Ferrari Magic India Discovery Drive

Cars have always been a fantasy and I’m still a little kid. I’ll still go groggy eyed if there’s so much as some German automotive flying on the road. When I got the invite to attend Ferrari’s press conference for flagging off their Magic India Discovery tour, I thought it was some kind of a practical joke. But when I confirmed it, I couldn’t get over it. I didn’t sleep the night before the launch. ‘I’ll get to see Ferrari’s’, the little Tifosi in me thought.

The event was Ferrari’s Magic India Discovery which was an ambitious run in 2 specially painted Ferrari 612 Scagilietti’s across 15,200 kms of Indian roads. Ferrari had done such a similar event in China 2 years ago and succeeded in running the 2 cars over 15,000 miles. Back to India, now.

I went to the Taj(the venue for the event), bang on time, raced my ass upto the roof, collected my press kit and settled down for the press conference. Davide Kluzer, the PR man for Ferrari, presided over it and patiently answered all the questions we hapless Indian scribes asked.

I myself got to ask him 2 questions.

Me : When will Ferrari officially launch in India?

Davide Kluzer : We are looking at India very keenly. It does seem to be a very interesting market for us. Worldwide, Ferrari has a big waiting list for its cars. Thats not uncommon because we build the cars with a certain passion. All of our cars are hand built to customers’ specification, so that does take some time.

At Ferrari, we want to ensure that the relationship with the customer continues long after the car leaves the showroom. We want to offer the customer as much as we can in terms of service and support.

Like our boss Montezemelo said, Ferrari cars are like good women. They are rare to come by. It may be ‘tomorrow, next week, next month’ or whatever. But it will come and the wait will be worth the while.

Me : Any modifications done to the car, so that it handles the Indian roads?

Davide Kluzer : Not much really, we’ve just increased the ride height a bit. Apart from that, the Ferrari’s you shall see are exactly the same as anywhere in the world. They will offer the same level of driver involvement and will be similar to drive as any Ferrari, anywhere in the world.

Then the press were asked to eat, and I hogged on Taj’s brillaint cullinary. The desserts particularly kicked some butt and then we were led to the place where the cars would be cordoned off.

You see, I’d be the one you’d like to call “Shorty” and was hardly able to see over the tidal wave of photographers before me. So, I was looking for some chinks in the armour and spotted the Chamber room which was some sort of a bridge between 2 buildings and clicked some pictures from there. I got on to the parapet and got some neat shots. Sigh, the things I do, for you.  :twisted:

Ok, now the things I did not quite like.
1) Why werent the journos given a ride in the car?

2) The elephant logo they created for India looks like it hasn’t slept in the last 10 days and is staying awake on bucketloads of coffee.

3) The t-shirt they gave had the aformentioned sleepless elephant (and a big one), at the back. Woe is me..

4) A cap and key chain would have done just fine in the press kit

First 2 pictures, courtesy Ferrari and the rest by, Yours Truly.