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The New Ferrari 488 Spider, It’s What Dreams Are Made Of

Newly recruited “Car Guy” Bryan Littlely gets up close, but not too personal, with the flagship Ferrari 488 Spider

Whichever way you look at it, the new Ferrari 488 Spider is mind-blowingly spectacular.

I’m not just talking about the angles you view the sleek drop-top supercar from… I’m also referring to the environment in which you’re blessed to see this beast in the flesh for the first time.

You could be among the 120-or-so of Adelaide’s Champagne-sipping privileged looking on as this striking beauty graces a ballroom floor on a perfect Summer’s night.

Or you could be me…. in Adelaide Ferrari’s garage after a Saturday morning spent driving the father-in-law to the best (AKA every) garage sale in the western suburbs.

I’m not bitter. Not at all. Well not at that point, I wasn’t.

I haven’t even jumped on the Adelaide United bandwagon yet, so no need to rub shoulders with those boys who were there on that glitzy night a week ago (by all reports on the energy drinks only). And I’m more of a Barossa Shiraz kinda guy than a bubbles boy anyway.

I also haven’t checked out the Adelaide Ferrari scene for quite some time, obviously. Sure, I’d drifted past the Hindley Street showroom a couple of times during my ventures as a relatively new proud owner of a Mini. Did not even glance at Maccas… promise.

Ferrari Adelaide Sales Executive Joe Lynch gives a pretty concise update on just how much Australia’s premier “Motortown” loves the prancing horse.

Last year Adelaide Ferrari sold 25 brand new vehicles and about another 18 used models of the world’s most recognised car badge.

That sales performance is almost as impressive as the performance levels of the cars Adelaide Ferrari sell.
Almost!

Bitterness only comes when you put a 492kW, 760Nm of torque, 3.9-litre turbocharged V8 piece of pure motoring excellence in front of a recently-returned to the fray motoring writer only to tell them they pretty much have Buckley’s chance of ever getting a drive.

So about 3:14pm on Saturday in front of Ferrari Adelaide sales executive Joe Lynch I got an over-whelming Southwark green death taste in my mouth!

I was assured by the very astute Mr Lynch that it was “not me” but the car. Ok, so that’s a fabrication. It was almost definitely, 100 per cent, “ME”.

In all seriousness – he seriously was not entertaining the idea of me ever having a drive, I might add – there is very good reason the keys to the new pride of the Hindley Street Ferrari Adelaide fleet is not falling into the hands of just anyone.

For starters, The 488 Spider has a list price of $527,000. The last, and only, time I ever test drove a Ferrari (a 612 Scaglietti) I parked it on my front lawn and it more than tripled the value of my home.

I’m happy to say that IF I ever got to drive the demo 488 Spider at Adelaide Ferrari and parked it on my front lawn (or very very securely in my garage after having moved the various items bought at western suburbs garage sales on a Saturday morning) it would now only double the value of my home.

I’ve matured. No. Really.

But the main reason a bloke from the ‘burbs with a once-upon-a-time link to motoring journalism can’t snare a drive in the Ferrari 488 Spider is because it is, with little exception, a car that money simply cannot buy.

Mr Lynch says he expects interest in the new flagship model to build over the coming month… and be at fever pitch by the time Clipsal 500 rolls into town bringing with it plenty of Ferrari highlights on track.

But, even if you place an order now, you could not expect to slide into the cockpit of your very own 488 until the end of 2017. The vehicle is sold out until 2018.

That’s not such a bad thing, according to Mr Lynch, because anyone who intends to drive a 488 Spider needs to be ready for it.

“We suggest that anyone who is going to buy one of these, or wants to drive one, does a high-performance driving course before going down that path,’’ Mr Lynch said.

“The car is out of control. It just blows everything else away.’’

Not only is the 488 Spider cheaper by $60,000 than its predecessor, the 458, it is quicker. It covers 0-100km/h in 3.0 seconds and 0-200km/h in 8.4 seconds – 2 seconds quicker than the 458. Out of interest and if you ever want to take it three out on the track (or the Northern Territory) the 488 tops out at 325km/h.

It truly is a dream machine. Even if you have the money, you must have the patience to get yours into your garage. Fortunately for Adelaide car lovers, some people have both.

If you are lucky, like I reckon I have already been, you will get to see one up close one day.

You won’t be disappointed.

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