And what’s it like to drive? “Well, it’s a 180-degree V12 and it sounds absolutely amazing if you hold it under a little bit of power about 3,500rpm – if you’re in a tunnel, even better,” he grins. “It makes about 380 horsepower, and can reach 180-185mph. For a car from 1985, figures that are still pretty impressive today.
“To drive, it’s lovely, it feels like its 30 odd years old – because it is – and it’s nowhere near as well screwed together as a modern car. In Germany, we took it on the autobahn – I didn’t go above 145mph because it is an old lady really. I’ve taken it on a couple of track days – one at Goodwood where we found a bit of an oil leak on the engine so just did two short stints and then a slightly longer track day shortly after I got the car.”
“In terms of brakes – if you’re going to go into a corner, make an appointment with it. Ferraris of that era, they’re fairly well known for making car that could go quickly, but stopping them is another matter completely. And steering, when you’re on the move, it’s delightful, but at low speed there’s no power assistance to it, and with really wide tyres, you do end up with arms like Popeye. The clutch on it is extremely heavy, the gearbox is a five-speed manual that is, to be fair, agricultural.
But the best part, he adds, is the reaction he gets to the car. “The attention and being able to share it with other people is great,” he explained. “And looking at the amount of attention it’s getting here today it’s making something for a lot of people’s day.”
Photography by Joe Harding.