A while ago, an international, highly respected and well known car brand held a party to introduce its latest SUV. It was an amazing gig. It was held at an old train station in Florence, the first one ever constructed in the city and one of the oldest in Italy, which hasn’t actually been used as a train station for decades. The city has turned it into a venue for meetings and social gatherings and convention. The setting was great. Officially, there was no dress code but this is Italy and everyone looked the part. It was a success all around and they had marketing malarkey going on, random celebrities here and there, including some footballers (soccer players if you’re reading this in the US) of local team ACF Fiorentina (and football is king in Italy). I was there and I remember how everyone kept ignoring absolutely everything, including the car, because there was also a very popular and incredibly beautiful TV presenter and model. The very definition, literal and metaphorical, of a show-stopper.
And as I was standing there, trying to snap a decent shot, I couldn’t help but think of that situation because exactly the same sort of thing was happening in Geneva, at GIMS.
There were hypercars and supercars and one-offs and concepts and world premieres. And they were all being ignored because everyone was looking for, or looking at, the Ferrari 488 Pista.
The Pista (Italian for ‘racetrack’) is essentially an hardcore version of the 488 GTB, which is the hardcore version of the 488. Which is miles from the old 458. Which was a pretty fabulous car itself anyway. I think you can see where this is going.
Its V8 has been tuned up to 711 bhp and the car is 90 kg lighter than a GTB. This all means 0-60 in 2,85 seconds and a top speed in excess of 340 kph (211 mph). And if that’s not enough, well, just look at it.
Geneva, March 2018
GIMS, the Geneva Motor Show open now. 8-18 March, 2018
Palexpo Geneva
text and photo credit: Ale Renesis
_Flabbergasted LF 