Among many new features in the Ferrari Roma is a touch sensitive starter button on Ferrari's redesigned steering wheel. It's there in place of the red switch which has featured in the manufacturer's cars since the F430, and seems appropriately modern in a car bearing a trio of digital screens. But also much less tactile. Inevitably - and despite the Roma's many, many talents - I was sent down a red jelly bean rabbit hole, and ended up on the classifieds looking at Scuds.
My love for the 430 Scuderia is intrinsically tied to the success of the Schumacher era. It helps, obviously, that the car's flat-plane crank 4.3-litre V8 produced 510hp at 8,500rpm and that the F1 auto was actually good, as well. Succeeding the jerky 360 auto, the F430's 'box was smooth shifting at low revs and capable of swapping cogs in 60 milliseconds. And they were requested by extended shift paddles behind a steering wheel with sculpted grips.
I'm probably in the minority, but I also love the way the Scud looks. I've always been a fan. Especially when it's finished in Rosso red with contrast grey stripes and anthracite wheels, which is the spec of my pick here. Scuds haven't rocketed up in value like the 458 Speciale, but they're certainly appreciated and this car's £180k asking price affirms that. It's the raciest Berlinetta born from Ferrari's most dominating years on the racetrack, after all.
SS
News that the Mercedes-AMG GT Black Series will cost £335,000 in the UK was not precisely a revelation - that's how much it costs in Euro-land - but you only need to take a small step back to appreciate what a gargantuan number that really is. Comparison with other makes/models isn't always helpful, although the fact that the new Ferrari SF90 Stradale is in the same ballpark really does speak volumes about the Black Series cache.
Which is interesting, because the back catalogue is not uniformly excellent or outrageously expensive. Indeed, one of the very best Black Series cars can be bought for an amount you'd almost call reasonable. The C63 version was launched exclusively as a coupe in 2011, and evoked hand-biting desire in just about anyone who ever laid eyes on it. Crucially though, it had the chassis smarts to back up those steroidal arches, and was arguably among the most exciting cars to drive in the last decade.
Now you can have a low mileage example with a main dealer service history for less than £85k. Granted, that's entry-level Porsche 911 Carrera money - and as I found out recently, the 911 has many things to recommend it - but it doesn't have a naturally-aspirated 517hp 6.2-litre V8 or the menacing Black Series kerbside presence. Both commodities are what you're really paying for - no matter which decade or ballpark you're in.
NC
For Mustang fans - which, for my sins, is a club I'm part of - it's been a good few months. Not only has the most powerful GT500 ever been unleashed onto the world, Shelby American has done what it always does with Ford's icon and made it even wilder still. An easy job, presumably, when the pony car was pony; perhaps less so when the base product is already so accomplished. And madly powerful.
Now while 800hp Mustangs undoubtedly hold their appeal, the best Mustang news I've heard recently is the return of the Mach 1. Cool name, for starters, and a great idea as well: it's a Mustang GT infused with a bit of GT350 genius. In theory, all the big-cube charm of a standard car with a bit of Shelby edge, then - which sounds like a damn good Mustang combination to me.
So with this original Mach 1 for sale on PH - at about what a new Mustang costs - I didn't need look any further. Isn't it brilliant? 50 years old this year and having been in California for 49 on those, it's ideally specced in Grabber Orange with a black stripe and Craiger dished wheels, Cleveland 351 nestling under the bonnet and interior fit to double up as a saloon bar. As a closet muscle car fan, it's little short of perfect. The campaign for right-hand drive Mach 1s starts here!
MB
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