Ferrari is, above all else, a historical manufacturer of racing cars, but it also produces an incredible stable of street cars. The two sides of the business are completely connected to one body, and, every so often, the two arms collaborate to embrace a single ideal. Together, they handcraft limited-edition machines that redefine extreme sports-car possibilities: the ‘84 288 GTO, ‘87 F40, ‘95 F50, and now the ‘03 Enzo. Just 399 of them will be made, one each day. All have been purchased without so much as a test drive by Ferrari’s most preferred customers.
Our Enzo thrill ride came at the conclusion of a morning’s testing session that began with two cars: one yellow, for instrumented testing, and one red, for riding impressions with Benuzzi. After 30 years of flogging Ferrari test mules, nobody knows the cars or the company’s Fiorano test track like he does. The yellow car’s young piloto was Andrea Bertolini, who’s quickly making a name for himself in FIA N-GT racing behind the wheel of the number 52 JMB Racing 360 Modena. It goes without saying that he, too, knows the short way through Fiorano’s 15 turns.
One run was on a slight uphill, one downhill. A third test started in a corner exit and finished when Andrea applied brakes for the next corner. I scanned the data to see if I’d missed anything after the acceleration, but no maximum braking and no threshold cornering.
He used the Enzo’s launch program (Race mode on, ASR off), which only allows a driver-selected-rpm clutch-drop from the six-speed F1-style sequential-manual gearbox no fancy Formula One racing traction control. Wheelspin was evident throughout first gear. We’d have to be happy with what we’d recorded. At least, we were in a better position than one of the other magazines’ representatives, whose luggage and test gear were lost enroute to Italy.
It is clear the car named after the man is blindingly fast. With its shape-shifting aerodynamic body, gargantuan Ferrari-spec Bridgestone tires, F1-derived electronics, and brilliant engine and chassis, it’d be more than a shame to let the guessing game continue. We’ll publish the next test as soon as we can. The test numbers contained herein have been shared among several magazines and with Ferrari SpA.