The Boxster, the SPF, and the Enzo!!

Hal Copple · #1 (**permalink**) 07-13-2003, 05:08 PM

My son just put this up on the Porsche Boxster forum, so i am transplanting it to CC:

Chris writes:

WOW!!! What a great weekend. Came home on Friday after work to do my 30,000 mile service with my father. Finished the service (if anyone has any questions just ask!) and noticed some hard water spots so we were "forced" to polish and wax the car too! Got up around 6:30 and since my dad and I couldn't decide on which car to take, we took em' both. So cruised up to VIR, he in his Superformance 427 Cobra replica, and me in the Box.
Watched the vintage races and did some photography all day Sat. Lots of Porsches were there, both on and off of the track. Even had the opportunity to put mine on the track during the lunch break. Of course now I can't wait for the next DE so that I can truly find the limits of the car....
Sunday a friend of my fathers pulled up in his pristine, completely original Shelby GT 350. I commented on how nice his car was and his response was, "Thanks, you wana drive?" After much deliberation I finally agreed... Never really got on the throttle too much as it wasn't my car, but was fun to cruise around in. Was blue with white stripes and just a beautiful car...
Happened to see a Ferreri Enzo....WOW. There is nothing subtle about the car. I've always loved the look of the car but my father hated the nose. After seeing it in person we both had a little trouble mumbling anything coherent for a few minutes. Now I am officially starting my own "Ferrari Fund." I'll accept anything from checks, old credit cards, and of course cash. So far I've collected 75 cents from under my car seats....
All in all, a wonderful weekend. Was a great Father/Son time. Wish everyone the best.
-Chris

This is dad. What Chris did not tell you is that we did not finish the detailing until about 0230, then up at dawn. We took both cars, swapping driving duties from time to time. Such vastly different cars. His is so refined, mine is so brutal. Anyway, cut across country for the last 30 miles, running down in the valleys and across the ridgelines, so far back in upstate, very rural NC, that i half expected a foraging party out from Gen'l JEB Stuart to accost us. We both hammered it, i was in his Boxster, with him following me thru the curves. Sat was great racing, so many historic cars to watch, sadly mostly Porsche's, only one original 427 Shelby Cobra running, but a slew of GT 350's. We went out on the track at lunch, i was frightened to death by his driving thru the downhill esses, but he calmly blipped his downshifts, heel-and-toeing as he learned to do, so i just shut up and held on. Awsome cornering in his Boxster. By dinner time, drove to a steakhouse, and he and I swigged down 2 & 1/2 big pitchers of Diet Coke, which somewhat revived us, what with the load of caffeine. Crawled back into his tent, dragging the beer cooler with us, battened it down, then the most horrendous thunderstorm rolled over us, so much lightening over us, that i was worried about being harpooned by one of the limbs off the trees towering over us.

During the storm, I thought a tribe of Howler monkeys had joined us, turned out some rare frog was much aggrivated by the rain. Today dawned just gorgeous, met up with some other Cobra drivers, one bringing his '66 GT 350, which Chris and I both had the honor of driving about, very manly car, nothing subtle about it. Then the Enzo came by, much more handsome in the flesh than in the magazines, this one was recently on the car mag cover. Nice shriek when it reves up.

More great racing, then home for steak on the grill, all together about 450 miles, as is my custom, we cruised every rest-stop, blasting back out onto the interstate, i must have run a thousand or more by now in my Snake. It the best possible father and son time you could possibley imagine.

All the best,,,, Hal Copple

TomH · #2 (**permalink**) 07-13-2003, 05:17 PM

Hal,

Agree regarding the Enzo. Here is one at Fiorano where I was able to ride with Ferrari's chief test pilot.

pgermond · #3 (**permalink**) 07-13-2003, 08:13 PM

Oh, my gawd! That's not a car, it's a ..........................., a, a work of art!

Aussie Mike · #4 (**permalink**) 07-13-2003, 08:45 PM

Hmm... I think I'll build me a replica of one of them using a VW bettle floorpan and motor.

TomH · #5 (**permalink**) 07-13-2003, 09:00 PM

If you're thinking of an Enzo replica, the doors are a bit tricky to get hung properly.

Jamo · #6 (**permalink**) 07-13-2003, 09:26 PM

Tom

All of the major mags were back there together "testing" it--were you part of that group?

Benuzzi has a nice little job...

TomH · #7 (**permalink**) 07-13-2003, 10:11 PM

Jamo,

Ah, so you know Sr. Benuzzi! Bravo!

No. I was there as the guest of one of Ferrari's suppliers who was demonstrating a part they have on the Enzo. (Nothing shows off a part better than hot laps.) We largely had the track to ourselves with exception of a 360 that appeared to be prepping for LeMans.

Talk about walking the fine line between aspiration and envy. Yikes.

RACERAL · #8 (**permalink**) 07-14-2003, 04:00 AM

Check out Dan Elams site.. he has about a 1000 pics of the weekend... www.elams.org

KeithBrown · #9 (**permalink**) 07-14-2003, 05:26 AM

I read in Car & Driver about an owner who had an Enzo and after 1400 miles, he had to do a brake job. Set him back $6,000 for the pads and $24,000 for the rotors (ouch!).

Of course, some of the 1400 miles was track time. IS it me, or does a $30,000 brake job seem a wee bit out of line after just 1,400 miles???

Finally, the name seems redundant. Is it a Ferrari Enzo Ferrari, or a Enzo Ferrari Ferrari?

Regards,

Keith

TomH · #10 (**permalink**) 07-14-2003, 06:15 AM

Keith,

The Enzo is technically speaking the "Ferrari Enzo." Redundant perhaps, but in the same way that ships are named USS (i.e. United States Ship) ShipName. (That it's a ship should go without saying.)

1,400 spirited (journalist) miles will tend to tear up a new set of brakes. (How far does a typical Bondurant car go on a brake job?) and $30K brake job sounds like a lot of money, but then again, the car is $650K, so proportionally it doesn't seem so out of line with the rest of the package. I can tell you that the ceramic carbon fiber brakes are fantastic.

So, the ante for "15 Minutes of Fame" may put it out of reach for most of us.

Hey wait a minute. This is a Cobra Forum, and I'm writing about Ferraris. It's so wrong and I'm so ashamed.

Mark IV · #11 (**permalink**) 07-14-2003, 06:15 AM

Tom H.

Nice picture, an "Enzo" in front of Enzo's house.....

Rick

aumoore · #12 (**permalink**) 07-14-2003, 06:23 AM

Is it real or a kit?

KeithBrown · #13 (**permalink**) 07-14-2003, 06:40 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by TomH

Keith,

1,400 spirited (journalist) miles will tend to tear up a new set of brakes. (How far does a typical Bondurant car go on a brake job?) and $30K brake job sounds like a lot of money, but then again, the car is $650K, so proportionally it doesn't seem so out of line with the rest of the package. I can tell you that the ceramic carbon fiber brakes are fantastic.

Actually these weren't journalist miles, they were the owner's personal miles. I don't remember how much of it was track time though

But I understand your point though. It is simply a realm that I unfortunately, will never experience.

Regards,

Keith

Alex Donghi · #14 (**permalink**) 07-14-2003, 06:59 AM

I hate to say it but I think that thing is ugly. Reminds me of Darth Vadar. 30 grand for a brake job??? and I'll bet the parts were available from your lcal NAPA guy.

Fred Douglass · #15 (**permalink**) 07-14-2003, 08:20 AM

....wonderful postings! I looked at the first photo and realized (for my money) that the front-quarter angle just might be the Enzo's most-flattering. I ran my eye along the area just under the windows, right down to the nose--a pure aesthetic triumph! I noted that there are two "reverses" as you retrace this curve going aft, just under the window line. One curves up ever so slightly and the other "tumbles home" or narrows toward the rear. Makes one wonder where the wind-tunnel leaves off and the stylist's pen takes over.

Excaliber · #16 (**permalink**) 07-14-2003, 08:32 AM

No way I could justify a $30K brake job, regardless of the cars value. Those fancy rotors should not have been "worn out" to that point even with track time.

No doubt they cannot be "turned on a lathe" to clean them up,,,,,,or whatever. Bad engineering when the pads AND the rotors go together. At that rate the car would not even be able to run the 24 hrs of LeMans without a "rotor" change. For a "race car" that would be ridiculous.

This is clearly a case of:
More money than brains.

Ernie

TomH · #17 (**permalink**) 07-14-2003, 08:42 AM

Fred,

In person, the car is even more striking. Like some of the designs from Browning, Beretta,or H&K, this is a beautiful purpose-built weapon.

Most striking is the absense of frills and the usual accoutrements found on a luxo-tourer. This is absolutely a race car that is clad in a coupe's clothing. You won't sneak up on anybody like you could in the original Boss 302s or Z-28s (When Z28 represented an RPO code versus the later model designation), but it's notionally in the same ballpark. Like the M.C Hammer refrain "Can't touch this."

Jamo · #18 (**permalink**) 07-14-2003, 09:30 AM

Tom

Wished I "knew" him. Met and "talked" (with help) to him a bit at a Challenge event a few years ago which was run in conjunction with an SCCA event where I was helping the SS.

I recall the same ready smile and gleem in the eyes that guys that have fun for a living have (like Gary Patterson of SAI/Silver State).

Fred Douglass · #19 (**permalink**) 07-14-2003, 10:22 AM

I agree. As an on-again-OFF-again painter, I have some aesthetic sense--(I do a painting every 15 years or so, whether I need to or not)

Months earlier I opined on this site about the harmony (or lack) between pragmatic and aesthetic---I would add the
Colt .45 APC, the Camillus K-Bar Marine Fighting Knife, and the P-51 D (and +) Mustang. Nothing close since. And...since you seem 'way up on a lot of things, I (the retired teacher) am assigning you the following Summer Reading: Ann Coulter's "Slander" and "Treason" (two boooks) and Robert Gandt's "With Hostile Intent" and "Acts of Vengeance"...(you've probably read the latter two anyway)......

Good stuff allayuz!

TomH · #20 (**permalink**) 07-14-2003, 10:27 AM

Jamo,

I realize that being Ferrari's #1 has something to do with it, but Benuzzi has "cool" down to an art. I think that even if his English were better, he would still be a man of very few (well chosen) words. We connected to the extent that I used my confidence in his abilities to mask any concerns as to the speed of the car and the rapidity of the changes in direction and velocity. (It was like riding in a slot-car from the '70's, the Pwr:Weight ratio is unnatural.) He was intimately familiar with both the car and the track, so it was as close as I need to get to dying and going to heaven. Check that, I wanna drive!

I'll bet anyone who sat second chair watching Gurney at Sebring would relate to the experience.