A few days ago, while driving a Porsche Cayman S on one of Chicago's most transited freeways, we stumbled upon a gorgeous light blue Ferrari F430. For once, the freeway wasn't as plugged up with traffic as usual.
As we were comfortably cruising, a loud, low-pitched engine roar called for our attention. As we looked in the mirror, there it was. A gorgeous Ferrari F430 hiding in our blind spot. The watch on the wrist is an Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore Diver that we now like to call 'the fancy car magnet' per a previous story.
The Ferrari F430 comes with a V8-engine with 490hp and cutting-edge racing technologies —perfected to be street legal— such as the electronic differential and the handy steering wheel mounted commutator switch that controls the systems governing vehicle dynamics.
The F430 is very light and reaches 0-60mph in just 4.0 seconds. This Ferrari is as close as you will get to the performance and driveability of a Formula One racing car. For instance, a braking system using carbon-ceramic discs comes as a standard feature and the aerodynamics are also highly innovative for a street car. It is shaped in a way where air flow increases down-force and improves cooling.
As this remarkable automobile with its yellow brake calipers passed us, we tried to follow as close as possible —always obeying traffic laws and safety standards— but unfortunately we just couldn't keep up.
As its roaring engine dwarfed ours and its cruising speed kept increasing, we did nothing else but to see it drift away like a cruise on the Mediterranean or the disappearing sound of the final notes on Schubert's Improptu in A Flat, Opus 142 No. 2.
As we tried to reach the F430 one more time and gave our Porsche all the gas possible, we finally gave up and let it disappear. Only these pictures are testimony of that encounter.
Since this automobile is not available in the current Ferrari range, we are giving you an approximate pre-owned price.
Sticker Price $165,000. For more info on Ferrari click here.
