WHEELS & WATER
TRULY EXCLUSIVE Chris Nixon unveils the cars we didn’t know we wanted.
WHETHER IT’S CALLED a four-door sports car or an SUV, Ferrari’s new Purosangue has proved there’s an appetite for a type of vehicle we didn’t even know we wanted. And since its launch, Lamborghini and Porsche also have revealed some out-there new show-stoppers for the very wealthy. As the mass-market automotive world, and ordinary motorists, swirl around issues such as rising petrol prices, shortage of supply and the high prices of electric vehicles we’re being swept toward, the super luxury-performance end of the business is charging along Already you can’t get a Purosangue if you want one. It sold out within weeks of debut and the Italian maker has put the brakes on future orders until it can catch up.
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– Issue 94
The lucky first Australian owners will not get their cars until Q3 this year. This popularity is despite an Australian recommended price of $728,000. With on-road charges and the inevitable expensive options, it’s easy to imagine this 12-cylinder road-burner could soak up a million dollars. Depending on viewpoint, the Purosangue could be described as a sports car, wagon, crossover or SUV. But we haven’t seen anything quite like it before and Ferrari insists understandably on ‘sports car’ to distinguish it from the pack of SUV offerings among its top-end rivals. Its price certainly places it in an exclusive segment and drew a few gasps when it was revealed with the first example Down Under at a major Ferrari promotional event in Sydney.
Over three days, flocks of Ferrari owners, celebrities and enthusiasts visited Royal Randwick racecourse for the lavish Universo Ferrari display, appearing for the first time outside Ferrari’s hometown of Maranello, Italy. Queenslanders did not miss out, however. A cavalcade of more than 50 privately-owned Ferraris joined an event called the Ferrari 75th Anniversary Tour, which embarked from the Gold Coast and ended at Royal Randwick. This included many late-model Ferraris – Romas, 296 GTBs, 488s of all kinds, 812s, 599, F8 Tributo, SF90 Stradale and Spider and Portofinos. On its five-day journey, the experience took in luxury resorts, great food, a hillclimb event near Port Stephens and other optional activities including golfing, hot-air ballooning and wine tasting.