Here's my review of the first Ferrari in my life, the 2004 Ferrari 575 Maranello. This review may not be as exciting or as long as the others, only because the transaction went through fairly smooth.
Well as you remember, I had bought the Ford GT in January of 2005 and was in pretty good shape with a Ford GT and a 2003 Porsche GT2 in my garage. But then I got the itchies for the Carrera GT and traded the GT2 on it in...... damn, do you believe that I can't remember off hand what month I got the Carrera? I think it was in April or May of 2005. Anyhow, I'm smiling even more than before when I get the Carrera and then I have this brilliant revelation come to me! I don't have a Ferrari!
But there's a big problem, the closest Ferrari dealer is in Columbus, Ohio, Midwestern Auto Group or as their affectionately known, MAG. Dang, that's a really far away to take a car in for an oil change or anything minor that may pop up. I think it's a 120 miles or so and about hour and a half driving time in freeway traffic from me. Wait a minute, isn't that where I bought the Carrera GT at, Columbus, Ohio? Oh yeah, OK, well then it must not be that far to have the pleasure of owning a Ferrari!
So now what do I do? Hmmmm, I've heard Ferraris may be a little temperamental. Do I want to possibly go through the hassle of owning a car and having to figure out how to get it back and forth, back and forth if the car's going to act up on me? Hell yeah..... It's a Ferrari!!
It's time to call the dealer and see what's going on. I give MAG a call and reach a salesman by the name of Mike Finneran. Really nice guy to talk to. I tell Mike I'm interested in a Ferrari F430 preferably cause I don't know anything about Ferraris or the various models and that's the only model I've really heard something about. He could of told me he had a 6 door coupe, 10 speed hatchback that had 10,000 HP, did 350 miles and hour and I probably would have believed him! That's how ignorant I was of my knowledge on Ferraris.
I ask Mike if he possibly has any sitting around? Mike? Mike? I'm not sure but I think I hear the sounds of muffled laughter and a chair being picked up off the floor! As Mike gains his composure, he says no Sir, I don't happen to have any F430s laying around (still that mysterious sound in the backround). He then starts to tell me that the F430s are sold out for at least 2 to 3 years and there are 'millions and millions' of people on a 'waiting list'. What waiting list? I've never seen it in a magazine or advertised anywhere. I could just see it now.... "How would you like a new Ferrari F430? Just fill in this form, send it in to us, and we'll call you in a couple years and let you know how many spots you've climbed up the list and when you'll be able to put your deposit down!" Thanks a lot Mike!
Of course, I let Mike know that I've just purchased a 2005 Ford GT and a new 2004 Carrera GT thinking maybe he'll think I'm not pulling his chain and hopefully move me up to spot 999 instead of 1000! Then Mike tells me he has a 2004 Ferrari Maranello that has 110 miles on it. Number one, it's used isn't it? Number two, it's a 2004 and were in the summer of 2005. Why would I buy a year old car? Number three, I don't even know what the heck a Maranello is. Sounds like a brand of Merlot wine or an Italian Pasta Speciality dish! When asked why such low mileage, he tells me it's the owners DEMO and since they have 15 brands or more of cars, the owner takes one here and takes one there. Ahhhh, now I understand the low mileage!
I don't want no Maranello or whatever it is. I want a Ferrari 'SUPERCAR' What's so hard about understanding that?
Mike calms me down and proceeds to tell me that he has an outrageous Saleen S7 'Supercar' with 500 or so horsepower that might fit my desire. Oh yeah, I've heard of that car. Wasn't it in a movie with..... who was it? Of course, Jim Carey in 'Bruce Almighty'. Hey, didn't he get to play God for a while doing all kinds of unreal stuff including enlarging his girlfriend's breasts and beating up punks all over the place? And he's gets to go cruising around in that rocket ship of a car. OK I tell Mike..... That's for me. How much is the car? HUH? WHAT? Did you just say $450K large ones or so? Jeez..... I just did that on the Carrera GT. Hey Mike...... I'm really not looking to see if I can go into Chapter 11 over here or anything!
As I start to simmer down from hearing that number, my mind swings back to the Ferrari Maranello. After all, it is a FERRARI! OK Mike, give me the details on the car. As Mike begins to explain the car's dynamics to me, he states that the real goal of any True Ferrari owner to be is to have the twelve cylinder Ferrari because that's the true engine of what Ferrari history is made of. OK, I'll buy into that. What else Mike? Well he says, "It has the F1 transmission which is a real pleasure to drive." F1 transmission? Isn't that just a fancy word for an automatic trans? "No says Mike. You have an Auto mode and you have a Manual mode. It's just like they use in Formula One racing. You know, Michael Schumaker, Kimi and Jacques and those other guys." Uh, yeah I say. We'll if it's good enough for whmoever those guys are, who am I to say otherwise!
Mike continues with spiel on how this is a GT Touring car, a real 'gentleman's ride'. It's very comfortable and luxurious inside and the outside is truly a work of art.
OK Mike, you've sold me. How much? Hey, I can live with that. And you'll even give me a slight discount because it's an 04? WOW! When was the last time you ever heard of anyone getting a discount on a brand new Ferrari?
Mike meanwhile sends me pictures of the Maranello parked next to a Bently parked on their dealership ramp. Damn, that IS a really sharp car after all! We work on a deal where I'm putting down some cash and I'm trading in my 2001 BMW Z8. Beautiful and fantastic car the Z8 is but give me a break....... I'm getting a new Ferrari! He checks my credit out and bingo, we set a delivery date and time. Mike says he going to be delivering the Maranello personally with the transport truck driver. Whoa..... how's has that for personal service?
My lucky day comes and I waiting in the drive of the house I purchased next door to me. I kinda had to buy it protect the land running along my main drive (2500 feet long- almost like a drive in a park lined with trees) or else someone could have bought that house and land and started cutting trees down to sell for cash. Other neighbors have done just that. Sick bastards! I love nature and animals. We call it our 'Vacation Villa'. Since I don't fly, we pretend to take vacations there. Real ball of fire, aren't I?
Here comes Mike and the truck and my new Ferrari down the street! Let me tell you, the picture didn't do it justice. It's beautiful! Sleek, small, sexy, fantastic, outrageous and much more all in one! They unload it and Mike goes over the car with me. Then we jump in the car and go down to the main house because Mike says he would like to see the Ford GT and the Carrera GT. (I hope not because he thinks I was bullshitting him!)
I open the garage doors and Mike is ecstatic. Tells me how nice it is to see both those cars next to each other. He then wants to take pictures of my two BMWs outside in my drive. One is a 04 645 convertible and the other is a 04 M3 convertible. Don't know why I buy convertibles, I hardly ever put the top down! He especially likes my license plates: 'DPRIVD' on the 645 and 'DMENTD' on the M3. 'DPRIVD' is a little pompous (don't have it anymore cause of that!) but it was fun for a while. I once had the same spelled plate on a 1991 Mercedes 430(?) and a photographer from the local newspaper came up behind me on the freeway and started laughing his off and took a couple of pictures of the car. Sure enough, a couple days later, it wound up on the front page on the 'local' second section with the headline reading 'WONDER WHAT THOSE NOT DEPRIVED DRIVE?' and the caption "Sometimes DPRIVD is the eyes of the beholder as the owner of this Mercedes demonstrates". Sorry if I ever offended anybody. It was only meant to be a joke son..... just a joke!
Now about driving the car. She wonderful. Easy to start, easy to back up (I can finally see out of this one) and the Daytona leather interior is 'classy as hell' and smells so sweet! I do wish the seating offered a little more leg stretch out room. The other little gripe is the rear view mirror. I can't adjust it up high enough (tilt it back) to please me. The wheels are the two piece ones and as you'll see in the pics are just amazing looking. Reverse gear is obtained by pulling a little lever on the console up and back and then you hear beeps. You have to hold your foot on the brake to start the car, just like the F430. The headlights are excellent offering all kinds of light for you to see. The F1 shifts nice and smooth and I just leave this one in Auto mode and cruise around pretending to be 'James, James Bond'!
One thing I do notice on this and the Lambos is that the tires seem like they're scrubbing or chattering when you back up. I dunno... someone said that's normal. OK, I believe him. Every once in a while, I'll get a little brake squeal now and then, but it's nothing to write home about.
I went down the street one time just to fill the car up with gas one day and bumped into a couple of my friends at the gas station. One of them said to me, "You're unreal! You may have been the only person in the United States to have filled his Ferrari up with his Carhart work jacket on!" What's did he mean by that? Was he calling me a Bum?
Cruising around in her is wonderful. She's quiet, rides nice and smooth and oh my God, does it get the looks..... from everybody. Hey what's going on here? I know it's a Ferrari but from far away, nobody (OK, maybe a few people know) you really can't tell what it is. That's what is so surprising! I'm getting tons of looks and gawkers from far away! Unreal! I can understand when I'm in all the others cause they're 'SUPERCARS' so that makes sense. But the Maranello?
One incident really freaked me out. We went to the local Ice Cream stand and were eating cones at the car. Three young teenage boys were driving out of the stand in a small, older pickup. As they started past, I saw one kid look and then I heard a screech of brakes. What the heck is that all about? They jump out of the car with they're mouths wide open and they're eyes all glassy. "A Ferrari?" Yep I say. "I don't believe it says another" I told them since they were so excited about the car, i would pop the hood open and show them the 12 cylinder.
After 20-30 minutes of talking and my girlfriend laughing her ass off from their amazement, I tell them since they're such extreme motorheads, I'm gonna give them a real experience. I give them my telephone number, ask them to give me a call in a couple of days, and I'm gonna take each one of them for a ride in the Carrera GT! Think they were happy? I got called several times before we could make a day and time. After taking the two of them for rides and having them almost crying with joy, I tell the 3rd kid let's go. He's hesitant. Why? I finally realize after talking to him, he's afraid I'm a suicidal maniac on the road. I tell him, don't worry, I'll go down the street at a certain speed, increase it slowly and if you're OK with that or if it's too fast, just let me know and I'll slow down. We come back, he's smiling and they're all saying I'm their new hero. They even offer to wash my cars for me, anytime, for FREE, just call! Damn did I feel good!! But, I know that if I was a kid sometime ago and someone had done that for me, I guess I would have felt the same way.
Back to the car. It's just amazing how many people smile with approval to the looks of the Maranello. Wherever I park, some even come up and strike up a conversation about her.
The engine sound is unreal. It has this deep and rich sound when you get on it a little. A lot of Ferrari owners like to put Tubi or some type of exhaust on their Ferraris but this particular model to me doesn't make sense to jazz up like a hot rod. It isn't one! It's a GT touring car. It's meant to be classy but sporty looking and fast but not in the category of the Enzo! I love her the way she is. How can you adulterate a lady? You don't! You love her the way she is and take good care of her. And that's exactly what I'm going to do!!
Obviously, after enjoying the pleasure of my first ever Ferrari, I then become a rabid fan of the 'Prancing Horse' and all he or 'she' stands for! I've got t-shirts, windbreakers and all kinds other paraphernalia up the wazoo! I guess know you also know why I had to have a F430 before I had a conniption fit. Don't worry..... I know..... I'm sick. But I'm taking my medicine religiously!!!! Michael
p.s. At the beginning, I stated the following, "This review may not be as exciting or as long as the others..." I guess I don't know the strength of my mind or my ability to
Thanx! Cant wait for pics 
it reminds me this guy, its a afroamerican singer, he owns a macca and every time he stops at a gas station he opens the door for the kids to go and see the car...
, and second do you still have the 645?
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