge’ address owner and only 1700 miles on the clock. I test drove it in London and had it transported back to Cheshire.
The car looked a million dollars and so purposeful- however; I hated the thing. I just never bonded with it, always felt it was trying to kill me. The turn-in, the handling, the weight transfer under acceleration and braking I thought was dire.
The biggest disappointment ever and a ‘welcome to Ferrari’ ownership that left me cold. After 6 months of getting on first name terms with the local Shell petrol station, I’d had enough and glad to see the back of it - replacement was a 458......now that’s a different animal!!
Good luck with yours and hope you enjoy the ownership experience more than I did.
Graham.
It’s matching colour combo for my f430. I love slades toy shop and have been in many times !
There are 3 things the 599 does very well, 0-100mph devastating.... v12 enzo engine amazing, gorgeous interior. I haven’t thrown one down my favourite a road but have driven one quickly... it’s noy a 458 on handling front but it’s a stunning machine. I still fancy one myself.
There are 3 things the 599 does very well, 0-100mph devastating.... v12 enzo engine amazing, gorgeous interior. I haven’t thrown one down my favourite a road but have driven one quickly... it’s noy a 458 on handling front but it’s a stunning machine. I still fancy one myself.
Grazie mille for all the kind comments.
I've just dug up the full EVO magazine test of the 599 GTB (I'd forgotten it was their car of the year in 2006), which includes performance tests, dyno, and on-track performance - see link below. The verdict is very similar to other comments posted on here: monster engine and straight line speed but not in the same league as the true sports cars in the Ferrari stable in terms of handling. Still, not bad for what is now a 12 year old car!
https://www.evo.co.uk/ferrari/599
I've just dug up the full EVO magazine test of the 599 GTB (I'd forgotten it was their car of the year in 2006), which includes performance tests, dyno, and on-track performance - see link below. The verdict is very similar to other comments posted on here: monster engine and straight line speed but not in the same league as the true sports cars in the Ferrari stable in terms of handling. Still, not bad for what is now a 12 year old car!
https://www.evo.co.uk/ferrari/599
A close friend had one of these and was scared of it..I just adored the thing. It's like a big bucking bronco but the manito control does it's thing and keeps it in check. It's the lift off of torque between gear changes that makes it go light at the back. I loved it..proper old school. and the engine is epic. Great cruiser too..you are going to love everything aside from the crappy stereo
Ferrari's big front engined V12 GTs always appealed more to me than the other models (not that there isn't a lot to like there either, I have driven a 458 and it was spectacular) and a dark colour with a tan interior, or TDF Blue with cream was always the combo I dreamed about. I saw a 456 in blue last week on the road and it was tasty. Well wear OP and enjoy! These have gotten more appealing with time for sure and yours looks lovely!
- runs to do lotto*
I collected my “new” 599 on my birthday today of all days. Excellent timing! First impressions? Stunning engine and sound, stiff ride, good visibility, gearbox requires a gentle lift at low rpm (similar to the Aston V12 Vantage I used to own). Oh, and like its new owner, it likes a drink; indeed, it would probably be cheaper to run it on proseco!
Edited by baronbennyt on Tuesday 11th December 17:27
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